He replaces Jan Williams, who retired on February 28 after more than twelve years as dean of the college and thirty-five years at the university.

Before coming to UT, Mangum was senior associate dean at The Ohio State University Max M. Fisher College of Business.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in economics and a master’s degree in human resource management from the University of Utah. He earned a doctorate in economics from George Washington University.

He taught and conducted research at George Washington University before joining the faculty of The Ohio State University in 1983. He taught in the Department of Management and Human Resources for several years before managing the department. He became senior associate dean of the Fisher College of Business in 1996.

Innovative teaching. Encouraging demeanor. A passion for the subject. Contagious enthusiasm. All of these traits help inspire students to great ideas. Here are two faculty members from the College of Business Administration whose teaching, research, and community service are both inspired and inspiring.

Mohammed Mohsin

Mohammed Mohsin, associate professor of economics, only had one name growing up in India. He was just Mohsin.

When he applied for a passport, the Indian Passport officer said they needed more than one name for his paperwork, so he added Mohammed on the spot. Now he has two first names.

It was just one step along his journey.

“I’ve been moving my whole life,” he said.

It was exciting, he said, to grow up in a small village and not know where life might lead him. His father helped him pursue his education, but it wasn’t always easy. He had to walk three miles every day to get to his high school.

As for studying economics?

“That happened by accident,” he said. He was interested in math, but friends told him economics had more practical applications. “At that time I had no idea about economics in a real-life sense. Now I am happy that I studied economics. I can do both.”

He initially studied at the University of Hyderabad in India. He then received a scholarship from the Commonwealth Scholarship from the Canadian government to go to York University in Toronto, where he earned his doctorate.

“Mohammed Mohsin makes for a great story,” said Jan Williams, dean of the College of Business Administration. “He grew up in India and, unlike most of us, experienced both extreme inflation and extreme deflation. This almost certainly influenced his interest in how inflation affects the functioning of an economy, and he is becoming an expert in this topic. He has published more than 20 articles in books and journals since joining our faculty.”

Mohsin has been at UT for twelve years. He teaches and researches international economics, macroeconomics, and monetary economics.

What he teaches is technical, and it’s easy for students to get confused, he said. He does classroom exercises to help them understand the concepts and assigns papers and projects to keep them engaged.

On the weekends, he lives in Asheville, North Carolina. He’s been an American citizen for several years, and his son was born in the United States.

“My son can’t imagine living anywhere besides Asheville,” he said.

Andy Puckett

Andy Puckett, associate professor of finance, knew he wanted to work at UT as soon as he visited campus for an interview.

“I fell in love with it from the very beginning,” he said, noting that he was particularly drawn to his peers in the Department of Finance. “We’ve got a great group here.”

Puckett was inspired to teach finance years earlier by one of his graduate school professors at the University of Georgia, Marc Lipson.

Lipson is a leading researcher in financial investing and had worked at the New York Stock Exchange. He worked closely with Puckett, and now the two conduct research together and co-author papers.

“That’s where my passion for investments-related research developed,” Puckett said.

Right now, he’s working with a different group of professors from three other schools on a paper about how large institutional investors traded during the 2008 market crisis. It will be published in the Journal of Financial Economics later this year.

“Andy Puckett is a rising star in the Department of Finance,” Williams said. “He was involved in thirty-six presentations during the past several years, and his research is published in the most prestigious journals. Add to this, Andy is exceptional in the classroom,” Williams said.

Although he spends a lot of time on research, he tries to develop a personal relationship with each of his students.

“I try to learn everyone’s name the first week,” he said.

He gives incentives for participation to help foster “organic conversation” in class, which he says “leads to a higher level of learning.”

He teaches undergraduate and doctoral courses in investments and a new undergraduate course he developed called Debt and Derivatives.

Outside of work, he and his wife Megan have two children who keep them active. He’s involved with a men’s group at his church and often goes running.

At UT, it’s his students who keep him motivated. “I get to be around energetic young men and women,” he said. “It’s the greatest job in the world.”

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C O N T A C T :

Holly Gary (865-974-2225, hgary@utk.edu)

Amy Blakey (865-974-5034, ablakely@utk.edu)

The professorship was made possible by an estate gift from the late Sarah E. Skinner of Charlotte, North Carolina.

