Warrington Ph.D. Students Recognized for Excellence in Teaching

Ph.D. students Pancy Li (Ph.D. ’26), Kevin Munch (Ph.D. ‘25) and Junhui Yang (Ph.D. ‘26) received the Warrington College of Business Ph.D. Teaching Award for their exceptional contributions during the fall 2023 and spring 2024 semesters.

The award is bestowed by the Teaching & Learning Center at UF Warrington to recognize exemplary graduate student teaching and instructional innovation. The recipient for each semester is selected by the Warrington Teaching Committee.

Li is undertaking her fifth year as a Ph.D. student at the University of Florida, where she is studying Finance. Before joining the Gator nation, she obtained her Ph.D. and master’s degree from Tsinghua University and her bachelor’s degree from Hunan University. Her primary research focuses on empirical corporate finance, with her works being featured in prominent journals like the Strategic Management Journal and Critical Finance Review.

Upon hearing her receival of an award of such magnitude, Li was flooded with gratuity, knowing her efforts have had a positive influence on her students’ education. 

“Winning this award feels incredibly rewarding and humbling, as it recognizes the hard work and dedication I have invested in creating an engaging and impactful learning experience for my students,” she said. “It reinforces my passion for teaching and my commitment to fostering an environment where students can thrive.”

Li taught Financial Modeling in the spring of 2024. The course was designed to equip undergraduate students with practical skills in building and analyzing financial models using Excel, Python and ChatGPT. It covered key topics such as financial statement modeling, discounted cash flow (DCF) analysis, and sensitivity analysis, providing students with a hands-on approach to understanding and applying economic concepts in real-world scenarios.

Munch is a Ph.D. student at UF Warrington, where he currently studies accounting. His academic journey is marked by outstanding achievements, including earning a Master of Accountancy from Wright State University and a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting from Ohio University. 

Munch’s research portfolio is both broad and impactful, covering critical areas such as firm behavior, social reforms, environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance, and the role of skilled foreign labor in shaping business outcomes. His research has gained recognition at major academic conferences, allowing him to speak at events like the 2023 American Annual Accounting Meeting and the 2024 CSEAR North American Congress on Social and Environmental Accounting Research. Munch’s work on sustainability and foreign labor has garnered much attention for its relevance to the accounting profession and broader business practices. 

His professional background further complements his credentials. He spent three years working as a Core Assurance Associate at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) where he gained extensive experience with complex audits. Prior to this, he completed internships at Crowe Horwath LLP and PwC, further developing his audit and financial analysis expertise. 

Beyond his research and professional endeavors, Munch is actively involved in many academic organizations including the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the American Accounting Association (AAA). 

“Winning this award represents the culmination of all of the years of education and hard work I have put in, to become the best academic that I can be,” Munch said. “As someone who wants to stay in academia after my Ph.D., winning this award makes me feel like the efforts I put in and out of the classroom are working. It motivates me even further to improve my classes each and every semester moving forward in my career.”

Munch taught Cost and Managerial Accounting in the summer of 2023. The course is required for accounting majors and is taken primarily by rising seniors. It is intended to teach students how to apply economic principles and analytic skills to cost assessments, develop data for decision-making, and provide financial data for a management control system. 

“On a personal note, my father was a marketing professor, and I was in constant awe of his job when I was growing up as all of his students seemed to really enjoy learning from him,” he said. “For me, receiving this award makes me feel like I have made him proud, and it is so rewarding knowing that he is proud of my accomplishments as well.”

Yang is a Ph.D. candidate in Business Administration at UF Warrington. A graduate of Tsinghua University in Beijing, China, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Economics, Yung’s academic career is driven by a passion for researching the nuances of workplace dynamics, specifically focusing on stigmatized occupations, interpersonal interactions and career development. 

Yang has made significant contributions to the field, with co-authored publications in widely established journals such as the Journal of Management and the Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior. She also served as a reviewer for multiple journals. Her extensive work on topics like the common method bias and trajectory use in management research has solidified her position as a rising scholar.  

Accompanying her publications is her active involvement in numerous research projects. From examining self-disclosure in teams to exploring occupational stigma and its impacts, her research portfolio addresses vital questions that have implications for organizational theory and practice. 

Yang has also had the opportunity to present her research at major academic conferences, including the 2023 Society of Industrial and Organizational Psychology Annual Conference and the 2023 Academy of Management Annual Conference. 

“Winning this award is a recognition not just of my efforts, but also of the support and collaboration from so many wonderful people at Warrington,” Yang said. “I’d especially like to thank Dr. Richard Lutz for his great teaching seminar, as well as my fellow students who greatly contributed to the course materials.”

Yang taught Human Resource Management, which covered essential topics including job analyses, recruitment, selection, training, performance management and compensation. The course aimed to equip students with practical knowledge and skills that contribute to effective management while teaching students to apply that knowledge and skills to personal career development. 

“This bountiful recognition is a humbling reminder of the dedication and hard work that went into achieving this,” she said. “It inspires me to continue striving for excellence.”