Freeman welcomes 11 to faculty for 2023-24
The A. B. Freeman School of Business at Tulane University is pleased to announce the appointment of 11 new faculty members for the 2023-24 academic year. The appointments, which were effective July 1, include four tenure-track faculty and seven professors of practice.
Yi-Jen “Ian” Ho, Associate Professor of Management Science
Yi-Jen “Ian” Ho joins the Freeman School from Penn State University, where he served as an assistant professor of information systems. Ho is interested in understanding the impacts of information technologies on consumer choice, and his research focuses on location-based services and advertising, online platforms, and artificial intelligence. He applies various methods to obtain insights and identify causalities, including game-theoretic modeling, econometrics, randomized experiments, and machine learning. His research has appeared in premier business journals including Information Systems Research and Production and Operations Management. Ho received the 2022 Gordon B. Davis Young Scholar Award and the 2017 Nunamaker-Chen Dissertation Award, which is presented by the INFORMS Information Systems Society. His research has also earned best paper awards and nominations at major conferences, including INFORMS Information Systems and eBusiness Sections, WISE, and WEB. He has served as a special-issue senior editor at Production and Operations Management and as a cluster co-chair, associate editor and program committee member for leading conferences. He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from the National Central University, an MS in management information systems from the University of Arizona and a PhD in information systems from the University of California, Irvine.
Chris Hydock, Assistant Professor of Marketing
Chris Hydock comes to the Freeman School from California Polytechnic State University, where he served as the Richard and Julie Hood Assistant Professor of Marketing. Prior to his time at Cal Poly, Hydock was an assistant professor of research at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business and worked with the Georgetown Institute for Consumer Research. At the Freeman School, Hydock will teach Advanced Marketing Strategy, and he has also previously taught Marketing Fundamentals. His research spans the domains of brand activism, consumer reviews, behavior in queues and retail pricing. He employs a variety of methods in his research, including secondary data, surveys, field studies and experiments. Hydock’s research has been published in journals including the Journal of Marketing, the Journal of Marketing Research, Management Science and the Journal of Public Policy and Marketing. He received his PhD from George Washington University and a BA from the University of Colorado.
Benjamin King, Assistant Professor of Management
Benjamin King joins the Freeman School after earning his PhD in strategy and entrepreneurship from the University of Maryland and finishing a postdoc at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Inspired by his experience working for a startup investment firm, King’s research explores non-pecuniary incentives as independent motivators for entering entrepreneurship as well as employee mobility and individual and firm-level investments into human capital development. His most recent published works focus on how gender bias can manifest in managers’ willingness to compete on behalf of a direct report and why employees from smaller firms are more likely to engage in entrepreneurship than employees from larger firms. He holds an MBA and a bachelor’s degree in economics and political science from Brigham Young University.
Fariba Farajbakhsh Mamaghani, Assistant Professor of Management Science
Fariba Farajbakhsh Mamaghani joins the Freeman School’s tenure-track faculty after serving two years as a visiting assistant professor of management science. She came to Freeman from the Naveen Jindal School of Management at the University of Texas at Dallas, where she earned her PhD in management science - operations management. Her current research interests include sustainable operations management, renewable energy and environmental policy, and energy economics, where she applies a combination of mathematical modeling and statistical and analytical techniques such as game theory, optimization, data analysis, and forecasting. Mamaghani currently teaches MBA, Professional MBA and Master of Energy courses, focusing on Business Statistics and Modeling. Her research has been recognized by top journals such as Operations Research, where her work has undergone revision. She holds a Master of Science and Bachelor of Science in industrial engineering from Sharif University of Technology (SUT) in Tehran.
Chris Lipp, Professor of Practice in Business and Legal Studies and Director of Management Communication
Chris Lipp previously served as a lecturer in communications at Rice University and University of Southern California. His work covers persuasion, startup pitches and power dynamics. He wrote two books on persuasion and investor pitching, and he currently coaches entrepreneurs in their fundraising journeys. Prior to his career in academia, Lipp led business projects in semiconductor manufacturing. He holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from UC Berkeley and a master’s degree in social psychology from San Francisco State University focused on implicit motivation and moral emotions. His current work explores personal power and how power is displayed through language.