Morris is a professor in the Department of Management and has served as a UT faculty member for twenty years. He is director of the Global Leadership Scholars undergraduate honors program in the College of Business Administration.

Prior to holding this role, Morris was head of the human resource development program and the graduate program director of human resource management.

Morris also has been very active in the broader academic community. He is the past president of the Academy of Human Resource Development and a member of several prominent editorial boards on management and human resources.

Morris’s research focuses on topics including employee work-life balance, the evaluation of performance-related training programs, and leadership development.

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CONTACT:

Meredith Hulette (865-974-7392, mhulette@utfi.org)

If so, the Anderson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation invites you to enter the sixth annual Business Plan Competition. The center is housed in the College of Business Administration.

The deadline for submission is February 25.

All undergraduate students on the Knoxville campus—from any college and from any discipline—are eligible. Students can enter any idea, from the world’s best lemonade stand to a new way to harness solar energy.

In an effort to strengthen the entrepreneurial culture and spirit of the university, the competition encourages participants to enhance their understanding of new venture creation, polish their communication skills by presenting ideas to investor-judges, and network with successful local entrepreneurs, business owners, and venture capitalists.

The 2013 competition is offering awards in two categories: technology-enabled growth businesses and lifestyle businesses.

Technology-enabled growth businesses have the potential for significant national and international expansion; lifestyle businesses typically remain local to a specific regional area. The top three plans in each category will win $5,000, $3,000, and $2,000, respectively.

Students can work individually or in teams of up to four people. The competition encourages students with both technical and commercial skills to come together to build strong, well-rounded teams.

For more information, visit the Anderson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation website.

Important dates in the competition:

• February 25: Deadline for concept summary to be submitted to the Anderson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. E-mail submissions to cei@utk.edu, Attn: Undergraduate Business Plan Competition (requirements for concept summary and other information are available at the competition website mentioned above.)
• March 1: Ten semifinalists in each category will be notified.
• March 8: Each semifinalist will make a fifteen-minute presentation and take five minutes of questions from the judges. Semifinalists must also prepare five bound copies of their business plan to be left with the judges for their review.
• March 11: The five finalists in each category will be announced.
• March 15: During the final round of judging, each finalist will make a five-minute “final pitch” (no sales or visual aids allowed) and then take twenty minutes of questions from the judges.
• March 19: Winners announced.
• April 12: Awards presented.

The judges will include UT educators, local entrepreneurs and business professionals, and individuals (such as venture capitalists, bankers, etc.) who support the entrepreneurial community.

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CONTACT:

Tom Graves (865-974-6131, tgrave10@utk.edu)

The Vol Court spring 2013 program will run through March 12. The workshops will be held at 5:15 p.m. on Tuesdays in Room 102 of the James A. Haslam Business Building.

The Anderson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, housed in the College of Business Administration, is hosting the program. Vol Court will offer students, UT employees, and the community the opportunity to learn from entrepreneurs and business experts about the essentials of getting a company off the ground.

Workshop presenters are from various organizations throughout Tennessee, and all have experience with entrepreneurial companies.

The March 12 session will include a pitch competition in which the top presenting individual or team will win $1,000 and the second-place team will win $500. Students attending Vol Court will have the opportunity to better prepare themselves for the upcoming campus-wide Undergraduate Business Plan Competition.

Session topics are:

• Feb. 5: How to Develop a Business Model
• Feb. 12: Marketing to Your Customers
• Feb. 19: Determining Your Legal Structure
• Feb. 26: How to Choose and Set Up the Business Structure
• March 5: Understanding Financial Statements
• March 12: Pitch Competition

Vol Court is sponsored by the UT Federal Credit Union, the UT Research Foundation, Morehous Legal Group, Tennessee Alumnus magazine, and Pershing Yoakley and Associates.

To learn more about the presenters, sponsors, and each session, visit www.facebook.com/VolCourt.

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CONTACT:

Joy Fisher (865-974-0520, joy.fisher@tennessee.edu)

Lola Alapo (865-974-3993, lalapo@utk.edu)

InformationWeek looked at big data analytics programs within colleges of business, computer science, and engineering across North America. The top programs were not individually ranked.

