School of Business Welcomes 10 New Professors, Each ‘Well Chosen’
During the first faculty meeting of the new semester, Dean John A. Elliott formally welcomed 10 new faculty members to the UConn School of Business.
“The group is a mix of tenure track, in-residence and visiting professors. They range widely in experience, but each is well chosen,” he said. “Our students, our research mission, and our role in advancing the success of our corporate partners, and the state, will all be well served by their engagement.”
Other new professors include:
Robert A. Biolsi, an assistant professor-in-residence, will serve on the Finance Department faculty. He also has almost 20 years of experience as the senior direction/vice president of research at CME Group, one of the largest options and futures exchanges. He has extensive experience as an adjunct professor of economics and finance at UConn, NYU-Polytechnic University and elsewhere. Biolsi earned his Ph.D. from the City University of New York.
Suzanne Cansler, an instructor-in-residence, has joined the Accounting Department faculty. Cansler is a licensed CPA with more than 20 years of corporate, municipal and educational experience. She has been a guest lecturer at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, taught and directed the accounting programs at State University of New York at Albany, and has actively served with many accounting associations. Cansler has also served as an independent consultant where she has conducted several audit training workshops for the Professional Development Program (SUNY Research Foundation). Her professional interests include financial accounting and reporting, international accounting, internal control and audit, as well as governmental and not-for-profit entities.
Mehmet Cihan, a Visiting Assistant Professor, has joined the Finance Department, from Tulane University, where he earned his Ph.D. in finance and financial accounting in May. He has also served as an adjunct lecturer at Tulane. His professional interests include corporate finance, takeovers, mergers, internal organization and economics of innovation.
Yaacov Kopeliovich, assistant professor-in residence in the Finance Department, completed a Ph.D. in finance in 2014 from the EDHEC Business School in France. He also has a Ph.D. in mathematics, magna cum laude, from Hebrew University in Israel, as well as a masters in financial engineering from University of California in Berkeley. Kopeliovich’s professional experience includes serving as director of research at a risk-management vendor, Rixtrema Corp. in New York, and as a quantitative analyst at MEAG NY Corp, an asset manager of Munich Re. His research interests include portfolio optimization for bonds and technical trading profitability.
Jonathan Moore ’07 (CLAS), an instructor-in-residence in the Department of Operations and Information Management (OPIM), formerly worked as the administrative manager of HuskyTech for the UConn Information Technology Services program, where he performed a myriad of IT duties. Moore, who earned his undergraduate degree in psychology from UConn in 2007, also earned his MBA from Nichols College. He has worked as an adjunct professor at UConn and as a guest lecturer in the Travelers TechnoEdge program.
Melissa Carver Sottile, an instructor-in-residence in the Accounting Department, has been affiliated with UConn for seven years, first as an adjunct faculty member and later as an assistant director for the School of Business. She was previously a management consultant with PwC and IBM. She has an MBA from the University of Georgia, an MS in accounting and taxation from the University of Hartford, and is a CPA. Her research interests include financial planning, federal taxation, and compensation and metrics.
Steven Utke, an assistant professor in the Accounting Department, joins the faculty after earning his Ph.D. in accounting from the University of Georgia in 2015. He is a CPA in Pennsylvania and New Jersey and formerly worked for Ernst & Young. His research interests include taxation and financial disclosure.
John Wilson ’12 MSBAPM, an instructor-in-residence, has joined the Department of Operations and Information Management (OPIM) faculty. Wilson is a data scientist and PMO Director at LIMRA, a worldwide research, consulting and professional development organization that helps insurance and financial services companies, based in Windsor, Conn. He has taught several classes at UConn as an adjunct professor. Wilson earned his master’s degree in business analytics and project management from UConn in 2012. His professional interests include product development, enterprise data strategy development, and industry forecasting.
Fan Yang, an assistant professor in the Finance Department, joins the faculty from the University of Hong Kong, where he was an award-winning researcher. Yang earned his Ph.D. in finance from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota in 2011. His research interests include theoretical and empirical asset pricing, cross-sectional stock returns and macroeconomics.
