Freeman welcomes nine to faculty for 2018-19

Tulane University’s A. B. Freeman School of Business is pleased to announce the appointment of nine new faculty members for the 2018-19 academic year. The appointments, which were effective July 1, represent the latest additions in the Freeman School’s continuing faculty expansion initiative, which since 2011 has increased the number of tenure-system faculty at the business school by 47 percent.

Xianjun Geng

Professor of Management Science and Executive Director, Master of Business Analytics Program

Xianjun Geng teaches advanced business analytics and serves as area coordinator of management science and executive director of the Master of Business Analytics program. He comes to the Freeman School from the University of Texas at Dallas, where he served as an associate professor of information systems. He has extensive teaching experience in business analytics and information technology management and has received multiple teaching awards at the undergraduate, graduate and doctoral levels. Geng’s research interests include pricing, information security, business analytics, supply chain management and behavioral economics, and his work has appeared in Management Science (in IS, Marketing and OM departments), Information Systems Research, MIS Quarterly, Journal of Management Information Systems, Journal of Marketing, Marketing Science, Journal of Retailing, and Production and Operations Management. He currently serves as associate editor for MIS Quarterly and Information and Management, and he previously served as associate editor for Information Systems Research and special issue editor for Production and Operations Management. Geng received his Bachelor of Engineering, Bachelor of Economics and Master of Engineering from Tsinghua University and his PhD in information systems from the University of Texas at Austin.

Hyung Sup “Zack” Bhan

Assistant Professor of Marketing

Hyung Sup “Zack” Bhan teaches research and analytics in the marketing program. He joins the Freeman School from Northwestern University, where he earned his PhD and MBA with concentrations in marketing. With an industry focus on omni-channel retailing and durable goods, Bhan’s research interests include customer value, social influence, online reviews and product unavailability. In his dissertation, he explores how intra-household interactions and product unavailability shape customer behavior in an apparel shopping environment. Prior to beginning his graduate studies, Bhan worked as a loan officer and as a researcher in a South Korean development bank. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Korea University.

Tuhin Chaturvedi

Assistant Professor of Management

Tuhin Chaturvedi teaches strategic management in the undergraduate program. He comes to the Freeman School from the University of Pittsburgh, where he earned his PhD in strategic management in 2018. His research focuses on corporate development decisions (alliances/joint ventures, acquisitions, divestitures and internal investments) and how these decisions shape corporate strategy across various environmental contexts. Chaturvedi’s dissertation examines the corporate development decisions of firms during periods of technological change in the telecommunication equipment, computer networking and digital photography product markets. Prior to embarking on his scholarly career, Chaturvedi worked as a management consultant, delivering projects for clients across multiple industries. He holds a master’s degree in business management from the University of Warwick and a bachelor’s degree in telecommunication engineering from Visveswaraiah Technological University.

Stephanie Cheng

Assistant Professor of Accounting

Stephanie Cheng teaches the intermediate financial accounting course in the undergraduate program. She received her PhD in accounting from the University of Toronto and dual bachelor’s degrees in psychology and economics from the University of Texas at Austin. Her research interests include the roles of other information (from alternative sources) in capital markets, capital market regulations and auditing, with an emphasis on the emerging issues in the government bond markets. Her PhD dissertation, which examines externalities of firms’ financial information in the secondary state-bond market, was presented at the 2018 Financial Accounting and Reporting Section (FARS) Midyear Meeting, the 28th Annual Conference on Financial Economics and Accounting (CFEA), and the 2018 MIT Asia Conference in Accounting. Prior to her doctoral studies, Cheng worked as a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) and taught case-based seminars at the CPA Ontario School of Accountancy in Canada.

Lisa LaViers

Assistant Professor of Accounting

Lisa LaViers teaches managerial accounting in the undergraduate program. She joins the Freeman School from Emory University, where she recently completed her PhD in accounting. Her research focuses on managerial accounting, with an emphasis on issues related to performance management and control. Motivated by the current controversy over pay transparency, her dissertation examines the effect of transparency and personality type on employee effort in the firm. Prior to pursuing her doctoral studies, LaViers spent several years doing neuroeconomic research at the Center for Neuropolicy on how the brain trades off moral values and financial gain. She holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Emory University.

Junghee Lee

Assistant Professor of Management Science

Junghee Lee teaches business analytics in the undergraduate program. He come to the Freeman School from the University of California, San Diego, where he earned his PhD in Innovation, Technology and Operations Management. His research interests include innovation and technology management in supply chain and healthcare operation, and his work has been published in Manufacturing & Service Operations Management and IIE Transactions. He holds a master’s degree in Industrial & Operations Engineering from the University of Michigan and a bachelor’s degree in Information and Industrial Engineering from Yonsei University.

J. Cameron Verhaal

Assistant Professor of Management

J. Cameron Verhaal teaches management of new ventures in the undergraduate program. He joins the Freeman School from Georgia State University, where he served as an assistant professor of managerial sciences since 2015. He received his PhD in 2014 from the University of Utah. His research focuses on growth and competitive dynamics of small, entrepreneurial firms. Specifically, he is interested in how organizations in craft-based industries — such as organic foods, craft beer and handmade products — manage growth, particularly when it undermines their identity or reputation as authentic, small-scale and traditional producers. His work has been published in Strategic Management Journal, Organization Science and Journal of Management. Verhaal holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Colorado, an MBA from the University of Arizona and a master’s degree from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. Prior to entering academia, he lived in Mexico, where he owned his own business and consulted briefly for Mexico’s National Science Foundation on issues related to technology transfer.

Erick Valentine

Professor of Practice in Accounting

Erick Valentine teaches managerial accounting in the undergraduate program. He comes to the Freeman School from Grambling State University, where he served as an associate professor of accounting and interim dean of the College of Business. He received his PhD from the University of Memphis. His research focuses on managerial decision making in ambiguous environments and accounting pedagogy. Prior to beginning his doctoral studies, Valentine worked as a cost accountant for IBM and 3M. He holds a master’s degree in accountancy from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Jackson State University.

Lara White

Professor of Practice in Business and Legal Studies and Executive Director, Executive and Professional Education

Lara White teaches negotiations in the executive MBA program and will be leading the development of non-degree Executive and Professional Education programming at the new Stewart Center CBD, located in Tulane’s NOCHI building space downtown. She comes to the Freeman School after a successful career in private legal practice in New Orleans, most recently as a partner with Adams & Reese LLP. She has over 20 years’ experience counseling cross-industry clients on a variety of legal and business challenges, building strategic relationships, managing complex litigation, assembling and leading diverse teams, drafting and negotiating contracts, anticipating and evaluating risk, mediating and settling cases, and handling legal budgeting, forecasting and cost-control measures. White has worked with small companies as well as Fortune 100 and 500 corporations. She has experience teaching, mentoring and in professional education development and delivery. She holds a bachelor’s degree and a JD from Tulane University.

In addition to tenure system and professor of practice appointments, the Freeman School also named nine individuals to one-year appointments as visiting assistant professors of business. These include Anna Abdulmanova, Lexi Kang, Shasta Shakya, Adam Welker and Jae Yung Kim, visiting assistant professors of finance; Xing Fang, Yi-Lin Tsai and Joonkyung Kim, visiting assistant professors of marketing; and Hamid Vahidnia, visiting assistant professor of management.

“This year’s new faculty members come from many different backgrounds, but they each share our commitment to being a leader in 21st century business education,” said Ira Solomon, Freeman School dean. “It gives me great pleasure to welcome them to Tulane University, and I look forward to seeing the great things they will accomplish.”