Nine business faculty ranked as top researchers

Nine faculty members at the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business ranked among the top 2% of scientists worldwide, according to the Stanford/Elsevier global Top 2% Scientists List for 2025. The list provides a transparent and standardized assessment of scientific impact by compiling a comprehensive database of the world’s top-cited researchers. The ranking evaluates scientists across 22 fields and 174 subfields using Scopus data — a large bibliographic database maintained by Elsevier that indexes millions of academic publications across science, technology, medicine, social sciences, and the arts and humanities. The methodology emphasizes citation impact rather than publication volume by incorporating both career-long and single-year performance. Inclusion on the list is recognition of a researcher’s thought leadership in his or her field. “As the Notre Dame business school, elevating research that grows the good in business by enlightening and contributing to human flourishing is our top priority,” said Martijn Cremers, Martin J. Gillen dean of Mendoza College of Business. “I am deeply appreciative of our faculty who seek to become influential leaders in their disciplines.” The Mendoza faculty members include: 

Dean Shepherd, the Ray and Milann Siegfried Professor of Entrepreneurship at Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business, is a leading scholar of entrepreneurial cognition, venture creation and entrepreneurial responses to adversity. A fellow of the Academy of Management, he has received multiple international honors, led the Journal of Business Venturing, and authored more than 20 books and 180 publications with over 85,000 citations. 

Jason A. Colquitt, the Franklin D. Schurz Professor of Management at Notre Dame, is a leading scholar on justice, trust, personality and work meaning. A former editor-in-chief of the Academy of Management Journal, he has published extensively in top management outlets, serves on multiple editorial boards and is a recipient of the Cummings Scholar Award. 

Tim Loughran, the C.R. Smith Professor of Finance at Notre Dame, is a leading expert in textual analysis of financial documents, new issues and acquisition behavior. His highly cited research includes one of the Journal of Finance’s top papers, and he is a celebrated teacher and former associate editor for major finance journals. 

Ken Kelley, the Edward F. Sorin Society Professor of IT, Analytics, and Operations and Senior Associate Dean for Faculty and Research at Notre Dame, is a leading methodological scholar whose work advances statistical and psychometric tools for human-centered research. An accredited professional statistician and APA fellow, he develops widely used analytic methods and software, co-directs the Human-centered Analytics Lab and collaborates across disciplines to improve data-driven inquiry. 

J. Michael Crant, Notre Dame Professor of Management and Organization, is a leading researcher on proactive personality and workplace behavior, known for co-developing the widely used proactive personality scale. His work examines proactivity across cultures, including its role in early COVID-19 responses in China. A fellow of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, he is an award-winning teacher and long-time contributor to Notre Dame’s academic leadership. Robert Vecchio, who passed away in 2009, was a distinguished Notre Dame scholar of organizational behavior widely known for his influential work on leadership, motivation, workplace emotion and employee envy. Author of the textbook “Organizational Behavior” and former editor of the Journal of Management, he published extensively in top journals and was a fellow of multiple major professional associations. 

Paul H. Schultz, the John W. and Maude Clarke Professor of Finance at Notre Dame, is an expert in corporate finance and market microstructure whose recent work examines internet-era stock collapses, arbitrage and mutual fund stock-picking. A two-time Smith Breeden Award honoree, he has published influential research on options, bubbles and Nasdaq market behavior. 

Peter Easton, director of Notre Dame’s Center for Accounting Research and Education and ND Alumni Professor of Accountancy, is an internationally recognized accounting scholar, author of several textbooks and editor-in-chief of Accountability in a Sustainable World Quarterly. He frequently speaks at global conferences and serves as an expert witness in major court cases. 

Martijn Cremers, the Martin J. Gillen Dean and Bernard J. Hank Professor of Finance at Notre Dame, is an influential scholar in investment management and corporate governance best known for co-developing Active Share, a widely used measure of mutual fund activeness. With more than 14,000 citations, he is a leading voice in finance research and industry practice. The Stanford/Elsevier global Top 2% Scientists List is updated annually and published on the Elsevier Data Repository website. Founded in 1921, the Mendoza College of Business is a top-ranked business school with 150 faculty members in five academic departments. As a leading business school guided by the University’s Catholic identity, the College seeks to Grow the Good in Business™ to improve the human condition in an ever-changing society through impactful research and educational programs.