“The Jindal School continues to hire outstanding and amazing faculty to provide students with the best education in their chosen majors,” said Dr. Diane McNulty, associate dean for external relations and corporate development who was the master of ceremonies for the event. “It’s an honor to recognize our faculty and staff for their continued contributions to our JSOM students. Our graduates are sought after by many Fortune 500 companies especially in the DFW Metroplex.”

A study conducted by a team that includes Dr. Alejandro Zentner, associate professor of finance and managerial economics at the Jindal School, offers hope to people who fear that society has become too politically polarized.

The paper — “Is the Partisan Divide Real? Polarization in Preferences for Redistribution” — was published in the American Economic Association’s Papers and Proceedings journal in May 2022. The study found that Democrats are nearly as likely as Republicans to state that their share of property taxes is too high.

“One thing that we like, which gives us an optimistic view, is that we are not completely enemies with someone on the other side,” Zentner said. “Perhaps there is a lot more like middle ground or things like we actually agree on. We are only scratching the surface with this study, but that’s the message.”

Three professors in the Accounting Area were recognized by the American Accounting Association’s 2022 Financial Accounting and Reporting Section.

N. Bugra Ozel, associate professor, earned the Best Paper Award for his work “Earnings expectations and employee safety,” co-authored with Judson Caskey of the University of California, Los Angeles, and published in the Journal of Accounting and Economics. He also received Honorable Mention in the Best Midyear Meeting Paper category for “Disclosure and Lawsuits Ahead of IPOs,” coauthored with Burcu Esmer of the University of Pennsylvania and Suhas Sridharan of Emory University.

Jedson Pinto, assistant professor, received the Outstanding Discussion and Excellence in Reviewing awards. Kirti Sinha, assistant professor, also earned the Excellence in Reviewing Award

Sam Cheng, an adjunct lecturer in the Accounting Area and CFO of Earthbound Trading Co., was one of 30 North Texas CFOs and other leaders recognized in D CEO’s 2022 Financial Executive Awards. These awards recognize leaders in the North Texas area for their work in navigating risks and opportunities in the past year’s unpredictable financial climate. Cheng was selected as the Outstanding CFO – Large Private Company for his work at Earthbound Trading Co., a lifestyle retailer with more than 130 stores across the U.S. “Last year, we had the best year in our 30-year history,” said Cheng. “We took things we learned in 2020 and turned those into successes in 2021. We weren’t without labor, supply chain, and COVID challenges, but we still met the needs of customers.”

Gaurav Shekhar, an assistant professor and program director of the Graduate Business Analytics Program, was named to Chief Data Officer Magazine’s “40 Under 40 Data Leaders” list. Chief Data Officer Magazine caters to global leaders in strategic data management and analytics, which are key areas in the foundation of the digital age. Shekhar leads one of the largest business analytics programs in the country at JSOM, teaching courses related to business intelligence, digital consulting and robotic process automation.

At an event held Sept. 25, the Naveen Jindal School of Management recognized the following faculty members for outstanding teaching awards for the academic year 2021-2022. New staff were introduced by their supervisors at the event as well:

• Dr. Zixuan Meng, assistant professor in the Information Systems area won the Outstanding Graduate Teaching Award.
• Dr. Jedson Pinto, assistant professor in the Accounting Area won the Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award.
• George DeCourcy, a lecturer in the Finance and Manageriel Economics Area, won the Outstanding Online Teaching Award.
• Rami El-Youssef, a lecture in the Management and Informations Systems Area, won the award for Outstanding Teaching by an Adjunct Faculty Member.
• Jiapeng He, a PhD student, won the award for Outstanding Teaching by a Teaching Assistant.
• Dr. Milind Dawande, Mike Redeker Distinguished Professor in Management and coordinator in the Operations and Supply Chan Management Area, received the 2022 Provost’s Award for Graduate Research Mentoring.
• Christine Belcher, financial analyst for JSOM, received the Outstanding Staff Award. Christine interfaces with many JSOM staff and faculty for budgets, reconciliations and guidance on financial matters for the school.