“We have been an innovator in incorporating business analytics into our curriculum,” said Ken Gilbert, head of UT’s Department of Statistics, Operations, and Management Science in the UT College of Business Administration. “We were the first business school in the country to offer an undergraduate, Master of Science, and MS/MBA dual degree in business analytics.”

The UT College of Business Administration is one of only six US business colleges in the top 20 listing that offer either Master of Business Administration or Master of Science business analytics degrees, he said. The others are Massachusetts Institute of Technology, New York University, Drexel University, Louisiana State University, and University of Cincinnati.

Graduates who understand business analytics and also have strong business and leadership skills have excellent job opportunities, Gilbert said.

“That combination seems to be rare among today’s graduates, yet it is in incredibly high demand by organizations,” he said. “As a result, business analytics is a strategic initiative for our college.”

According to Gartner Research, big data creates big jobs. Data analytics is expected to create 4.4 million jobs worldwide by 2015, but the availability of skilled workers will fill only one-third of those projected openings.

“We recognize this existing critical talent shortage and are committed to offering relevant curricula to prepare our graduates for the growing needs of business,” Gilbert said. “More than twenty global leaders that use business analytics—firms such as Deloitte, Ernst and Young, dunnhumby, Capital One, Disney, Eastman Chemical, Hanes, Home Depot, and State Farm—have hired our graduates.”

UT offers three ways to earn a graduate-level business analytics education. Students can earn a master’s degree in business analytics, dual master’s degrees in business analytics and business administration, or an MBA with a concentration in business analytics for MBA students who do not want to earn the master’s in business analytics but are interested in the subject matter.

Undergraduates can major in business analytics or supplement another major with a 9-credit-hour business analytics concentration.

“We know of no other school in the nation providing this scope of business analytics offerings,” said Jan Williams, dean of UT’s College of Business Administration.

Gilbert noted that the college is scheduled to launch a program in supply chain analytics later this year.

“We will continue to develop and enhance our curriculum to keep ahead of demand,” he said.

UT’s business analytics program also serves as a resource to the business community. The university last year hosted a business analytics conference that drew 200 participants. Speakers included executives from Teradata, Regal Entertainment Group, Kroger, and Google.

The university hosts a business analytics forum where members can share best practices. Participants include global organizations such as Caterpillar, Capital One, State Farm, Jewelry TV, and Pilot-Flying J.

UT also has seminar series that allow corporate speakers to interact with business analytics students.

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CONTACTS:

Cindy Raines (865-974-4359, craines1@utk.edu)

Lola Alapo (865-974-3993, lalapo@utk.edu)

Twenty-four teachers arrived at UT earlier this month and will stay until February 21. In addition to their other studies, the teachers will be honing their teaching skills.

Curriculum for the Brazilian teachers is being coordinated by the English Language Institute (ELI) and the Department of Theory and Practice in Teacher Education.

Associate Professor Clara Lee Brown is overseeing instruction in teaching methods and assessment, and Assistant Professor Dorothy Hendricks is overseeing history instruction. Both are from the Department of Theory and Practice in Teacher Education.

The Brazilian teachers will make several visits to Lenoir City Schools, where they will observe classes, including English as a Second Language classes, and meet with teachers and administrators. Several Knoxville-area teachers will serve as mentors to the Brazilian teachers during their stay. The program will include field trips to Cherokee, N.C.; the Great Smoky Mountains National Park; and Atlanta. The field trips are designed to complement the U.S. history portion of the program.

UT is one of eighteen universities chosen to host the new program, which is a collaboration between the Institute of International Education; CAPES, a foundation within the Ministry of Education in Brazil which strives to improve the quality of Brazil’s faculty and staff in higher education through grant programs; the US Fulbright Commission in Brazil; and the U.S. Embassy in Brazil.

The Brazilian teachers were selected through a competitive process and come from all regions of their country. For most, this is their first opportunity to travel abroad.

At the same time, UT is hosting an institute where twenty Brazilian undergraduates will learn more about US history, politics, economics, religions, and culture. The students also arrived earlier this month. They will stay in Knoxville until February 10 and then embark on a six-day study tour to New York City and Washington, D.C.