Larry Merington, Professor of Practice in Management
Larry Merington joins the full-time faculty as a professor of practice after serving as an adjunct professor since 2010. In his new role, Merington will oversee the undergraduate Capstone experiential learning course. Over the course of his career, Merington has been a senior executive and C-level leader in companies spanning multiple industries, including energy, specialty chemicals, waste management, technology, manufacturing and aviation. His experience includes marketing, merger and acquisition, operations, organizational structuring, finance, project management, engineering and new product development. A 30-year veteran of the Air Force Reserves, Merington flew over 60 combat missions as a fighter pilot in Iraq and Afghanistan. He retired as a Wing Commander with the rank of Colonel. Merington holds a graduate degree from St. Edward’s University and an undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame, with additional education from the USAF Air War College.
Christopher Otten, Professor of Practice in Business and Legal Studies
Christopher Otten joins the full-time faculty as a professor of practice after serving more than a decade as an adjunct lecturer. Otten spent the first 14 years of his career as an attorney in New Orleans, where he helped clients ranging from individuals to multinational companies navigate myriad legal issues, including insurance coverage and professional liability. He has also had a specialized focus on LGBT issues, including helping to coordinate legal and communications strategies for the successful lawsuit which overturned Louisiana’s ban on same-sex marriage. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Management from the Freeman School and a Juris Doctor from Loyola University New Orleans College of Law.
Eric Poche, Professor of Practice in Business and Legal Studies
Eric Poché joins the faculty as a professor of practice after serving nearly a decade as an instructor in the Freeman School’s Writing Center. He currently teaches Management Communication, and his research interests include interpersonal and cross-cultural communication. A native New Orleanian, he joined the Freeman School after earning his PhD from Louisiana State University.
Debra Salbador, Professor of Practice in Accounting
Debra Salbador joins the faculty as a professor of practice after serving last year as a visiting lecturer. Prior to coming to the Freeman School, Salbador served on the faculty of Virginia Tech for 25 years, retiring as an Associate Professor Emerita. Upon returning to her hometown of New Orleans in 2019, she served as a visiting assistant professor of accounting at the University of New Orleans for three years. She has published in journals including The Journal of the American Taxation Association, Journal of Accounting Literature and Tax Notes. Prior to beginning her academic career, Salbador practiced as a CPA in public accounting and industry, primarily in the area of taxation. She holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree from the University of New Orleans and a PhD from the University of South Carolina.
Jeff Salyers, Professor of Practice in Marketing
Jeff Salyers joins the faculty as a professor of practice after previously serving as a visiting lecturer and adjunct lecturer. Prior to joining the Freeman School, Salyers spent more than a decade in senior marketing roles at leading consumer packaged goods firms including Kimberly-Clark, Abbott Nutrition and McCormick. He was most recently vice president of marketing and new product development at Reily Foods in New Orleans, where he led brands such as Blue Plate Mayonnaise, Luzianne Iced Tea and New England Coffee. Salyers also previously served as manager of season ticket services for the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Marketing from UNC Charlotte, a master’s degree in sports management from Appalachian State University, and an MBA from The Ohio State University.
Brandon Soltwisch, Professor of Practice in Management
Brandon Soltwisch comes to the Freeman School from the Monfort College of Business at the University of Northern Colorado, where he served as an associate professor of management. In his research, Soltwisch focuses on aiding business leaders as they navigate the decision-making process, especially when bringing their entrepreneurial ideas to life. His work in entrepreneurship, innovation and decision-making styles has been featured in Journal of Cleaner Production, Journal of Small Business Strategy, Journal of Entrepreneurship and Marketing Letters. As a U.S. Fulbright Scholar, he has worked with social entrepreneurs in Slovenia and across the European Union. Additionally, he has professional experience in banking and international trade and has helped to build socially conscious enterprises. He holds a master’s degree and a PhD in business administration from Southern Illinois University.
“Our faculty is truly the backbone of this institution, so it gives me great pleasure to welcome these outstanding educators and scholars to the A. B. Freeman School of Business,” said Dean Paulo Goes. “I look forward to following their careers and sharing in their accomplishments and achievements.”