Exeter Fellow named on Poets&Quants 40-Under-40 Best MBA Professors

We are delighted to announce that Dr Agni Orfanoudaki, Exeter College Fellow in Management Studies, has been named among the 2024 40-Under-40 Best MBA Professors by Poets&Quants, a global business news outlet that is renowned for its comprehensive coverage of graduate business school education, providing news, rankings, and in-depth analysis of MBA programmes and outcomes. 

Dr Orfanoudaki, an Associate Professor of Operations Management at Oxford’s Saïd Business School, lectures on Technology & Operations Management and Machine Learning for Business. She also leads the University’s Data-Driven Decisions Lab (3DL), where she spearheads innovative research in machine learning applications and optimisation, particularly in healthcare and insurance.  

Before coming to Exeter College, Dr Orfanoudaki gained valuable experience at management consultants McKinsey and Company as a business analyst. She then pursued her doctorate in operations research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Her exceptional work has earned her numerous awards, including the William Pierskalla Best Paper Award, the Harvard Data Science Initiative Fellowship, the Theodore Vassilakis Graduate Research Fellowship and the Bayer Women in Operations Research Scholarship. 

Reflecting on the award, Dr Orfanoudaki noted the importance of the “inspiring community” fostered by Exeter College which has contributed to her journey; “I could not have asked for a more welcoming, warm, and collegial community of colleagues than the one I have found at Exeter College. The college offers a truly interdisciplinary environment of high-quality research that cuts across departments, allowing me to get broad exposure across various fields. I feel privileged to serve as a mentor, tutor, and academic advisor to our exceptional students. Being a part of their academic and personal growth is incredibly rewarding, and I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute to their journeys. Exeter College is my academic home in Oxford.” 

Exeter College is especially pleased to be associated with this recognition for the second consecutive year. Last year, Professor Kejia Hu, Exeter Fellow in Business Management Studies, was also named in the Poets&Quants 40-Under-40 Best MBA Professors list. The achievements of our Fellows reflect the standards of excellence and innovative thinking that define Exeter College. 

Exeter extends heartfelt congratulations to Dr Agni Orfanoudaki on her outstanding achievement.