Faculty members from UT’s departments of history, English, sociology, religious studies, law, Africana studies, and geography are involved.

Jim Hamrick, ELI director, is managing the institute. History Professor Ernest Freeberg is coordinating the institute’s academic sessions, and Cheryl Barksdale, a lecturer in the College of Business Administration, is coordinating the leadership development component.

Participating students were selected from among hundreds of applicants by the US Fulbright Commission in Brazil. The Institute is funded by the US Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. It is offered in cooperation with the Institute for Training and Development of Amherst, Massachusetts.

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C O N T A C T :

Jim Hamrick (974- 3404, hamrickj@utk.edu)

Amy Blakely (974-5034, ablakely@utk.edu)

The Working Safely Is No Accident website won $15,000 in the Department of Labor Worker Safety and Health App Challenge.

The site is aimed at teaching workers ages thirteen to twenty-four about factors that increase workplace safety. The site features a game in which users evaluate relative probabilities of interesting events. The concept is then applied to workplace safety, with additional links to work-safety sources.

The goal of the contest was to encourage entities to build tools to educate the public about safety in the workplace.

For more information about the contest, visit the Department of Labor’s website.

He succeeded Robert Bohm, who retired December 2012 after being department head for ten years.

“As we celebrate the college’s 100th birthday, it is an exciting time to become head of the department,” Neilson said. “Bob left the department in wonderful shape, and I am looking forward to joining the leadership team of the College of Business Administration.”

Jan Williams, dean of College of Business Administration, said he is eager to work with Neilson as he takes on his new role.

“We are fortunate to have a faculty member with Bill’s background and talent to assume the department head position,” Williams said. “He follows Bob Bohm’s successful time as department head and has two former department heads, Matt Murray and Bill Fox, to advise and support him. I have coordinated this appointment with incoming dean, Steve Mangum, and we are both looking forward to working with Bill as he assumes this important position.”

Neilson joined the UT economics faculty in 2006 after teaching at Texas A&M University for eighteen years. He earned his doctorate in economics from the University of California, San Diego, and his bachelor’s degree in both mathematics and economics from Rice University.

Neilson is an economic theorist; he uses mathematical tools to answer questions relevant to economics. His primary research areas include game theory (the study of interactions among small numbers of individuals or firms), behavior toward risk, and the now-popular field of behavioral economics. He also is interested in issues related to pricing, collusion, social networks, education, and law.

Neilson has published more than forty papers in academic journals. He has also published two textbooks, including the recent Personnel Economics, which discusses how compensation structures can be used to motivate workers, maximize profit, and attract the right applicant pool. He currently serves as editor in chief of the Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, which handles more than 700 academic papers each year.

At UT, Neilson teaches macroeconomics, international economics, and the economics of strategy in the Executive MBA for Strategic Leadership program. He also teaches game theory and mathematical economics in the economics doctoral program.

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CONTACT:

Cindy Raines (865-974-4359, craines1@utk.edu)

The two student ventures, InHouse GFX and Adams Innovation LLC, are the fall 2012 winners of the Boyd Venture Fund. They will share the money, which will allow them to grow their businesses.

The fund is administered through the Anderson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation in the UT College of Business Administration. As part of the grant, the center also connects each winning enterprise to a mentor.

Since its inception in 2011, the fund has awarded $62,500 in seed capital to eight student-owned companies. Grants are available to any UT student-owned business and are awarded each spring and fall.

The fall 2012 winners are:

From left: Randy Boyd, president and CEO of Radio Systems Corp.; Anthony Smith and Justin Ruffin, founders of InHouse GFX; and Tom Graves, director of operations for the Anderson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

InHouse GFX: a company that offers custom screen printing, graphic/print design and web development to sororities, fraternities, and campus organizations.

Anthony Smith, a senior in public relations, and Justin Ruffin, a junior in communications, founded it.

The business has worked with various UT campus and Greek organizations including the Student Government Association, Team Vols, Alpha Kappa Psi, and the Black Issues Conference.

“Our vision is to be on numerous college campuses where we will employ students,” Smith said. “Our company will provide these students with the opportunity to gain valuable experience in fields such as advertising, sales, marketing, production, management, and customer service.”

