Sally Webber, HSBC Professor of Accountancy, was one of three women from the faculty and staff ranks to be honored by the NIU Presidential Commission on the Status of Women. The NIU Presidential Commission gave Webber the 2008 NIU Outstanding Mentor designation for her tireless commitment over the years to mentoring students and fellow faculty members. Webber has been a NIU business faculty member for nine years and is also an alumnus of the business college, earning both a B.S. in Accountancy and an M.A.S. in Accountancy from NIU. Having experienced the university as both a student and a faculty member, Webber possesses a unique insight into the NIU culture and educational environment that has proven to be invaluable to both students and faculty. An accomplished scholar-teacher, Webber's intellectual contributions are also highly respected. More >>
Nancy L. Russo was named the Pavlović Professor of Information Systems in 2008. The sponsors are Mike and Mira Pavlović. There are currently 18 named professorships/ fellowships held by College of Business faculty.
Dan Weilbaker, McKesson Pharmaceutical Group Professor of Sales in the Marketing Department, was elected to serve on the Board of Directors for the Professional Society for Sales and Marketing Training (SMT). The SMT is the only association that is dedicated exclusively to improving sales and marketing performance through training, thereby accelerating overall business results. SMT's membership consists of corporate sales trainers as well as consultants who do sales training. Weilbaker is the only academic member seated on the board. Other board members include corporate presidents and senior-level executives. Along with his academic duties, Weilbaker also directs the NIU College of Business Professional Sales Program, which has the distinction of being the first collegiate program ever accredited by the SMT. The college's Professional Sales Program was also named one of 15 "incubators for greatness" by Selling Power Magazine.
NIU faculty from four colleges, including the university's business college, are collaborating together to create an interdisciplinary approach to certain aspects of health care education. This interdisciplinary approach would touch upon a number of issues that are pulling at a rapidly-evolving healthcare industry. The issues run the gamut from new technologies in the health industry and greater expectations for quality control and regulation, changes in the physician-hospital relationship, to evolving health-benefit structures and integrated electronic patient records, among many others. Currently, the NIU faculty members are surveying healthcare executives nationwide to learn their changing education needs. The outcome from this effort could lead to new certificate programs in healthcare or a new interdisciplinary degree in the healthcare field. NIU faculty members involved in this high-profile university initiative are: Kathleen McFadden, professor of operations in the Operations Management & Information Systems in the College of Business; Donna Munroe, professor of nursing in the College of Health and Human Sciences; Gary Chen, assistant professor of industrial and systems engineering in the College of Engineering and Engineering Technology; and, Jay Naftgzer, visiting associate professor in the College of Law and former vice president of legal services for Well-Point, Inc., in Chicago. The NIU Healthcare Policy and Management Initiative was created through a six-figure investment made by Board of Trustees Chair Cherilyn Murer and her husband Michael Murer. See "Health Execs Surveyed on Education Needs...NIU Initiative to Address Changing Needs in Health Care Industry."
Professor Chih-Chen Lee was named the recipient of the Michael and Patricia Strachan Professorship. Michael Strachan is a 1976 ACCY alumnus and is currently the Pacific Northwest Area Managing Partner for Ernst & Young (managing E&Y's offices in northern California, Nevada, Utah, Oregon, and Washington). Mike was selected as one of the outstanding accountancy alums in 2003. Besides the professorship, Mike and Tricia made a substantial financial commitment to the Accountancy Department in 2003 – establishing an endowed scholarship fund and providing continuing support to the Department via the Ernst & Young Excellence Fund.
Professor Rebecca Shortridge was named the recipient of the Gaylen and Joanne Larson Professorship. Gaylen is a 1962 ACCY alumnus, was a partner with Deloitte, chief accounting officer for Household International (where he was instrumental in establishing what is now the HSBC Professorship in the Accountancy Department) and then served on Financial Accounting Standards Board before his retirement. He was selected as an outstanding accountancy alumnus in 1988 and Gaylen continues his dedication to the Department through his efforts on the Advisory Council. The Larsons pledged one million dollars to NIU via the True North drive, which will go to student scholarships and international study abroad initiatives.
Charles Downing – of the college's Operations Management & Information Systems Department (OM&IS) – has been named the Wal-Mart Professor in Enterprise Technology Innovation. Wal-Mart has partnered with the OM&IS Department because of its strong academic program that combines information systems with the operations management function, unusual in an undergraduate program. As part of its relationship with the NIU College of Business, Wal-Mart also committed resources to fund Experiential Learning Center projects, under Professor Downing's facilitation, for the next 5 semesters.
Douglas Clinton, Professor of Accountancy and Alta Via Consulting Professorship was named the Burge Family Faculty Fellow in Fall 2007.
Debra Hopkins, Director of NIU's CPA Review program, has been chosen to receive one of the four NIU 2007 Supportive Professional Staff Presidential Awards for Excellence.
Mark Rosenbaum
, Assistant Professor in the Marketing Department, was interviewed in March 2007 on national and Chicago media about his recent scholarly work. In separate interviews, both CNBC and National Public Radio (NPR)-Chicago talked with Rosenbaum about his research study on the relationship between "hangouts" and consumption. The CNBC interview is contained in its March 21, 2007 "Small Biz Report" segment (click to view). Rosenbaum's scholarly study, on which the media interest is based, is entitled "Exploring the Social Supportive Role of Third Places in Consumers' Lives;" the study was published in August 2006 in the Journal of Service Research (click for an abstract of the study).Jon Briscoe, Associate Professor of Management, has been elected in 2006 to a leadership position in the Careers Division in the Academy of Management. The Academy of Management is a leading professional association for scholars dedicated to creating and disseminating knowledge of management and organizations. The oldest and largest scholarly management association in the world, the Academy is the professional home for nearly 17,000 members from 95 nations. Briscoe will serve as Professional Development Workshop Chair in the upcoming year.
Natalie Churyk, Assistant Professor of Accountancy, was named the Caterpillar Professorship in Fall 2006.
Donald Clinton, Associate Professor of Accountancy, was named to the IMA National Management Accounting Foundation for Applied Research Board. Doug also serves as IMA's contributing editor for Strategic Cost Management and as senior content advisor to the IMA Research Centre of Education. Doug has been named the Alta Via Professorship of Management Accountancy.
Debra Hopkins, CPA Review Director, is one of 25 women named to the university's "Amazing Women" List (year 2006), created by the NIU Presidential Commission on the Status of Women.
Katrina Mantzke, Assistant Professor of Accountancy, was named the Kieso Professorship in Fall 2006.
David Sinason, Associate Professor of Accountancy, was appointed to the Board of Advisors for Internal Auditing Magazine. Sinason was also named the Pricewaterhouse Coopers Professorship.
Denise Schoenbachler, Dean and Professor of Marketing, is one of 25 women named to the university's "Amazing Women" List (year 2006), created by the NIU Presidential Commission on the Status of Women.
Donald Tidrick, Professor of Accountancy, was appointed to the United States Comptroller General, Education Advisory Panel. Tidrick was also named the Deloitte Professorship in 2006.
Dan Weilbaker, Professor of Marketing, was named the McKesson Pharmaceutial Group Professor of Sales in Fall 2006.