Human Capital Lab’s Murnane honored for research

Dr. Jennifer A. Murnane, Senior Research Associate with Bellevue University’s Human Capital Lab and Associate Vice President of the University’s Strategic Initiatives division, will be honored with the Outstanding Student Award this summer during the 100th Annual American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences (AAFCS) Conference and Expo in Knoxville, Tenn.

Dr. Murnane was selected as the recipient of the Family Relations and Human Development Community’s 2009 Outstanding Student Award for her research and record of achievements. Her doctoral dissertation, “Valuing Stakeholder Knowledge: An Interpretive Study of Knowledge Cultivation and Enablement in a Nonprofit Human Services Organization,” provided research into Boys Town’s effective use of tacit knowledge, or know-how, beliefs, experiences and values. Dr. Murnane found that by collecting, utilizing and communicating individual tacit knowledge, an organization’s employees are more effective at achieving the organization’s mission.

The results of her study can be found in the Spring 2007 issue of Innovation@Work, the Human Capital Lab’s newsletter for human capital strategists.

AAFCS is is the only national non-profit organization that provides leadership and support to family and consumer sciences professionals across multiple practice settings across the United States and Puerto Rico.

Dr. Murnane served as the inaugural Assistant Director of Bellevue University’s Human Capital Lab. In her role as Associate Vice President of Strategic Initiatives for Bellevue University, she cultivates and manages Bellevue University’s visionary corporate clients who recognize the integral role learning has in reaching business objectives.

She is an adjunct professor at Bellevue University, teaching management and finance, and has worked in strategic planning and research at a Fortune 1000 company. Dr. Murnane earned her Ph.D. in Family & Consumer Sciences Education from Iowa State University and earned her bachelor’s degree in finance and banking and her MBA from the University of Nebraska at Omaha.