New Faculty

ISENBERG SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT

DRIVEN TO INSPIRE New Faculty 2018-2019

University of Massachusetts Amherst www.isenberg.umass.edu

FROM THE DEAN

TA B L E O F

CONTENTS

T

his milestone year will highlight the inauguration of our iconic Business Innovation Hub, but our investment in new faculty is no less eventful. Thanks in large part to our growing national reputation, we have attracted eleven gifted, cutting-edge educators. Each is worthy of our “driven” students, who join Isenberg with grade point averages in the neighborhood of 4.0.

To become a member of our faculty, you must be well rounded.

That means excelling in both teaching and research and committing to deep involvement in Isenberg’s culture and community. Our new professors will energize our national research strengths in business leadership, sport and hospitality management, large-scale IT networks, organizational change, and behavioral accounting. As teachers, they will excel in our Business Innovation Hub’s state-of-the-art classrooms and learning commons. And they will disseminate our “driven” culture to our students. That is “driven” with a difference, placing a premium on teamwork, diversity, and inclusiveness.

It is an honor, then, to introduce Isenberg’s eleven new faculty members. Their exceptional performance, high standards, and commitment to Isenberg are sure to catalyze our regional and national footprints.

— Thomas P. Moliterno

Interim Dean Earl Stafford Endowed Professor

NEW DEPARTMENT CHAIRS

4

NEW FACULTY

6

BUSINESS INNOVATION HUB

17

NEW DEPARTMENT CHAIRS

Nelson Lacey

Robert Nakosteen

New finance department chair Nelson Lacey previously excelled in that role from 1993-2007. His research interests include education and testing, personal finance, sport betting markets, and market reaction to new information. His 2017 paper, “Reexamining Fund Manager Skill,” in Managerial Finance, earned that journal’s Best Paper honors. A professor at Isenberg since 1985, Professor Lacey teaches undergraduate courses in corporate finance, financial modeling, and personal finance. On the master’s level, he teaches corporate finance, valuation, and case studies. Professor Lacey has been the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst Association’s Director of Curriculum since 2002 and was its Director of Examinations from 2002-2005.

A professor at Isenberg since 1985, new Operations and Information Management Department Chair Robert Nakosteen was director of the school’s master’s degree programs from 1992-1999. Professor Nakosteen’s research interests include the microeconometrics of labor markets, demographic economics, economic indicators analysis, and business and economic forecasting. In the classroom, he teaches Economics for Managers, Business Data Analysis, and Econometrics to master’s degree students and Statistical Analysis, Regression, and Econometrics to PhD students.

Since 1997, Professor Nakosteen has been Executive Editor of MassBenchmarks, a quarterly review of the state’s economy.

Earlier, he was Forecast Manager of the state’s New England Economic Project and Associate Director of the UMass Amherst-based Massachusetts Institute for Social Economic Research. Before joining Isenberg, he was Director of Forecasting and Analysis at the Tennessee Valley Authority.

Department Chair and Professor Department of Finance

EDUCATION g

PhD, Pennsylvania State University, 1985

g

MBA, Arizona State University, 1980

g

4

ISENBERG SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT

BS, Pennsylvania State University, 1978

|

2018-19

Department Chair and Professor Department of Operations and Information Management

EDUCATION g

PhD, Economics, University of Tennessee, 1978

g

MA, Economics, University of Michigan, 1971

g

BA, Economics, University of Colorado, 1970

5

NEW FACULTY

ISENBERG SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT

Priyank Arora

Assistant Professor, Department of Operations and Information Management Priyank Arora’s teaching and research advances our understanding of operational decision making in and across organizations, especially in light of social and environmental considerations. His current research in operations management spans three areas: healthcare operations, nonprofit organizations, and sustainability.

In those domains, he focuses on emerging markets, top management teams, patenting patterns, diversity, and other topics. Professor Arora’s teaching encompasses strategic management, service operations, global business, entrepreneurial development, technology and innovation management, and other strategic activities. His industry experience includes four years as senior software engineer with Samsung India Software Operations.

EDUCATION PhD, Operations Management, Scheller College of Business, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2018 g

Postgraduate Program in Management (equivalent to MBA), Indian School of Business, 2012 g

g

6

|

2018-19

Emily Heaphy

Assistant Professor, Department of Management Emily Heaphy explores positive relationships in the workplace—their achievement and effects.