The grant will allow the company to upgrade its computers and software and hire a part-time production manager, Ruffin said.

InHouse GFX founders may be reached at general@inhousegfx.com.

Adams Innovation LLC: a company that designs, imports, and distributes leisure hammocks with a unique suspension system that eliminates the needs to readjust and reposition the suspension ropes.

From left: Randy Boyd, president and CEO of Radio Systems Corp.; Alex Adams, founder of Adams Innovation LLC; and Tom Graves, director of operations for the Anderson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

Alex Adams, a junior in mechanical engineering, founded it.

Adams’s interest in hammocks began during his freshman year at UT.

“Hammocks are a great way to relax, but when I had to constantly reposition the ropes to keep the hammock at the height I wanted, I thought that there must be a better way,” he said.

His research into ropes and the logging market, which he used to create his unique hammock suspension system, ultimately led to a suspension system that does not require readjustment. He plans to sell his product online and through major outdoor retailers.

“I am committed to bringing quality hammocks to a growing market,” Adams said.

The grant will allow him to order his initial inventory and be prepared to sell in the spring. The hammocks are marketed under the trade name Xada.

Adams may be reached at aadams@xadagear.com.

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CONTACTS:

Tom Graves (865-974-6131, tgrave10@utk.edu)

Lola Alapo (865-974-3993, lalapo@utk.edu)

As the years passed, he realized the experience made him want to go into hospital administration—because he knows that’s a career where he can have a positive impact.

Today, Haag takes a major step toward that goal when he receives his MBA from UT.

“I know a little about hospitals,” said Haag, of Hendersonville, Tennessee. “I was at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital for three months. I see hospitals as a place of healing.”

Haag’s tragedy occurred one Christmas Eve; he was eight years old and riding in the car with his father and two brothers. The crash killed his father and middle brother and severely injured Andrew and his oldest brother. Andrew suffered a broken lower back and major abdominal injuries, leaving him unable to walk without forearm crutches and leg braces.

Already big fans of University of Tennessee football, Haag and his brother, Eric, received phone calls after the accident from then-UT Head Football Coach Phillip Fulmer and quarterback Peyton Manning.

“I remember looking across the hall and seeing my brother’s excitement while talking on the phone,” remembers Haag. “Then my phone rang. It was Coach Fulmer and Peyton Manning. They were in Florida for the Citrus Bowl, and they called us! There are no words to describe what that means to a child at a time like that.”

Over the years, Fulmer remained in contact with the family, bringing both Haag and his brother under his wing as student equipment managers in the Vols football program. With the obvious tie to sports, Haag originally thought his path would be sports management or marketing.

“In my senior year as a marketing major, I decided that sports wasn’t the path I wanted to travel,” Haag said. “I kept thinking about my childhood experiences and realized that the hospital setting was where I could have the most impact. I wasn’t interested in the clinical side —I wanted administration—so I knew I needed to get my MBA.”

While earning his MBA, Haag has worked as a graduate assistant in the Center for Executive Education and as an administrative intern at UT Medical Center.

“Being in the hospital strengthened my commitment to the path I am on,” he says. “Whether wearing a white coat in the patient’s room or a business suit in the accounting office, caring for patients is the first priority.”

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C O N T A C T :

Amy Blakely (865-974-5034, ablakely@utk.edu)

Boonstra graduates from UT’s Aerospace and Defense MBA program today.

Boonstra had earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida. He joined the military while in college.

On September 11, 2001, he was based in Kentucky as U.S. Army helicopter pilot with the prestigious 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment Airborne, also known as the Night Stalkers.

He was at home when the first plane commandeered by a terrorist hit the World Trade Center.

“I told my wife, ‘This is no accident,’ and I headed out the door for the base. I knew something very foreboding was happening.”

Boonstra was walking in the door at his office when the second plane hit the Twin Towers. The elite military team around him stood silent and focused.

“We all just looked at each other and silently started preparing–boxes being packed, gear put in order,” Boonstra said. “We knew. Even in the midst of the tragedy, I felt such pride that we were ready. We didn’t know how, why, or what, but we were ready.”

