In the midst of a nation-wide Ph.D. shortage at other universities, the University of St. Thomas Opus College of Business has appointed 13 new faculty members spanning 5 different academic disciplines. With these additions, dean Christopher Puto proves that his “teach and prosper” alternative to the “publish or perish” environment found in many universities is compelling to some of the world’s finest teacher scholars. Together with the 11 full-time faculty members the school added one year ago, the 13 new appointments give St. Thomas a total of 85 full-time faculty, equating to a 33 percent growth since the fall of 2006—a growth unparalleled among business schools nationwide, according to the college.
In February 2008 the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) International—the primary accreditor of business schools—came to a controversial conclusion that business schools must continuously identify and enhance the relevance and value of their research. Puto has long held this position, using this approach in recruiting highly-credentialed faculty by placing equal emphasis on classroom skills and research techniques. “What we are seeing,” Puto says, “is a reaction among the faculty who have been recruited by schools that focus first on research. Today’s academics want to be recognized not only for their field contributions, but also for their teaching skills.”
New Endorsed Chair and Director of Morison Center for Entrepreneurship Appointed
Leading the way for this fall’s new faculty additions is David Deeds, the Schulze Endowed Chair and director of the Morrison Center for Entrepreneurship in the Opus College of Business. Deeds recently left the University of Texas at Dallas School of Management where he was an associate professor and the academic director of the Institute for Innovation & Entrepreneurship. He comes to the school as a full professor and tenured member of the faculty in the entrepreneurship department at St. Thomas.
Deeds earned his Ph.D., M.B.A., M.A. and M.S. from the University of Washington and his B.A. from Claremont McKenna College. His research specialty areas include technology entrepreneurship, managing strategic alliances and commercialization of scientific research. Dr. Deeds’ work has appeared in publications ranging from Inc. to The Journal of Business Venturing and The Strategic Management Journal.
New Faculty Members Join Five Other Departments
In addition to Dr. Deeds, the Opus College of Business is pleased to announce twelve other highly qualified faculty members joining its ranks:
Marketing
Clinton Lanier joins the Opus College of Business as an assistant professor of marketing. A Ph.D. graduate of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with an M.A. & M.B.A. from Texas A&M University and a B.A. from Loyola University New Orleans, his specialty areas include experiential marketing, consumer culture and marketing ethics. Lanier has been published in the Academy of Marketing Science Review.
Christine Bennett joins St. Thomas as an assistant professor in the marketing department. Bennett holds a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota, an M.S. from Baruch College at the City University of New York and her B.A. from the University of Rochester. Her specialty areas include advertising, consumer behavior and nonprofit marketing, and she is currently researching the influence of accented speech on marketing communications and the impact of corporate sponsorship on nonprofit organizations.
Stephen Vuolo comes to St. Thomas’ marketing department as a limited term professor with extensive industry experience in branding, advertising and marketing. Vuolo received his M.B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and his B.A. from Bucknell University.
Jonathan Seltzer joins the marketing department at the University of St. Thomas’ Opus College of Business as a limited term professor with more than twenty years experience in corporate strategic planning and market assessment. Seltzer has previously taught at the University of Minnesota and abroad in Spain, Poland and Morocco. He earned his M.B.A. at the University of Chicago and his B.A. at Lawrence University in Appleton, WI.
Accounting
Janell Blazovich comes to the accounting department as an assistant professor at the Opus College of Business after receiving her Ph.D. from Texas A&M University, her M.B.A. from the University of Minnesota and her B.S. from Marquette University. Blazovich was the winner of the Distinguished Paper Award in 2005 from the American Accounting Association Southwest Region and is currently researching ethical corporate citizenship.
Finance
Mufaddal Baxamusa joins St. Thomas’ finance department as an assistant professor after receiving his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota, his M.B.A. from George Washington University and his B.S. from the Indiana Institute of Technology. Baxamusa’s research interests include executive compensation, behavioral finance, corporate governance and capital structure.
Dobrina Georgieva joins the finance department at St. Thomas as an assistant professor after receiving her Ph.D. from the University of Arkansas, her M.B.A. at the University of Montana and her M.E. in process control from the University of Chemical Engineering in Bulgaria. Georgieva’s research interests include international and corporate finance and she is currently examining the impact of the Sarbanes Oxley Act. She won the AFA Student Travel Award in 2007 and has been published in the Journal of Current Research in Global Business.
Management
Michael DeVaughn joins St. Thomas in the management department as an assistant professor. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin at Madison, his M.B.A. from Indiana University and his B.A. from Brown University. He is a member of the Academy of Management, the Strategic Management Society and the Management Faculty of Color Association. DeVaughn’s research interests include organizational learning and entrepreneurship.
Nuri Hassumani comes to St. Thomas’ management department as a limited term professor. Hassumani earned his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota, his M.Ed. at Colorado State University and his B.S. from the University of North Dakota. He has taught at the University of St. Thomas as an adjunct professor since 1997 and was the college president at Anoka-Hennepin Technical College.
Peter Southard joins St. Thomas as an assistant professor of management. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska after receiving his M.B.A. from Drake University and his B.S. from Iowa State University. Southard has been published in the International Journal of Production Economics and Management Decision and focuses on process improvement in supply chains.
Ethics and Business Law
Katherine Glac is joining the Opus College of Business as an assistant professor of ethics after earning her Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School and her M.B.A. and B.A. from Friedrich-Alexander University in Nuremberg, Germany. Glac has taught business ethics courses at the University of Pennsylvania and is interested in socially responsible investing, corporate social responsibility, corporate philanthropy and social initiatives and misrepresentations in negotiations.
Christopher Michaelson joins St. Thomas as an assistant professor in ethics. Michaelson’s research specialties include meaningful work, aesthetics and ethics and emerging risk management. He earned his Ph.D. and M.A. from the University of Minnesota and his B.A. from Northwestern University. Michaelson has been published in the Journal of Business Ethics and the Business and Professional Ethics Journal.
With a vision to educate highly principled global business leaders, the University of St. Thomas Opus College of Business offers undergraduate majors in 12 fields and master’s degrees in eight programs, including a Full-time, Evening, Executive and Health Care MBA. The school enrolls another 7,800 participants annually in its executive education and professional development classes, and provides custom programs for 150 businesses and nonprofits.