That includes the critical role of emotions and the human body in work relationships. Her recent papers have examined resilience in organizations in light of distress and everyday disruptions. She has also written about how emotions at work facilitate what she calls “collective sensemaking.”

In the classroom, she teaches human resources to Isenberg undergraduates. She has also taught courses in organizational behavior and negotiations.

Before Isenberg, Professor Heaphy was an assistant professor at the University of Rhode Island, Boston University, and McGill University.

EDUCATION PhD, Management and Organizations, University of Michigan, 2008 g

BA, Women’s Studies, minor in Economics, Wellesley College, 1997 g

Bachelor of Engineering, University of Delhi, 2007

7

ISENBERG SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT

N E W F A C U LT Y

Simon Huang Assistant Professor, Department of Finance

Andrew Kitto

Simon Huang’s research explores asset pricing, behavioral finance, investment management, and financial history. His paper, “Momentum in Imperial Russia” with coauthor William Goetzmann will appear in the Journal of Financial Economics. In the classroom, he focuses on investments, financial management, fixed income securities, and bank management. Professor Huang also has industry experience as a portfolio manager with PanAgora Asset Management in Boston.

Before joining Isenberg, he was an assistant professor of finance at Southern Methodist University and a visiting assistant professor at the University of Connecticut.

Andrew Kitto studies the industrial organization of the public accounting profession, including audit firms, their mergers, and the implications of their markets and competitive environment. His teaching and research also includes financial reporting. Outside Isenberg, Professor Kitto is an economic research fellow with the Public Accounting Oversight Board’s Office of Economic and Risk Analysis. Before joining Isenberg, he was a visiting assistant professor at the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business. In industry, Professor Kitto was a financial reporting analyst with Detwiler Fenton & Company and a staff auditor with Ernst & Young. His accounting and industry experience in energy, financial services, venture capital, and manufacturing inform his teaching and research.

EDUCATION g

g

8

2018-19

Assistant Professor, Department of Accounting

EDUCATION

PhD, Financial Economics, Yale University, 2015

g

PhD, Accounting, University of Florida, 2017

MA, Statistics, University of California, Berkeley, 2004

g

MS, Accounting, Boston College

g

BS, Accounting, Boston College

BA, Applied Mathematics, Computer Science, Economics, Statistics, University of California, Berkeley, 2003 g

|

9

ISENBERG SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT

N E W F A C U LT Y

Aurora Liu

Assistant Professor, Department of Management Aurora Liu’s research interests include organizational learning and corporate strategies, knowledge networks, entrepreneurship, venture development, and the economics of science and innovation. Her coauthored paper, “Spoils from the Spoiled: Strategies for Entering Stigmatized Markets,” is in the Journal of Management Studies. In the classroom, Professor Liu focuses on business policy and strategy.

EDUCATION

10

g

PhD, Strategic Management, York University, 2018

g

MS, Biotechnology, University of Pennsylvania, 2012

g

BS, Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto, 2010

|

2018-19

Ying Liu

Assistant Professor, Department of Operations and Information Management Ying Liu’s research explores information economics, digital marketing, user-generated content, social media and social networks, and crowd markets. In a recent paper, she assessed the impact of digital rating systems’ design on opinion sharing. Her teaching interests include business analytics/intelligence, user-generated content, social media and social networks, and crowd markets.

Her course, Advanced Business Analytics, surveys managerial data mining, texting and web mining, and more advanced data retrieval and manipulation.

EDUCATION PhD, Computer Information Systems, Arizona State University, 2018 g

BE, Electronic Information Engineering, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications g

11

ISENBERG SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT

N E W F A C U LT Y

Zachary Sheffler

Assistant Professor, Department of Operations and Information Management Zachary Sheffler’s research encompasses video games and gamification, decision-making, online communities, and social influence. He deploys information technology from video games to create motivators in diverse, nongaming software. Professor Sheffler’s research papers have examined attitudes and behaviors associated with unauthorized digital copying, the influence of badge design on bicycle ridership, and decision aids for promoting physical activity/fitness. His teaching has focused on information systems for business and process management, decision making, informational technology management, and business intelligence. In industry, he was a research statistician with Target Training International in Scottsdale, Arizona, a customer service supervisor with Sony Entertainment, and a self-employed actuarial consultant.

