Gary Powell


Eight Outstanding School of Business Professors Earn 2015 Faculty Awards

A professor who used chocolate chip cookies to teach about quality control, three researchers who had work published in top journals, and an educator who vigorously promoted the School of Business were among the 2015 Faculty Award recipients.

“This year we honored eight outstanding faculty members for their exceptional research, teaching and leadership achievements,” said Associate Dean Sulin Ba. “The selection process was particularly difficult due to the dozens of impressive nominees. We are fortunate to have such talented, creative and remarkable colleagues.”Continue Reading



Award-winning Professor John Mathieu Combines Humor, High Standards in Teaching Doctoral Students

Pictured L to R: Margaret Luciano, a 2015 Ph.D. candidate and Professor John Mathieu
Pictured L to R: Margaret Luciano, a 2015 Ph.D. candidate and Professor John Mathieu

John Mathieu, a professor of management who is described as funny, kind, academically demanding and willing to ‘go the extra mile’ for his students, has earned the Edward C. Marth Mentorship Award for leadership and dedication.

The award, given to a UConn faculty member who teaches at the graduate level, is designed to encourage and reward outstanding mentoring of graduate students. Mathieu has been at the University since 1999 and is the Friar Chair in Leadership and Teams.

“It’s flattering to receive this award,” said Mathieu, who has chaired 19 dissertations and participated in 29 dissertation committees during his career. “It’s a privilege and an honor to get to work with Ph.D. students who are growing into scholars and then embarking on their careers.”

Sulin Ba, associate dean at the School of Business, said Mathieu is very deserving of the award. “His graduate students have been extremely successful. Both current and former students, and his faculty colleagues, testify to his commitment to his students and their careers,” she said. “His work is an inspiration to us all.”

Mathieu earned his bachelor’s in psychology from UConn, and both his masters in psychology and doctorate in industrial/organizational psychology from Old Dominion University. He taught at The Pennsylvania State University until 1999, when he joined the faculty at UConn.

“My experience is that the harder I work with graduate students, the harder they in turn work. It’s exhausting but exhilarating,” Mathieu said. “I find out where they are—and then I keep raising the bar. And they respond and do great things.”

Lauren D’Innocenzo, ’14 Ph.D., an assistant professor in management at Drexel University, described Mathieu as the epitome of an outstanding mentor.

“It is no coincidence that John Mathieu’s students present more papers at academic conferences, win more awards, and publish more papers in top-tier journal outlets,” she said. “John demands the best from his students, not only in publishing quality but in terms of professional demeanor and ethical responsibilities.”

M. Travis Maynard, ’07 Ph.D., an associate professor at Colorado State University and one of Mathieu’s former students, agreed. “I am constantly impressed with John’s passion for what he does as an academician. One of John’s greatest strengths is his predisposition to expect quite a bit from his students. The fact that John has such high expectations for us, makes us raise our performance, because we don’t want to let John down.”

David Souder, a management professor and Ph.D. coordinator, said Mathieu also sets the ‘gold standard’ for his faculty peers.

“Everyone knows that John’s seminars are demanding, and yet I often hear laughter coming from the seminar room,” Souder said. “This is because John has a gift for expressing high-level academic concepts in a down-to-earth way.

“John remains a popular choice as a dissertation-committee member because of his clear thinking, methodological expertise and developmental approach,” Souder said. He noted that all of the students advised by Mathieu in recent years have completed high-level publications during their time at UConn and have accepted positions at prominent research universities.

Meanwhile, Professor Gary Powell, former academic director of the School of Business Ph.D. Program, said that Mathieu has tried hard to reduce gender inequalities in the academic profession. He makes sure his students are aware of starting salaries in their fields and encourages them to demand a fair wage.

“I have the utmost admiration for how Professor Mathieu mentors doctoral students,” Powell said. “I cannot imagine anyone doing it better.”

Many of his former students paint a picture of a professor who is genuinely interested in their well-being.

“John genuinely cares about the success and happiness of his students,” added D’Innocenzo. “He is always looking out for opportunities, whether it is to learn a new skill, meet potential collaborators, or aide in finding an academic position.” He goes the extra mile to foster relationships with others in the field, she said.

Margaret Luciano, a 2015 Ph.D. candidate who has accepted a job at the Arizona State University, describes Mathieu as a tireless advocate for his students. “John mentors graduate students to be able to conduct their own research, not merely to help conduct his research,” she said.

Mathieu said one of his first goals when meeting a new student is to find an area of research that is most meaningful to him or her. He said he then looks for opportunities to pair people up on projects, adding that a network can be incredibly valuable in developing skills and career options.

“I must admit that one of the things that I am proudest of, is the fact that there is now a cadre of UConn graduates who help one another. They look out for one another, they collaborate with one another, and they share their networks and their insights,” he said, fondly referring to them as the “Husky Pack.” “I get great pleasure when colleagues from other institutions tell me how nice, professional and skilled my graduates are.”

Mathieu said he enjoys watching them transition to their own program and that it is like a parent watching their children go off into the world.

Maynard said he still contacts Mathieu for valuable advice.

“While it has been seven years since I graduated from UConn, John and I continue to work together and he still is a mentor for me in several ways,” Maynard said. “John is always quick to respond to any question that I may have—be it research-focused of simply career development advice.”

Mathieu said doctoral students have different needs than, for instance, undergrads. Many are juggling their doctoral work with marriage, children and mortgages. “They’ve got bigger life stresses than they did as undergraduates,” he said. “They have real lives and a lot of people depending on them. I feel it is important not only to support the student, but to help the entire person.”