The unit was deployed almost immediately. “The 160th was smaller then,” Boonstra said. “It is the only unit I know of that has been constantly deployed since 9/11.”

Boonstra’s deployments included two tours of duty in Afghanistan and thirteen tours of duty in Iraq. He was part of the Jessica Lynch rescue, providing aviation support for the ground forces that went in to get her.

There were other rescue missions for Boonstra, but the details aren’t things he can talk about.

“Rescue operations always touch something in a soldier. Being able to bring someone home to enjoy the freedoms we are fighting for is a great honor,” he said.

Boonstra retired in 2009 and now lives Tucson, Arizona He is a program manager in advanced missile systems for the Raytheon Company, which specializes in defense, homeland security, and other government markets.

“As I get increasing levels of leadership, I thought it was important to understand the business side of my industry,” he said, explaining why he opted for UT’s ADMBA program.

Boonstra said the lessons he learned in his almost twenty-five years of military service have helped him in the business world and in the classroom.

“What makes a successful business is very much like what makes a good special ops unit,” he said. “You need a high-reliability organization with processes and procedures for getting things done. But you also need leaders who can make decisions based on gut and intuition.

“In business and in the military, that intuition is based on your experiences, years of learning, pattern recognition, and the ability to think on your feet. These traits are prominent in many of my classmates. The ADMBA faculty and class of 2012 are another exceptional team of which I am proud to be a part.”

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C O N T A C T :

Amy Blakely (865-974-5034, ablakely@utk.edu)

More than 250 alumni, faculty, staff, and friends of the college attended the event, which included a reception, silent auction, dinner, and awards presentation. All expenses for the event were funded through private support.

Almost $80,000 was raised for the College Fund for Business Administration through the combination of sponsorships and proceeds from the silent auction.

A list of the award recipients:

John Boll, a 2007 Executive MBA graduate, was recognized as the 2012 Entrepreneur of the Year. Boll’s company, G. A. Richards, manufactures products for the office furniture and general industrial markets. He is a member of the college’s Advisory Council to the Deans.

Brian Foley, who earned his bachelor’s degree in 1996 and his master’s degree in accounting in 1997, received the 2012 Outstanding Young Alum award, which recognizes accomplished alumni under the age of 40 who have contributed greatly to their chosen profession and their alma mater.

PepsiCo, the largest food and beverage company in North America and second largest in the world, was recognized as the 2012 Outstanding Corporate Partner for its financial contributions to the college and its dedication to fostering support for diversity in the workplace.

Mintha Roach, a 1974 alumna, received the college’s most prestigious recognition—the 2012 Distinguished Alum Award. She was recognized for her professional accomplishments as president and CEO of Knoxville Utilities Board and her service to her alma mater as former chair of Chancellor’s Associates, the UT Alumni Board, and the business school’s Advisory Council to the Deans.

Additionally, Jan R. Williams, dean and Stokely Foundation Leadership Chair, was awarded the Chancellor’s Medallion by Chancellor Jimmy G. Cheek for his 35-plus years of service to UT and the College of Business Administration.

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CONTACT:

Meredith Hulette (865-974-7392, mhulette@utfi.org)

The booming world of business analytics—using data and modeling to achieve a competitive edge—is boosting profits for online and brick-and-mortar retailers. But the same tools are also helping consumers as they research and seek to make smarter purchases, said Robert Mee, a professor at UT.

“Shopping is changing because of the ability to share information,” said Mee, a professor in the Department of Statistics, Operations and Management Science in the UT College of Business Administration.

As consumers, he said, technology helps us “know what the best price is—and through online reviews, we have the benefit of others’ experience with an item before we make a purchase.”

Business analytics allows consumers to comparison shop through different websites like www.decide.com or smartphone apps. A shopper can scan the on-shelf price of an item and then search the Web for cheaper prices.

“Consumers can buy from one store while standing in the aisle of another,” Mee said.

Businesses also get an edge from data.

Online retailers like Amazon are experts at tracking how consumers browse their websites, what products they buy or just view, and how they reach their site, Mee said.

This allows them to aggregate consumers’ interests, their string of purchases, and shopping habits, and then market specific items to them.

