Elena Katok, a Naveen Jindal School of Management operations management professor, was honored as one of the top UT Dallas faculty members in an online investiture ceremony June 24 that recognized her as the Ashok and Monica Mago Distinguished Professor in Management.

Although unable to participate in the virtual ceremony, Zhiqiang (Eric) Zheng, a member of the Information Systems Area faculty, has been appointed an Ashbel Smith Professor. A physician, Dr. Ashbel Smith (1805-1886) was the first president of the UT System Board of Regents and is remembered both as the “father of Texas medicine” and the “father of The University of Texas.”

The highest academic honor a university can bestow, a named chair or professorship is funded by endowments that provide recipients with funds to advance their scholarly activities and support their research. JSOM has 30 professors serving in professorships and chairs. The University has 127 in all.

Although both Katok and Zheng were appointed to endowed posts in early 2019, neither was able to participate in the in-person investiture that year, and the COVID-19 pandemic led to postponement of the ceremony scheduled for last year.

JSOM Executive MBA 1999 alumnus Ashok Kumar (A.K.) Mago, founding chairman of the US India Chamber of Commerce DFW and a 2016 UT Dallas Distinguished Alumnus, and his wife, Monica, funded Katok’s post, and their generosity was acknowledged in the last public event held at the Jindal School before the pandemic struck.

The event, a March 3, 2020, dinner the school co-hosted with the US India Chamber of Commerce DFW, welcomed the then-new Consul General of India in Houston, Aseem R. Mahajan. Katok was introduced at the event by Dr. Inga Musselman, UT Dallas provost and vice president for academic affairs, and at a reception preceding the dinner, A.K. Mago commented that “I’m very proud of being a part of this community.”