College honors outstanding faculty and staff

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

The Belk College of Business at UNC Charlotte recently presented annual awards to faculty and staff who have excelled in teaching, research and service. The 2015 Faculty and Staff Awards were presented on April 24 to:

Ethan ChiangKeener HughenEthan Chiang, assistant professor of finance, and Keener Hughen, assistant professor of finance, received the Best Paper award for the paper “Estimating Oil Risk Factors Using Information from Futures and Derivatives Markets,” published in the Journal of Finance. Chiang joined the Belk College faculty in 2008 and received his Ph.D. in finance from Boston College. His research focuses on empirical asset pricing, portfolio management, investment performance evaluation, fixed income securities and financial econometrics. Hughen received a Ph.D. in math from Duke University and a Ph.D. in finance from UConn where he was a visiting professor. He joined the Belk College in 2007.  His area of expertise and research focuses on financial derivatives.  
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Dave WoehrDave Woehr, professor of management and chair of the Department of Management, received the Distinguished Scholarship Award. He was recognized for his strong body of work in the areas of performance measurement, managerial assessment, and applied psychometrics. He has published over 60 peer-reviewed journal articles, as well as book chapters and research presentations. He has also received many large grants, including from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the National Science Foundation. He joined the Belk College in 2011 and received his Ph.D. from Georgia Tech.

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Suzanne SevinSuzanne Sevin, clinical professor of accounting, received the Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award.  She teaches financial accounting courses including ACCT 2121 (Principles of Accounting I), ACCT 3312 (Intermediate Financial Accounting II) in the undergraduate program, and ACCT 6270 (Advanced Financial Accounting II) in the Master of Accountancy program. In addition to the classroom experience, she has also made significant contributions such as serving as coordinator for the entire ACCT 2121 course, normally 18-24 sections each year, completing a substantial revision and enhancement of the financial analysis project by coordinating efforts of both faculty and students.  She joined the Belk College in 2001 and received her Ph.D. from the University of Georgia.
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Judson RussellJudson Russell, clinical associate professor of finance, received an Excellence in Graduate Teaching Award. He has been teaching finance in the Belk College since 2005. His areas of expertise are in investments, corporate finance, derivatives and risk management. He is known for bringing the latest scholarly research to the classroom, teaching students how to use firm expected profitability to pick stocks—a new strategy motivated by a recent top-tier finance journal article, while also receiving strong teacher evaluations and bringing innovation into the classroom. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Alabama.

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Cem SaydamCem Saydam, professor of operations management, received an Excellence in Graduate Teaching Award. He has taught a broad range of MBA courses including decision modeling and analysis via spreadsheets, applied management science, business research and management decision making, decision sciences, and operations management. He has also taught management science and operations management courses in the International MBA programs in Mexico, Taipei, and Hong Kong. He has consistently received very high ratings while being a rigorous instructor.  He received his Ph.D. from Clemson University.

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Gary KohutGary Kohut, professor of management and director of the MBA program, received the Outstanding Service Award. First, he is recognized for his work as director of the MBA program, serving as the chief administrative and academic liaison for the program. At the University level, he has served on the Academic Integrity Board since 1999 as one its original members and was recognized for his service by being named a University Marshal. He has been a faculty associate for the UNC Charlotte Center for Professional and Applied Ethics for nine years, presenting a 2007 talk at the 2nd Annual Business Ethics Forum with Mr. Michael Mulligan, CEO of General Dynamics. He received his Ph.D. from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.
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Lee PerkinsLee Perkins, technology support analyst, received the Belk College Staff Member of the Year Award.  His delivery of high quality services geared towards Belk College Faculty and Staff helps the college run smoothly and efficiently. His nominators have noted that he is incredibly helpful, committed, shows a great deal of dedication, and always represents the College with the utmost professionalism. He not only fixes technical issues, but was also recognized for helping faculty and staff understand the nature of the problem and the solution, so that they are better able to use the technology provided by the University.