Brick-and-mortar stores like Kroger track consumers’ purchase histories through loyalty programs and cards. Through its partnership with the business analytics company dunnhumbyUSA, Kroger has transformed itself into the second-largest retailer in the country behind Wal-Mart, Mee said.

By mining shopping history, companies learn what items sold best, what drew in their best customers, and what products might encourage consumers to buy more from the store.

“They’ll use past shopping history to select what items to put on sale,” Mee said. “After the fact, they’ll say, ‘Who bought that flat-screen TV and what else did they buy?’”

Business analytics provides companies tools that enables them to adjust their prices based on competition, supply, and demand. Online retailers have the most flexibility for experimenting with price changes.

“Retailers may lose money on door-buster specials, but if they keep you coming back in the next weeks and months it was a good investment on their part,” Mee said.

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CONTACT:

Lola Alapo (865-974-3993, lalapo@utk.edu)

Ayres Hall

Shelley Binder, associate professor of music, has been named chair of the finance committee for the National Flute Association. The position is a four-year appointment. She also is featured as a new artist/performer on the Miyazawa Flute website. Miyazawa is a Japanese company renowned for its handcrafted professional flutes.

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Ham Bozdogan, a professor in the Department of Statistics, Operations, and Management Science, has become an advisory board member of Türkiye Klinikleri Journal of Medical Sciences, a multidisciplinary peer-reviewed medical journal based in Turkey.

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Ralph Brockett, professor in the Department of Educational Psychology and Counseling, has received the Imogene Okes Award for outstanding research in adult education. The award was presented in November at a reception in Las Vegas. Brockett and his colleague Susan Stockdale at Kennesaw State University won for their “Development of the PRO-SDLS: A Measure of Self-Direction in Learning Based on the Personal Responsibility Orientation Model,” published in Adult Education Quarterly in May 2011. Brockett teaches graduate courses in adult learning and research methods.

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Terry Hazen, UT/ORNL Governor’s Chair for Environmental Biotechnology has co-authored a paper that appeared on cover of Environmental Microbiology. The paper is entitled “Deep-sea bacteria enriched by oil and dispersant from the Deepwater Horizon spill.” The paper shows how the Macondo oil degrades at low temperature with and without dispersant and other amendments at the refrigerator temperatures in the deep gulf, and which microbial communities members were responsible for the oil degradation in the deep Gulf of Mexico.

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Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam has appointed George Hyfantis, an adjunct professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering to the new combined Tennessee Underground Storage Tank and Solid Waste Disposal Control Board. This new board combines the regulatory oversight functions of the former Petroleum Underground Storage Tank Board and the Solid Waste Disposal Control Board. Hyfantis was chosen to represent an institution of higher learning. He has been an adjunct professor in civil engineering for more than thirty years, teaching mainly the graduate course Solid and Hazardous Waste Management.

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Claudia Rawn, joint faculty assistant professor of materials science and engineering, and Jeffrey Reinbolt, assistant professor of mechanical, aerospace, and biomedical engineering, were selected to attend the Frontiers of Engineering Education Symposium in October at the National Academies’ Beckman Center in Irvine, California. The Frontiers of Engineering program brings together a select group of emerging engineering leaders from industry, academe, and government labs to discuss pioneering technical work and leading edge research in various engineering fields and industry sectors.

UT’s program ranked number 60 in the nation and number 26 among US public universities with full-time MBA programs.

“The Businessweek ranking recognizes the overall quality of our full-time MBA program and reflects the program’s contribution to the university’s goal of becoming a Top 25 institution,” said Annette L. Ranft, associate dean for academic programs in the UT College of Business Administration.

Bloomberg Businessweek recognized the program’s ability to assess a student’s overall professional promise. Using a customized admissions process, the program considers student strengths—such as academic record, career history, and professional maturity—in addition to standardized test scores. As a result, the program received a special mention as one of only four schools in the country to be recognized as a “good school if you didn’t ace the GMAT.”

The complete ranking of full-time MBA programs may be found on the Businessweek website.

The ranking was based on three elements: a survey of almost 19,000 new MBA graduates from 114 business schools that measured all aspects of the business school experience; a poll of 566 corporate recruiters, which asked recruiters to identify the schools that produce the best graduates; and an evaluation of faculty research output by tallying the number of articles published by each school’s faculty in twenty top journals and reviews of their books in three national publications.

