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A Special Message from Dean Earley

Dear UConn Community,

A number of you may have heard that I was interviewed for the Dean’s position at the Krannert School of Management at Purdue University this spring. After the conclusion of their search process, I was informed that they wished to offer me this wonderful opportunity. It is with this background that I wish to let you know that after long and careful consideration, as well as extensive discussions with the President and Provost, I’ve decided to accept their offer and I will be leaving the UConn School of Business. At the request of the Provost, and to ensure we can complete several ongoing efforts, I will stay in my role until December 1, 2011 so that we can ensure a smooth transition as the search for a new Dean is undertaken.

During the coming weeks, we will be implementing a transition team appointed by the Provost in conjunction to our ongoing Associate Deans and senior staff so you shouldn’t experience any hiccups or bumps. I also believe that the President and Provost will be very proactive in moving forward a search for a new Dean and I hope you’ll provide them with all of your support.

In the nearly four years I’ve served as the Dean, I’ve been given a number of wonderful opportunities to meet with a tremendous faculty, staff, students and alumni. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing a number of people engage at a level that they had not done so previously and to see our staff step up to numerous challenges during the economy’s worst downturn since the early 20th century. Many of you have stepped up selflessly and taken on new duties and challenges that have enabled us to experience important successes as a school. In just these few years, and after a tremendous effort on everyone’s part, we’ve introduced two new MS programs, a revolutionary redesign of our MBA, a living-learning community for our undergraduate program, a new BSBA for the regional campuses, developed over a dozen new international partnerships and will sponsor the first business school U21 international conference, integrated experiential learning throughout the learning experience for our students and pioneered an experiential accelerator for social innovation including our membership in the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities national consortium as well as Special Olympics International, just to name a few highlights. These initiatives are attributable to our faculty, students and staff as well as external supporters.

I’ve also been blessed with an opportunity to work with a cadre of fellow Deans at the university who are second to no one at any institution. The Provost has provided critical support and guidance to us at the school and, while my acquaintance has been brief, I believe that UConn is very fortunate indeed in the arrival of its new President. Under her leadership I believe that UConn will continue it’s quick ascension in the academic ranks and to provide continuing leadership for the State of Connecticut.

UConn is truly a world-class university and there are many aspects of the job that I will miss dearly. I have felt welcomed by many different people throughout the UConn community and I’ve very much appreciated this support, in particular, given the extensive changes that have taken place at the school. I believe very much that UConn is headed on a very strong upward trajectory and I’m proud to have had the opportunity to contribute towards this mission.

Thank you for providing me with this unique and rewarding experience and it’s been my honor to get to work with such a talented group of people.

Chris Earley


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“Summer” at UConn

The week of May 3rd – 5th is finals week at the University of Connecticut School of Business, and Summer, a Certified Therapy Dog came to offer her special brand of help to students.

Summer’s handler, Kathy Hendrickson, works in the School of Business Career Center and is also an instructor at the School.  The Career Center staff sees first-hand the stress that students feel at the end of the semester with regard to finishing classes and landing jobs.  However, as Summer sashayed into the department’s suite and held court on Tuesday and Thursday, the compassion and gentle soul of this six-year old golden retriever gave students a refreshing break to the week.

“Some of the students were showing signs of stress, and it really was a value to them to come sit with Summer for five minutes or even half an hour,” notes Kathy Hendrickson. There was one small hiccup on Tuesday when Summer found a small stream during lunch and proceeded to roll in the mud while Kathy and fellow Career Center staff member Lorraine Liswell ineffectively tried to change her mind.  Summer, and Kathy’s shoes for that matter, were rather fragrant during the afternoon hours, but no one seemed to mind.


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UConn B-School Featured in the Princeton Review’s “The Best 300 Business Schools: 2011 Edition”

UConn is an outstanding business school, according to The Princeton Review. The education services company features the school in the new 2011 edition of its book, “The Best 300 Business Schools” (Random House / Princeton Review).

According to Robert Franek, Princeton Review Senior VP-Publishing, “We are pleased to recommend UConn’s School of Business as one of the best institutions they could attend to earn an MBA. We chose the 300 business schools in this book based on our high opinion of their academic programs and offerings, as well as our review of institutional data we collect from the schools. We also strongly consider the candid opinions of students attending the schools who rate and report on their campus experiences at their schools on our survey for the book.”Continue Reading


Faculty Awards 2011

The Teaching and Research Committee at the University of Connecticut School of Business has met and evaluated the nominations for annual Faculty Awards.   The following winners were selected:

Best Paper:  (3-way tie)

Xue Bai and Manuel Nunez: “Managing Data Quality Risk in Accounting Information Systems” 
(with Jayant Kalagnanam), Information Systems Research

Xinxin Li: “Price Effects in Online Product Reviews: An Analytical Model and Empirical Analysis”   
(with Lorin M. Hitt), MIS Quarterly

David Souder and Zeki Simsek: “The Differing Effects of Agent and Founder CEOs on the Firm’s Market Expansion” (with Scott G. Johnson), Strategic Management Journal

Research Excellence:  John Zhang

Undergraduate Teaching:  Dave Papandria

Graduate Teaching:  Amy Dunbar

Teaching Innovation:  Andy Rosman (with Roger Travis, Modern and Classical Languages)

Service Award:  Tim Dowding


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Ackerman Scholars Announced

The Dean’s Council has reviewed the Ackerman Scholars at the University of Connecticut School of Business and made the following awards:

Appointed for the next two years (2011-12 and 2012-13) are:

  • Sulin Ba, OPIM
  • Joe Golec, Finance
  • John Harding, Finance
  • Suresh Nair, OPIM
  • Rex Santerre, Finance
  • Zeki Simsek, Management

Continuing in their second year are:

The Ackerman Scholar award recognizes significant and continuing all round academic productivity among the faculty of the School. It is awarded to faculty who are not already supported by Chair or Professorship appointments. The award is supported by the Ackerman Fund, the School and the departments. The purpose of the Ackerman Fund is to “grant a monetary reward to faculty members who have excelled in classroom teaching, curriculum development, research, outreach to business and state agencies.”


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