Notre Dame’s Yoonseock Son Named to Poets & Quants’ “40-Under-40” List

University of Notre Dame business professor Yoonseock Son was named to Poets & Quants’ 2026 list of “Best 40-Under-40 Graduate Business Professors,” which celebrates talented management education professors under the age of 40 around the world.

Son, who joined Notre Dame in 2020, was promoted this year to associate professor of IT, Analytics, and Operations with tenure at the Mendoza College of Business. His research explores how digital platforms and emerging technologies are transforming consumer behavior, business strategy and organizational decision making.

His work has been published in leading academic journals including MIS Quarterly, Information Systems Research and Production and Operations Management. Son also collaborates with organizations across industries such as telecommunications, finance and e-commerce.

“As a business school professor with a deep understanding of the growing role artificial intelligence plays in modern organizations, he occupies an important position at the intersection of technology, business strategy, and ethical leadership,” Notre Dame MBA graduate Muhammed Saad Kamil (MBA/MGA ’26) wrote in his nomination of Son. “Through his research, teaching and engagement with industry leaders, he helps shape how current and future executives think about the responsible adoption of AI.”

In the Poets & Quants profile, Son described knowing he wanted to be a professor since the age of 7, when he heard a professor teaching in a large auditorium. “I had no idea what the professor was talking about, but somewhere in the back of my mind, a vague but persistent feeling took hold that I wanted to do that someday,” he said.

The quality that explains his teaching success might also be the most straightforward: availability. “I try to always be available, whether that’s before class, after class or over email at odd hours,” Son said. “I also put a lot of effort into tailoring the learning experience as much as possible. Each student comes in with a different background, a different learning curve and a different way of understanding things, and I see it as my responsibility to meet them where they are rather than expect them to adjust to me.”

Son’s research has won numerous awards, including the Responsible Research in Management Award, sponsored by the Academy of Management Fellows Group and the Community for Responsible Research in Business and Management; the Health IT and Analytics in Action Award from the Conference on Health IT and Analytics; and the Best Published Paper Award in the Communication, Digital Technology, and Organization division at the Academy of Management.

He is also a recipient of the Joe and Gina Prochaska Family Outstanding Teaching Award from the University of Notre Dame.

In the profile, Son also talked about what business schools of the future need to do more of (collaborate across disciplines), what companies can do better (take responsibility for the broader impact of their decisions) and, lastly, what he’s most grateful for:

“My students and colleagues who nominated me,” Son said. “My family who makes me a better person every day. I am truly blessed.”