What's in a Name?

William Shakespeare said, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Fast forward 400 years, and names – at least in academia – mean recognition and rewards for faculty members. In particular, a named position such as an endowed professorship provides a faculty member with measures of both prestige and financial support.

Bruce Walker, dean of the Robert J. Trulaske, Sr. College of Business, explains, “When leading business schools around the country compete for faculty talent, a named position is essential in attracting high-caliber faculty members. Then named positions assist with faculty retention.”

Effective Jan. 1, 2008, five college faculty members were appointed to named positions. Applications for the five named positions were screened by a faculty committee, with final decisions made by Dean Walker. Three of the named positions are new, made possible by generous gifts from Geraldine Trulaske and Richard Miller.

The following faculty members were appointed to the five named positions:

Peter Bloch , professor of marketing, was named the Pinkney C. Walker Teaching Excellence Fellow. He teaches consumer behavior at all levels and has published widely in major journals, including Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Marketing, and Journal of Consumer Psychology. Dr. Bloch is nationally known for his work on consumer responses to product design. His current research interests include the modern culture of celebrity and online consumer behavior.

Jere Francis, professor of accountancy, was appointed the Robert J. Trulaske, Sr. Chair of Accountancy. He moves from the KPMG Research Professorship into this new chair. Prof. Francis has published more than 60 articles in leading journals and also has co-authored an accounting theory textbook. He was awarded a prestigious Curators’ Professorship in 2004. His current research examines the impact of auditing and corporate governance on the quality of corporate financial reports, and the roles of institutions in comparing accounting and auditing practices.

Srinath Gopalakrishna , associate professor of marketing, was selected to receive the David and Judy O’Neal MBA Professorship. His research focuses on quantitative modeling approaches to marketing problems in the areas of business-to-business marketing and sales management. Dr. Gopalakrishna has examined the effectiveness and appropriate deployment of marketing communications such as advertising, direct mail and trade shows in conjunction with personal selling. His work has been featured in noted journals such as Marketing Science, Journal of Marketing Research, and Journal of Marketing.

Sterling Yan, associate professor of finance, was appointed to the newly established position of Richard G. Miller Professor of Finance. He teaches investments at the graduate and undergraduate levels. Prof. Yan received a Faculty Research Development Award in 2005, a Trice Faculty Research Award in 2007, and two teaching awards from the Department of Finance. His research interests include asset pricing, mutual funds, institutional investors and asset volatility. His research has been published in prestigious journals including the Journal of Finance, Review of Financial Studies, and Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis.

Shaoming Zou, associate professor of marketing, was chosen to have the recently created position of Robert J. Trulaske, Sr. Professor of Marketing. His research, which focuses on international marketing strategy and company performance, has won several major awards, including the AMA Global Marketing SIG’s inaugural Excellence in Global Marketing Research Award for ten-year impact. Dr. Zou’s work has been published in the Journal of Marketing, Journal of International Business Studies, and Decision Sciences, in addition to other journals. He serves as department editor for the Journal of International Business Studies.