Two Michigan Ross Professors Honored in Poets&Quants’ 40-Under-40 Best MBA Professors of 2024 List

In the 12th edition of Poets&Quants’ annual 40-Under-40 Best MBA Professors list, 40 professors from 34 business schools and nine different countries were featured. After receiving over 1,000 nominations submitted by students and other professors, Poets&Quants selected the winning 40 candidates based on an evaluation of their scholarly work, impact on students, media attention, volume of research citations, and more.

Li and Wu are unique in that they are the first married couple to make the list in the same year, selected based on their individual accomplishments.

“It is beyond our expectations, really exciting,” Li told Poets&Quants. “Thinking about all these years working together – both as family and partners – it is really rewarding. I tell people all the time that Andrew is the best co-author I’ve ever had.”

Li, 39, is a Michael R. and Mary Kay Hallman Fellow. She researches revenue management and pricing, healthcare, supply chains, corporate social responsibility, and public sector operations. She has worked at Michigan Ross since 2012 and currently teaches Applied Regression and Data Analysis (TO 566), Business Fundamentals (TO 505), Operations Management (TO 313), and the Supply Chain Consulting Studio (TO 685).

“I had the privilege of taking Applied Regression and Data Analysis with Professor Jun Li. She was a remarkable instructor with a gift for explaining highly technical statistical material in an incredibly accessible manner,” Ross student Soroush Shahbazi, MBA ’24, told Poets&Quants.

Wu, 38, is a Stein Research Scholar and Michael R. and Mary Kay Hallman Fellow. His research focuses on the interface of technology, finance, and operations management. He has worked at Michigan Ross since 2016 and currently teaches Empowering Business Decision Making with Generative AI (TO 538) and FinTech: Blockchain, Cryptocurrencies, and Other Technology Innovations (TO 638).

In his recommendation for Wu, Satish Kumar, MBA ’24, told Poets&Quants: “I am a student of Professor Andrew Wu, attending his fintech class. He teaches a generative AI class as well, and he is an expert at natural language processing. He simplifies the most difficult of technological aspects, and he bridges the gap between theory and practical seamlessly, bringing the subject to life.”

The high praise given to Li and Wu by their students is more than deserved. The two have written numerous pieces of innovative research independently and as co-authors. They have won many awards for these efforts, like Li’s 2015 INFORMS Revenue Management and Pricing Practice Award and Wu’s 2015 BlackRock Applied Research Award, to name just a few.

As for what’s next for the two award winners, they have both recently received tenure and been promoted, with Li being named a full professor and Wu earning the associate professor title. They’ve set their sights on continuing to innovate in their research and provide the best educational experiences possible to their students, with a common interest in accomplishing that with AI technology.