As promised in last week’s Dean’s Message, here are seven more faculty members joining us this year as new faculty or in new roles:
LAUREL MAZUR, Assistant Professor of Accountancy
Previous Position: I was a Ph.D. student at the Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland. I also worked as both a research assistant and dissertation intern at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond from 2014 to 2022.
Graduate Degree(s): M.A. in Global Finance, Trade and Economic Integration and an M.A. in Economics – both from University of Denver; Ph.D. in Accounting and Information Assurance from University of Maryland - College Park.
Teaching/Research Specialty: At Mendoza, I teach the undergraduate course Data Analytics in Accounting. My research is in financial accounting, with particular emphasis on issues related to supervision, regulation and disclosure in the banking industry.
Why did you specialize in this area? These research areas were informed and influenced by my time working in bank supervision at the Federal Reserve. I hope that this experience will allow me to ask interesting and relevant questions that have the potential for impact far beyond the banking industry.
Previous Position: I was a Ph.D. student at the Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland. I also worked as both a research assistant and dissertation intern at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond from 2014 to 2022.
Graduate Degree(s): M.A. in Global Finance, Trade and Economic Integration and an M.A. in Economics – both from University of Denver; Ph.D. in Accounting and Information Assurance from University of Maryland - College Park.
Teaching/Research Specialty: At Mendoza, I teach the undergraduate course Data Analytics in Accounting. My research is in financial accounting, with particular emphasis on issues related to supervision, regulation and disclosure in the banking industry.
Why did you specialize in this area? These research areas were informed and influenced by my time working in bank supervision at the Federal Reserve. I hope that this experience will allow me to ask interesting and relevant questions that have the potential for impact far beyond the banking industry.
MITCH OLSEN, Associate Teaching Professor of Marketing, Assistant Department Chair and Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Marketing Department
Previous Position: Assistant Professor of Marketing at the Mendoza College of Business (my office is still in the same location, but since I'm new to the teaching faculty and administrative roles listed above, I look forward to using my "new faculty" designation as cover for asking lots of questions and forming new connections with even more members of our Mendoza family).
Graduate Degree(s): M.S., and Ph.D. in Marketing from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business.
Teaching/Research Specialty: Marketing strategy, with a specific focus on substantive issues that occur at the intersection of brands, retailing and innovation.
Why did you specialize in this area? I have always loved how marketing is a dynamic field that is constantly finding new ways to better meet timeless consumer needs. At its core, marketing is about creating value for people. Doing that effectively requires empathy in the form of truly understanding a target market's wants and needs, strategically determining how you can meet some of their needs better than anybody else, and collaborating across all business domains to actually go out and deliver on that promise.
Previous Position: Assistant Professor of Marketing at the Mendoza College of Business (my office is still in the same location, but since I'm new to the teaching faculty and administrative roles listed above, I look forward to using my "new faculty" designation as cover for asking lots of questions and forming new connections with even more members of our Mendoza family).
Graduate Degree(s): M.S., and Ph.D. in Marketing from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business.
Teaching/Research Specialty: Marketing strategy, with a specific focus on substantive issues that occur at the intersection of brands, retailing and innovation.
Why did you specialize in this area? I have always loved how marketing is a dynamic field that is constantly finding new ways to better meet timeless consumer needs. At its core, marketing is about creating value for people. Doing that effectively requires empathy in the form of truly understanding a target market's wants and needs, strategically determining how you can meet some of their needs better than anybody else, and collaborating across all business domains to actually go out and deliver on that promise.
JOHN SIKORSKI, Assistant Teaching Professor in Business Ethics and Society
Previous Position: I served the last two years as a postdoctoral teaching scholar at Mendoza, teaching Introduction to Business Ethics as well as working with the new Business Honors Program.
Graduate Degree(s): M.T.S. in Liturgical Studies and a Ph.D. in Moral Theology and Christian Ethics – both from the University of Notre Dame.
Teaching/Research Specialty: Business Ethics, Virtue Ethics, Christianity and capitalism, Catholic Social Teaching, theological anthropology, environmental ethics, and bioethics.
Why did you specialize in this area? I am convinced that many of the problems we find in culture and society stem from various misunderstandings of the human person, who ought to be the heart and center of every culture. Developing a person-centered culture is the only adequate response to the great dignity of each human person as made in the image and likeness of God. Since business, when practiced justly, plays such a large role in furthering good in society, there is a great need for virtuous business leaders to develop themselves, their skills, and their talents to serve, and not to be served. Approaching the field of business from the perspective of both faith and reason – which are not opposed but rather complementary – and working with many wonderful students to explore these topics from the depth of the philosophical and theological traditions, leads me to have great hope that we truly can build a better culture and society, if we succeed in forming leaders who pay attention to, and even prioritize, working for the common good.
Previous Position: I served the last two years as a postdoctoral teaching scholar at Mendoza, teaching Introduction to Business Ethics as well as working with the new Business Honors Program.
Graduate Degree(s): M.T.S. in Liturgical Studies and a Ph.D. in Moral Theology and Christian Ethics – both from the University of Notre Dame.
Teaching/Research Specialty: Business Ethics, Virtue Ethics, Christianity and capitalism, Catholic Social Teaching, theological anthropology, environmental ethics, and bioethics.
