Adam Stoverink, associate professor of management and former Ph.D. program coordinator, will serve as new director of MBA programs at the Sam M. Walton College of Business.
Stoverink joined the Walton College in 2017. He holds a Ph.D. in organizational behavior and human resource management from the Mays Business School at Texas A&M University, as well as an MBA from the Chaifetz School of Business at Saint Louis University and a B.S.B.A. in management from the Trulaske College of Business at the University of Missouri.
Recently recognized as the 2021 Walton MBA Teacher of the Year, Stoverink is an accomplished teacher and researcher and is an expert in leadership and high-performance work teams. His research examines team resilience, team effectiveness, workplace status and organizational justice. He has been published in several prominent journals, including the Journal of Applied Psychology, the Academy of Management Review and the Journal of Management. He has also been featured in Forbes and Harvard Business Review.
Stoverink teaches leadership and ethics to undergraduate, MBA and executive audiences. He has been an active contributor to the Walton MBA programs as a faculty member, MBA committee member and guest lecturer in the full-time MBA professional development course and Walton MBA learning series.
When not working, Stoverink enjoys playing with his three-year-old daughter, Alivia, watching Razorback sports and traveling.
Q: Why did you choose to pursue the director position in the MBA programs?
A: There aren’t many things that are more meaningful than transforming the lives of others. That’s what drives me. That’s what makes me excited to get out of bed each day. The MBA experience is one of the single most transformational periods in a person’s life. The director position offers an opportunity to shape this experience … to transform lives … and that’s meaningful to me.
Q: What roles and responsibilities will you assume as director?
A: Although the director wears a variety of hats, I would say the three most critical roles include continuous innovation to ensure world-class and cutting-edge program quality, supporting the MBA staff through the provision of resources and the removal of obstacles, and engaging our alumni in strategy formulation and student career success.
Q: What do you hope to accomplish?
A: This is a truly exciting time to be a part of the Walton MBA. Thanks to the extraordinary leadership of Vikas Anand, the program is poised to make some big moves over the next few years. I’m excited to continue this success and to accelerate the upward trajectory. One of the benefits of a leadership transition is that it offers an opportunity to pause, take a step back and reflect. I’ve had some amazing discussions with the MBA staff about what’s going well, what can be improved, and what can be created anew to offer the most transformational experience possible for our students. We have some big ideas, and I can’t wait to start implementing them. For now, I’ll just say stay tuned for what promises to be a bright and exciting future for our students and alumni.
Q: What do you look forward to most?
A: Truthfully, there’s a lot I’m excited about, but I’d say I’m most looking forward to getting to know our students on a deeper level. My experience teaching in the MBA program has shown me how remarkable our students are. They’re smart, they’re motivated to learn, and they’re simply wonderful humans. They all have unique backgrounds, talents and goals. I’m excited to both mentor them and to learn from their experiences.
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