A ‘Very Rare’ Kind of Leader: Matusik Honored with Excellence in Leadership Award
When you look at all Sharon Matusik has accomplished in five years as dean of the Leeds School of Business, it’s no surprise she’s being recognized by the University of Colorado community with its prestigious Excellence in Leadership Award.
And while her three signature priorities—End the Gap, Career Impact, and Business and Engineering—have helped power a transformation for the school, it’s the latter that’s received the most attention, particularly with the opening of the Rustandy Building last year.
The Excellence in Leadership Award recognizes an Excellence in Leadership Program alumnus who has shown exemplary leadership at the university in one or more areas: leadership of organizations, departments or teams; leadership of projects, programs and/or research; fiscal management and/or fundraising; or student instruction.
“As dean, Sharon brings an incredible blend of kindness, compassion and strength, which is very rare in a leader,” said Ƶ Boulder Provost Russell Moore, who nominated Matusik for the award.
Matusik’s most visible success is her collaboration with the College of Engineering & Applied Science, which included creating physical space and curricular opportunities to address the increasing professional and academic overlap between these disciplines. The partnership created new opportunities to broaden each school’s curriculum, combining emerging technology with business know-how, as well as peer-to-peer learning and networking opportunities to overcome the barriers of unfamiliarity between the disciplines. Cross-disciplinary career excursions, academic programs, recruitment opportunities and student projects are now a regular feature of both schools.
On top of that success, Matusik has made incredible headway in shrinking the gender gap at Leeds by attracting increasing numbers of applications from women each year. She also has placed greater emphasis on core professional skills like critical thinking and communication to improve graduate placement rates while arming professionals with the skills needed for long-term career success.
Matusik will receive her award April 22 at the Brown Palace, in Denver.
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