Gies College of Business professor William Ocasio has been named a Fellow of the Strategic Management Society (SMS), one of the field's highest honors. With Ocasio's selection, Gies Business becomes the only business school in the country with three faculty recognized as fellows of both SMS and the Academy of Management, a distinction that signals Gies' leadership in management and strategy scholarship.

“Being named a Fellow of the Strategic Management Society is a great honor and a recognition of the impact of my work on the attention-based view,” Ocasio said. “It is especially meaningful to join my ISOI colleagues, Joe Mahoney and Melissa Graebner, as SMS Fellows. Together, our recognition highlights the interdisciplinary community we have built at the Illinois Strategic Organizations Initiative, a community where scholars come together to recognize that strategic management builds on organization theory, and that organization theory is enriched by its application to strategy.”

The SMS Fellows program honors scholars who have made significant and lasting contributions to the theory and practice of strategic management. SMS, an organization of more than 3,000 members from around the world, is driven by a mission to bridge "reflective practice and thoughtful scholarship," cultivating collaboration between scholars and practitioners while fostering innovation and insight in strategic management.

Ocasio is the James F. Towey Professor of Business and Leadership and director of the Illinois Strategic Organizations Initiative. ISOI supports interdisciplinary research in strategic organizational design and management. Ocasio, who is internationally recognized for his groundbreaking work on the attention-based view of the firm, joined Gies Business as part of its investment in world-class research in 2020. His research on institutional logics, corporate governance, and strategic management has reshaped scholarly understanding of how organizations adapt, innovate, and define purpose. Widely recognized as one of the world’s leading voices in organizational theory, Ocasio’s research has shaped both academic theory and corporate practice. Among his many accolades are the George R. Terry Book Award, a fellowship with the Oxford Corporate Reputation Center, and the Dean's Impact Award from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

“Professor Ocasio is a pioneering scholar in the subfields of organizational attention and institutional logics,” said Joseph Mahoney, the Caterpillar Chair of Business and Associate Director of ISOI. “He translates his scholarly work to make it accessible to organizational leaders and strategic enterprises.”

Ocasio joins fellow Gies scholars Mahoney and Melissa Graebner as part of a trio of dual honorees. Graebner, the Robert C. Evans Endowed Professor of Business Administration and director of the Initiative for Qualitative Research in Innovation and Entrepreneurship (INQUIRE), was named an SMS fellow in 2022 and an AoM fellow in 2024. Mahoney, a leading voice in strategic management research, has been widely recognized for his work on organizational economics and governance.

"The SMS is the premier academic organization for strategy scholars, and the AOM is the premier organization for the broader study of organizations and management," said Graebner. "To be honored by both of these groups is very meaningful to all of us. This recognition also aligns with the great work that Willie, Joe, and Matt Kraatz have done with ISOI."

With three faculty honored by both the Strategic Management Society and the Academy of Management and through centers of excellence like ISOI, Gies is shaping conversations about the future of strategy, innovation, and organizational leadership across industries and around the world.