EDUCATION PhD, Information and Decision Sciences, University of Minnesota, 2018 g

12

|

2018-19

Cristina Vlas

Assistant Professor, Department of Management Cristina Vlas’ research investigates strategic management, innovation, knowledge transfer/flows, patenting, emerging markets, diversity in organizations, and top management teams. Her recent coauthored papers have examined large family firms and the relationships among CEO personality, managerial discretion, and strategic change; an example is “Dynamic Capabilities, Subnational Environment, and University Technology Transfer” in the journal Strategic Organization. Her teaching interests include strategic management, global business, entrepreneurial business development, diversity in organizations, social entrepreneurship, and technology and innovation management.

EDUCATION PhD, International Management Studies, University of Texas at Dallas, 2018 g

g

MBA, Finance, Thunderbird School of Management, 2012

g

g

BA, History, University of California San Diego, 2008

g

MBA, University of Nebraska at Omaha, 2006

BS, Marketing, Academy of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania, 2001

13

ISENBERG SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT

N E W F A C U LT Y

Radu Vlas

Jeffrey Clark

Radu Vlas’ teaching interests include IS project management, systems analysis and design, business data communication, and computer security. His research interests comprise technological innovation, technology perception, text mining, natural language processing, open source software development, and other activities. A recent research paper is “Evolutionary Software Requirements Factors and their Effect on Open Source Project Attractiveness.” Before Isenberg, Professor Vlas was an associate and assistant professor of Computer Information Systems and Information Technology at the University of Houston-Clear Lake.

Jeffrey Clark ‘88 teaches real estate, including the master’s-level online course, Corporate Real Estate.

Informed by his role as Managing Director of Advisory and Transaction Services with the commercial real estate services and investment firm, CBRE, Professor Clark’s classes draw on his 30 years of real estate experience spanning residential to high-value Fortune 500 projects.

His specializations include portfolio and workplace strategy, facilities and construction project management, capital planning and optimization, lease administration, and other activities. Before joining CBRE in New York City, Professor Clark was a managing partner with Yellow Wood and Amaranth Companies in Easthampton and general manager of the Holyoke Mall at Ingleside.

Assistant Professor, Department of Operations and Information Management

EDUCATION PhD, Computer Information Systems, Georgia State University, 2012 g

14

g

MBA, University of Nebraska at Omaha, 2006

g

MS, Computer Science, Indiana University at Bloomington, 2004

g

BS, University Polytechnica, Bucharest, Romania, 2001

|

2018-19

Lecturer, Department of Finance

EDUCATION g

MBA, University of Georgia, 1997

g

BA, Economics, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 1988

15

ISENBERG SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT

N E W F A C U LT Y

|

2018-19

Lynda Schwartz

Lecturer & Director of Forensics and Analytics, Department of Accounting Lynda Schwartz ’86 coordinates Isenberg’s Master’slevel (MSA) track in forensic accounting. In that role, she teaches two of its three courses, including Introduction to Forensic Accounting and Fraud Investigations. Both incorporate real-life case studies, data analytics, and participation from Isenberg accounting alumni. A founder and Managing Member of Upland Advisory in Newton, Professor Schwartz was a partner with Ernst & Young from 1998-2012. Before that, she was a staff accountant/ investigator on EY’s Fraud Investigation & Dispute Services team. Professor Schwartz is a contributor to the Litigation Services Handbook (John Wiley & Sons) and the AICPA book, Guide to Investigating Business Fraud.

EDUCATION g

BBA, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 1986

BUSINESS INNOVATION HUB 16

17

ISENBERG BUSINESS INNOVATION HUB Opening January 2019 isenberg.umass.edu/innovationhub

Founded in 1947, the Isenberg School of Management on the University of Massachusetts flagship Amherst campus has over 43,000 alumni in 86 countries. Isenberg offers its AACSB accredited courses to 5,100 students on campus, online and in blended formats.

The School’s 3,600 undergraduates major in seven business disciplines, including industry specialties in sport management and hospitality and tourism management. Isenberg’s 1,500 graduate students earn the MBA, MS, and PhD degrees.

The Isenberg faculty has research strengths in alternative investments, quality management, large-scale networks, organizational change and culture and behavioral accounting.

Isenberg’s undergraduate program is ranked #1 in the northeast and #26 in the nation among public business schools by U.S. News & World Report. The Financial Times ranked Isenberg’s online MBA 3rd worldwide.

www.isenberg.umass.edu