Assistant Professor Sukhun Kang and graduate Danielle Bovenberg receive ISA awards

The Industry Studies Association (ISA) held its Annual Conference for 2024 at CSU, Sacramento, from June 13-15. Two standouts from our department—current Assistant Professor Sukhun Kang and Ph.D. program graduate Danielle Bovenberg, who currently works as a postdoctoral research associate at Yale—received honors for their work. 

Technology Management Assistant Professor Sukhun Kang’s paper titled “The Folding Effect: Reframed Distance in Organizational Search” was named the Runner-Up for the Best Paper in Innovation & Entrepreneurship Award. Overall, Kang’s current research interests focus on the intersection of innovation and entrepreneurship, especially within the biopharmaceutical and high-tech industries, and explores the ways in which technology influences innovation. The ISA describes winning papers as “demonstrating significant personal investment in understanding the markets, firms, and institutions of an industry, and will frequently involve the integration of direct observation through field based research with appropriate theory and analysis.” With his runner-up award, Kang receives a $250 honorarium. 

This event also gave Kang the opportunity to catch up with one of our department’s Ph.D. program graduates. Now a postdoctoral research associate at Yale, Danielle Bovenberg graduated from the Technology Management Ph.D. Program in 2023. At the ISA Annual Conference, she received two awards. The first named her the Winner of the Giarratani Rising Star Award for her paper titled “Sharing Solutions Without Spilling Secrets: Technicians’ Role in the Diffusion of Knowledge at Innovation Frontiers,” in which she studied technical support occupations and argued for their vital role in industry advancements. The Giarratani Rising Star Award is granted to young scholars who have recently graduated from their Ph.D. programs. To read more, check out this article from Yale with more details. 

Bovenberg’s second award named her the Runner-Up for the Dissertation Award for her paper titled “Craft Knowledge and the Advancement of Science: The Role of Scientific Support Occupations in Shared Research Facilities.” The Dissertation Award recognizes outstanding doctoral research in industry studies. With her runner-up award, Bovenberg receives a $250 honorarium. Both the paper and the dissertation were based on her dissertation fieldwork conducted during her time in our department, advised by Steve Barley and Matt Beane. This research was funded by the National Science Foundation and Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Please check out one of our previous articles here for more information on this funding. 

Congratulations to both of these researchers for these incredible honors, and we look forward to seeing more work from them in the future! 

Connect with Danielle on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bovenbergd/

Connect with Sukhun on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sukhunkang/