“We are honored to be recognized by Bloomberg Businessweek as having one the finest MBA programs in the country,” said Jan Williams, dean of the College of Business Administration. “Our MBA program is designed for students who want to develop their careers in areas that are valued by industry, such as business analytics, entrepreneurship and innovation, finance, shopper marketing, and supply chain management.”

Williams said rankings like these are evidence that “students and employers are confident in our ability to graduate individuals with the skillsets that students want and employers need.”

For more information on the MBA program, visit mba.utk.edu.

For more information on the College of Business Administration, visit bus.utk.edu.

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CONTACT:

Cindy Raines (865-974-4359, craines1@utk.edu)

About 1,000 Facebook users cast their votes and selected Nate Buchanan, an MBA student from Hendersonville, Tennessee, as the first-place winner.

Second place went to Mitchell Poythress, a junior from Antioch, Tennessee, who is developing a mobile application to help shoppers locate food items in a grocery store.

Vol Court is an entrepreneurial education series that ends with a competition between aspiring entrepreneurs for cash prizes to launch their business. The series is held both in the fall and spring and is open to students, faculty, and the general public.

Buchanan received $1,000 to launch his business, space at the UT Research Foundation (UTRF) business incubator, consulting services from Pershing Yoakley and Associates, and mentoring from the College of Business Administration’s Anderson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (ACEI)—a prize package worth more than $5,000.

Poythress received $500, space in the UTRF business incubator, and mentoring from ACEI.

“Vol Court was a great experience because it forced me to get outside my comfort zone by approaching potential customers to vet the true viability of your business,” Buchanan said. “It forces you to put your business strategy to the test with seasoned entrepreneurs who can easily spot the flaws.”

He plans to use the money to refine and test market the platform.

Buchanan and Poythress were selected by a panel of judges this month during a Vol Court pitch session at the James A. Haslam II Business Building. Voting determined the order of the winners and coincided with Global Entrepreneurship Week, a celebration of innovators designed to connect aspiring entrepreneurs to collaborators, mentors, and investors.

The state of Tennessee topped the nation in the number of activities sanctioned by Global Entrepreneurship Week.

Vol Court is sponsored by the Anderson Center, UT Federal Credit Union, Pershing Yoakley and Associates, and the UT Research Foundation.

For more information on Vol Court, visit the Anderson Center website.

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C O N T A C T :

Joy Fisher (865-974-0520, joy.fisher@tennessee.edu)

For the third consecutive year, the college received “three palmes,” indicating an excellent business school that is nationally strong and has international links. Palmes substitute for stars, which are typically used in rankings; a multicolored palme is part of Eduniversal’s logo.

Eduniversal asked business school deans worldwide to recommend other schools in their own country.

Their responses were given to a committee of nine independent academic experts, who then ranked each of the 1,000 institutions.

Created by SMBG, the leading company in France in student orientation, www.eduniversal.com was launched in October 2007 to serve as a search engine for all new higher education projects and international recruitment.

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CONTACT:

Cindy Raines (865-974-4359, craines1@utk.edu)

So they organized the Barefoot Benefit 5K, which invited barefoot runners and walkers alike to participate in the 3.1-mile race. The third annual event, which took place last month in Maryville, drew about 150 participants and raised roughly $5,000 for Samaritan Place.

“This whole experience has been such a blessing to me,” said Heather Lin, a UT junior and member of the Barefoot Benefit team. “I can firmly say that being a part of the team has taught me more than all of the classes I have taken combined. It has meant more to me than just a learning experience. I truly feel like I have grown to become a responsible young adult throughout the planning process.”

From left, Martin Leamon, Natalie Rammer, professor Ernie Cadotte, Nicole Rammer, Heather Lin, and Garret Daniel.

The students organized the benefit as part of a service-learning course taught by business professor Ernie Cadotte.

Martin Leamon, a UT junior and Barefoot Benefit team member, said he wanted the money raised to impact as many seniors as possible at Samaritan Place.

“I have high hopes that a significant amount of public awareness was also raised for the Samaritan Place,” he said.

For more information about the Barefoot Benefit, visit the Facebook page.