Over the last seven years, Fadel Matta shined a light on how employees’ emotions and perceptions impact businesses and their productivity.
This year he is being honored for his work’s volume and impact by the Society of Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP) with the Distinguished Early Career Contribution, which honors young research professionals making an immediate impact in the field of management science and organizational behavior.
“Fadel is not only one of the most productive and respected scholars in the world in his field, he is a fantastic organizational citizen for UGA,” said Scott Graffin, who serves as head of the Terry College Management Department and Synovus Chair in Servant Leadership. “He supports his colleagues, mentors our Ph.D. students, and he is one of the best instructors in the Terry College. He makes our department and college better in every way.”
Matta works with multiple PhD students and colleagues in the Department of Management’s organizational behavior subgroup. That spirit of collaboration allows him to be extraordinarily productive.
Matta, who serves as Terry Dean’s Advisory Council Distinguished, published 27 peer-reviewed articles, 25 of which were in top-tier management journals and 11 in the Academy of Management Journal, one of the most influential business journals in the world. According to Google Scholar, his works were cited more than 2,100 times. Matta serves on five editorial boards for five top-tier journals, including the Academy of Management Journal and the Academy of Management Review.
Matta received Terry’s 2022 Research Excellence Award for his prolific and impactful research. In addition to research and mentoring doctoral students, Matta lectures on research methods and organizational psychology.
Matta, an Indiana native, received his undergraduate degree from Loyola University-Chicago, his master’s degree from Notre Dame University and his PhD from the Michigan State University Broad School of Business.
“I have always hoped to win the SIOP award for early career contributions ever since I started my scholar career. It was ‘the award’ for early career — a recognition that many people in my field eye and talk about,” Matta said to his alma mater’s communications office. “Past recipients are respectable people in academia that have all gone on to make huge impacts and drive revolutionary changes in their fields … I was incredibly honored to be named among these talented individuals.”
Matta will receive the award at SIOP’s annual conference in Boston on April 19.