In fact, instead of accepting the $4,000 stipend that comes with the award, Mathieu has requested it be put in a special fund to help doctoral students with expenses related to their studies.

“These adults are going through many of life’s challenges and critical periods—and they are stressed,’ Mathieu said. “And they, in turn, are going to soon be in positions where they influence many other lives. My goal is to also help them to become compassionate and good human beings, not just researchers and classroom teachers.”

D’Innocenzo said she has adopted some of her former professor’s style.

“As a new faculty member, I only hope that I am able to provide the same mentorship for my students as he has done for me,” she said.


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Honor, Wisdom, Earnestness: Faculty and Students Recognized for Academic Achievements

School of Business Awards and Honors
The best and brightest of UConn School of Business were honored Friday morning, April 25 at the 2014 School of Business Awards & Honors ceremony. Honorees, family and friends gathered in the Dave Ivry Seminar Classroom at the School of Business in Storrs for the annual celebration, where 2014 Student Hall of Fame Fellows were recognized, Ackerman Scholars were awarded, Faculty Awards were presented, and new members were officially inducted to the Beta Gamma Sigma honor society.Continue Reading


The Value of a Day’s Work: Panel Addresses Pay Equity

Women make up 48% of Connecticut’s labor force, and yet in 2011, Connecticut full-time working women earned just 78% of what their male counterparts earned, according to a research brief on pay equity by the Connecticut General Assembly Permanent Commission on the Status of Women (PCSW).Continue Reading


School of Business Ph.D. Program Celebrates 25th Anniversary

On November 8-9, 2012, the University of Connecticut School of Business Ph.D. Program celebrated its 25th Anniversary. Since the beginning of the Ph.D. Program there have been 164 graduates including; 35 in Accounting, 48 in Finance, 31 in Management, 26 in Marketing, and 24 in Operations and Information Management (OPIM). Continue Reading


Universitas 21 – Doctoral Research Conference in Business

The University of Connecticut School of Business hosted the Universitas 21 Doctoral Research Conference in Business (DRCB) April 10-13, 2012. Ph.D. students from twelve U21 schools, including UConn, presented research and received feedback regarding their dissertations from their counterparts, faculty from the participating universities, and UConn faculty. The vision of U21 DRCB is to create a global learning and research platform to prepare the next generation of intellectual leaders in the fields of business, commerce and economics.

This inaugural event was created as a model for future international conferences to be sponsored with Universitas 21. Participants were welcomed at an opening reception at the Hartford Hilton by Robert Bird, Program Chair; Gary Powell, Ph.D. Program Director; and Michele Metcalf, Program Manager. Interim Dean Karla H. Fox greeted the group at the Graduate Business Learning Center the following morning where presentation sessions were held throughout the day. All presentations were video recorded with copies of tapes being provided to presenters. That evening, a Gala Dinner was held at the Hartford Society Room featuring Mr. Jonas Haertle, UN PRME Secretariat. The final day of the conference was held at the Storrs campus at the School of Business and the Alumni Center. Two panel sessions were held on “Finishing the Dissertation” and “From Dissertation to Publication”- which were also recorded and will be available on the website soon. Participants also enjoyed lunch at the School of Business Café, dinner at the Alumni Center as well as a tour of the campus. An optional trip to Boston was also available to participants on Friday.

Attendees at the event included faculty and Ph.D. students from the National University of Singapore, Tecnológico de Monterrey, University College Dublin, University of Amsterdam, University of Auckland, University of Birmingham, University of Delhi, University of Glasgow, University of New South Wales, University of Nottingham, and University of Queensland.

The tracks included International Business, Exchange Rates, Advertising and Branding, Knowledge, Accountability, Investment, Consumer Behavior, Leadership, Management Information Systems, Economics, Corporate Finance, Creativity, Strategy, Taxation and Auditing, Strategies, Markets and Products/Services, and Cognitive Theory.

Photo: Attendees of the Universitas 21


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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 (2012-13 and 2013-14) are:

Continuing in their second year are:

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

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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Ph.D. Student Teaching Awards

On March 22, the Ph.D. students and coordinators for the five Ph.D. concentrations met at Willington Pizza for a “BUS Ph.D. Student Night of Appreciation,” where we celebrated student accomplishments during the last year.

At this event, we announced the winners of the school’s 2012 Ph.D. student teaching awards.  Each of the five Ph.D. program concentrations gave a teaching award to a qualified student in their concentration.  The coordinators of the five concentrations (John Phillips – ACCT,  Joe Golec – FNCE,  Lucy Gilson – MGMT,  Bill Ross – MKTG, and Jan Stallaert – OPIM), along with the program director (Gary Powell), then decided as a group which of the winners of a teaching award in a concentration would receive this year’s School of Business teaching award.Continue Reading


Hang Nguyen Awarded Outstanding Ph.D. Student Scholar Award

The University of Connecticut School of Business Ph.D. Program awarded its second annual Student Scholar Award to Hang Nguyen. Hang was unanimously selected for the award from a group of highly-deserving doctoral student nominations and based on a vote by the five department coordinators and Ph.D. Program Director.

The Student Scholar Award is given in recognition of a student’s scholarly accomplishments during the program. The purpose of this award is to reward a Ph.D. Student Scholar in the School of Business, regardless of stage in the doctoral program, for outstanding scholarly performance.

Hang will be entering her fourth year in the Marketing concentration of the doctoral program in Fall 2011 as an ABD (all-but-dissertation) student in residence. Her advisory committee consists of Bill Ross (chair), Robin Coulter, and Joseph Pancras.

“Ph.D. students like Hang make us look good, and make us proud,” notes Gary Powell, Director, School of Business Ph.D. Program and Professor in the Management Department.


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