PVAMU COB receives continent-wide award for impact-focused research

Courtesy of Prairie View A&M University

Wharton Research Data Services and SSRN announced Prairie View A&M University as the 2023 WRDS-SSRN Innovation Award winner for the North America region. The WRDS-SSRN Innovation Award series elevates the visibility of impact-focused research and the institutions that conduct it.

Awards are presented to rising business schools each year to highlight their innovation and research excellence.

Munir Quddus, dean of the College of Business at PVAMU, was presented the award during an exclusive event hosted by WRDS. Throughout this event, deans from 200+ peer institutions across 40+ countries engaged with the innovative creators of new technology redefining higher education.

‘’I am thrilled the College of Business at Prairie View A&M University has been selected to receive this prestigious award,” said Dr. Quddus. “Over the years, we have had a number of professors in accounting, finance and related areas who have used WRDS and large data banks, such as Compustat, to support their research. Given the additional emphasis by AACSB International on publishing in ‘high quality’ journals and the rapid increase in the availability and use of ‘big data’ and analytical tools, the need for platforms like WRDS, which democratize and facilitates access to complex data, has increased dramatically in recent years.”

According to Quddus, COB faculty have used the platforms for their research in diverse disciplines, such as accounting, finance, economics, banking, insurance, marketing and statistics. “As a result, we have been increasingly sharing our pre-publication research on SSRN with other scholars. In fact, over the past few years, we have gradually risen in SSRN’s ‘Top 500 Business Schools’ rankings,” he said.

As a part of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, WRDS provides global institutions with targeted solutions that underpin research, reinforce learning, and enable discovery. As the world becomes more connected and the impact of policy reaches across borders, equity and access become more essential to research. WRDS plays a leading role in reshaping how research, data access and researcher recognition can better reflect and support a truly global and networked community.

“Supporting and advancing research is at the heart of what we do at WRDS,” said Bob Zarazowski, managing director of WRDS. “It is wonderful to be able to honor Prairie View A&M University for its commitment to growth and innovation in academic research.”

“Congratulations to Dr. Munir Quddus, dean of the College of Business, and all of the researchers at Prairie View A&M University,” said Gregg Gordon. “SSRN is excited to continue to partner with WRDS and provide greater visibility to business schools doing important research, like Prairie View A&M University, through this innovation award and the WRDS Research Paper Series on SSRN.”