Why did you specialize in this area? I am convinced that many of the problems we find in culture and society stem from various misunderstandings of the human person, who ought to be the heart and center of every culture. Developing a person-centered culture is the only adequate response to the great dignity of each human person as made in the image and likeness of God. Since business, when practiced justly, plays such a large role in furthering good in society, there is a great need for virtuous business leaders to develop themselves, their skills, and their talents to serve, and not to be served. Approaching the field of business from the perspective of both faith and reason – which are not opposed but rather complementary – and working with many wonderful students to explore these topics from the depth of the philosophical and theological traditions, leads me to have great hope that we truly can build a better culture and society, if we succeed in forming leaders who pay attention to, and even prioritize, working for the common good.
MADDY THOMPSON, Assistant Professor of Accountancy
Previous Position: I was at the University of Michigan for both my Ph.D. and my postdoc.
Graduate Degree(s): MA in Accounting and Ph.D. in Business Administration from the University of Michigan.
Teaching/Research Specialty: My research focuses on the intersection of public policy and accounting issues. I often say "governance and governments" as a quick summary. My specialty in teaching is financial accounting and I am teaching Corporate Financial Reporting this fall.
Why did you specialize in this area? I'm very interested in understanding how policies play out, if policies achieve their stated goals and/or have other implications. I love that there is the potential for impact, whether that be in how policy is enacted or how organizations and individuals in positions of influence react to policy. I also love that my area of study affords me the opportunity to work with an array of co-authors from different specialties.
Previous Position: I was at the University of Michigan for both my Ph.D. and my postdoc.
Graduate Degree(s): MA in Accounting and Ph.D. in Business Administration from the University of Michigan.
Teaching/Research Specialty: My research focuses on the intersection of public policy and accounting issues. I often say "governance and governments" as a quick summary. My specialty in teaching is financial accounting and I am teaching Corporate Financial Reporting this fall.
Why did you specialize in this area? I'm very interested in understanding how policies play out, if policies achieve their stated goals and/or have other implications. I love that there is the potential for impact, whether that be in how policy is enacted or how organizations and individuals in positions of influence react to policy. I also love that my area of study affords me the opportunity to work with an array of co-authors from different specialties.
ANDREW WENDELBORN, Assistant Advising Professor and Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Studies
Previous Position: I served as the Assistant Director for Advising and Administration, Mendoza Office of Undergraduate Studies.
Degrees: B.A. in History and Master of Nonprofit Administration from the University of Notre Dame; currently completing an Ed.D. in Leadership and Learning in Organizations from Vanderbilt University.
Teaching/Research Specialty: Academic Advising and Student Support.
Why did you specialize in this area? I have served in an advising role in Mendoza for nearly nine years, first with MBA, MSA and MSM students and now with our undergraduate student population. As a Double Domer, I am committed to supporting our students and their academic endeavors so that their student experience at Notre Dame is as good as mine was – or better!
Previous Position: I served as the Assistant Director for Advising and Administration, Mendoza Office of Undergraduate Studies.
Degrees: B.A. in History and Master of Nonprofit Administration from the University of Notre Dame; currently completing an Ed.D. in Leadership and Learning in Organizations from Vanderbilt University.
Teaching/Research Specialty: Academic Advising and Student Support.
Why did you specialize in this area? I have served in an advising role in Mendoza for nearly nine years, first with MBA, MSA and MSM students and now with our undergraduate student population. As a Double Domer, I am committed to supporting our students and their academic endeavors so that their student experience at Notre Dame is as good as mine was – or better!
YANG YANG, Assistant Professor of IT, Analytics, and Operations
Previous Position: Research Assistant Professor at Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO) and Kellogg School of Management.
Graduate Degree(s): Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Notre Dame.
Teaching/Research Specialty: Data mining/machine learning, computational social science and science of science.
Why did you specialize in this area? I’m interested in studying how social networks affect individuals' success. Specifically, I’ve studied the link between social network and leadership attainment, the effect of team composition on performance and innovation, and the role of media and social media in shaping public access to science.
Previous Position: Research Assistant Professor at Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO) and Kellogg School of Management.
Graduate Degree(s): Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Notre Dame.
Teaching/Research Specialty: Data mining/machine learning, computational social science and science of science.
Why did you specialize in this area? I’m interested in studying how social networks affect individuals' success. Specifically, I’ve studied the link between social network and leadership attainment, the effect of team composition on performance and innovation, and the role of media and social media in shaping public access to science.
MICHAL ZATOR, Assistant Professor of Finance
Previous Position: I was a visiting assistant professor in the Department of Finance for the last two years. Before that, I completed my Ph.D. at Northwestern University.
Graduate Degree(s): Ph.D. in Managerial Economics from Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University; and an MA in Applied Mathematics from Wroclaw University of Technology, Poland.
Teaching/Research Specialty: I do research at the intersection of finance and labor economics, and I teach corporate finance.
Why did you specialize in this area? I am interested in how business decisions made by corporations and financial institutions influence the life of workers and consumers.
Previous Position: I was a visiting assistant professor in the Department of Finance for the last two years. Before that, I completed my Ph.D. at Northwestern University.
Graduate Degree(s): Ph.D. in Managerial Economics from Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University; and an MA in Applied Mathematics from Wroclaw University of Technology, Poland.
Teaching/Research Specialty: I do research at the intersection of finance and labor economics, and I teach corporate finance.
Why did you specialize in this area? I am interested in how business decisions made by corporations and financial institutions influence the life of workers and consumers.
Again, welcome to all. I hope these brief bios will also start some conversations around the coffee machine!
Yours in Notre Dame,
Martijn