Fourteen New Faculty Join Haslam College of Business

The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Haslam College of Business welcomed 14 new faculty members in the 2023-2024 academic year. The new additions represent the departments of accounting and information management, economics, finance, management and entrepreneurship, marketing and supply chain management, as well as the Boyd Center for Business and Economic Research. The increase in faculty reflects the college’s commitment to providing a top-tier educational experience for its rapidly growing student population.

Chad Autry, the college’s associate dean for research and faculty, Myers Distinguished Professor of Supply Chain Management and R. Stanley Bowden II Faculty Research Fellow, said, “We have been able to bring in an outstanding group of individuals representing a wide range of disciplines, each of whom have demonstrated impactful achievements that benefit both students and the academic community. They are excellent teachers and scholars, and they will make us even better as a college.”

Learn more about Haslam’s new faculty below.

Accounting and Information Management

Douglas Ayres, Assistant Professor of Practice and MAcc Coordinator

Douglas Ayres joins Haslam as an assistant professor of practice and MAcc coordinator. His primary research interests include financial accounting, capital markets, auditing and corporate governance; his primary teaching interests include financial accounting, auditing, managerial accounting, business valuation and financial statement analysis. He previously served as assistant professor of accounting at Ball State University and Butler University. Prior to academia, Ayres held positions of increasing responsibility with Somerset CPAs, P.C. (now a part of CBIZ), culminating in his role as senior manager within the entrepreneurial and litigation support groups. Ayres is an actively licensed CPA in Indiana. He earned his Ph.D. with a major in accounting and a minor in finance from the University of Tennessee and a B.S. in accounting from Ball State University.

Daniel Pienta, Assistant Professor and Neel Corporate Governance Center Research Fellow

Daniel Pienta is an assistant professor of information management and Neel Corporate Governance Center research fellow. His research focuses on cybersecurity, and he takes an interdisciplinary approach, focusing on individual and firm-level topics such as innovation, executives, firm strategy, domestic extremism, phishing, the intersection of artificial intelligence and cybersecurity and machine learning causal inference methods. His research has been published in, or is forthcoming in, numerous journals. His research has also been presented at several international conferences. Prior to his career in academia, Pienta consulted some of the largest financial institutions in the U.S. on due diligence and cybersecurity. Pieta obtained a Ph.D. in business administration and management information systems from Clemson University, an MBA with a concentration in information systems technology from the Monte Ahuja College of Business at Cleveland State University and a B.S. in financial management from The Ohio State University.

Economics

Josh Dalton, Lecturer

Josh Dalton brings over 20 years’ experience as educator to his new role as a lecturer of economics with the Haslam College of Business. He has taught at multiple academic levels, including a role as an economics graduate instructor. Dalton’s research focuses on how economics is taught and assessed at the collegiate level, with particular emphasis on the economics gender gap and the time allocation of academic economists. Dalton has published two reviews in The American Economist and has several working papers. He earned his Ph.D. in economic education and M.A. in economics and entrepreneurship for educators from the University of Delaware, as well as a B.F.A. in theater education from the University of Arizona.

Michael Kofoed, Assistant Professor

Michael Kofoed joins the Haslam College of Business as an assistant professor of economics with appointments in both the Department of Economics and the Boyd Center for Business and Economic Research. His research focuses on the economics of education, labor economics, defense economics and applied econometrics. Kofoed’s papers have been published in several journals, and he has been cited in the popular press on several occasions. Previously, he was a civilian associate professor of economics at the United States Military Academy. He currently holds positions as a research fellow, a visiting scholar, an invited researcher, and a contributing writer for other institutions. Kofoed holds a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Georgia and a B.S. in quantitative economics from Weber State University.

Finance

David Thayer, Lecturer

David Thayer is a lecturer in finance. He has over 30 years of advancing leadership roles, including various C-suite and leadership roles in the financial industry. Thayer brings years of public business experience to Haslam, as he is actively involved with the Knoxville Chamber of Commerce, the Economic Development Program, the United Way and Habitat for Humanity. He hopes to prepare students for future business careers with case studies and data modeling projects that emphasize trends in retention analysis, cohort evaluation, payments optimization and EBITDA waterfalls. Thayer obtained an MBA with a concentration in finance from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and a B.B.A. in accounting from East Tennessee State University.

Zihan Ye, Assistant Professor

Zihan Ye joins Haslam as an assistant professor of finance. Her past teaching positions include courses at Penn State University and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Ye is an empiricist conducting research in the areas of municipal finance and healthcare finance. Using the $4 trillion U.S. municipal bond market as a research laboratory, her current work focuses on the effects of technology innovations (such as telehealth services) and health crises (such as the opioid epidemic and the COVID-19 pandemic) on local economies. She has given several presentations at various finance and economic conferences. Ye earned a Ph.D. in finance from Penn State University, an M.Sc. in financial economics from Oxford University and a B.Ec. from the Central University of Finance and Economics, China.

Matthew Henriksson, Assistant Professor

Matthew Henriksson joins Haslam as an assistant professor of finance. His research interests include investments, behavioral finance, FinTech, politics in finance and textual analysis. His work has been presented at several leading finance conferences. Before joining the University of Tennessee, Henriksson served on the faculty at the University of Mississippi for three years. He also taught courses at the University of South Florida while earning his Ph.D. Prior to returning to academia, he worked at The Walt Disney Company for six years, where he led a team of business forecasting/planning analysts in the revenue management and analytics department. Henriksson holds a Ph.D. from the University of South Florida, as well as an MBA and B.A. from the University of Florida.

Tony Via, Clinical Associate Professor

Mark “Tony” Via is a clinical associate professor of finance. Via joins Haslam from an assistant professor position with Kent State University. His research interests include corporate finance and investments, specifically corporate governance, institutional ownership, financial analysts, innovation, political contributions and corporate social responsibility. He has published works in several journals, has several working papers and has presented at multiple conferences. Via holds a Ph.D. and M.S. in finance from the University of Alabama, as well as a B.S. in mechanical engineering from Tennessee Tech University.

Management and Entrepreneurship

Mark Atkeson, Lecturer

Mark Atkeson is a lecturer with Haslam’s Department of Management and Entrepreneurship. He provides instruction to undergraduate students on the principles of management, including leadership, motivation, decision-making, ethics, organizational structure, strategy and culture. Atkeson was a member of Haslam’s advisory board for the Department of Management and Entrepreneurship from 2020 to 2023 and has been a part-time faculty member since 2021. He is a retired major of the Ohio State Highway Patrol, as well as a retired executive director of the Ohio State Highway Patrol Retirement System. Atkeson earned an MBA from Ohio University, a B.A. in management from Malone University and a diploma in police administration from Northwestern University.

Whit Whitworth, Lecturer

Whit Whitworth joins Haslam as a lecturer with the Department of Management & Entrepreneurship. They transitioned from coaching college soccer to teaching with the help of her vast educational background. As an educator, Whitworth has taught courses in business management, operations management, computers in business, motivation and leadership and strategy. They hold a B.A. in psychology, M.Ed. in kinesiology, M.S. in administration with a concentration in sports management and DBA. Whitworth proudly uses the education and skills gained from both playing and coaching soccer to create a valuable classroom experience for their students.

Marketing

Jason Greenway, Lecturer

Jason Greenway is a lecturer in Haslam’s Department of Marketing, as well as a faculty advisor for the college’s Professional Sales Leadership Program. Prior to these roles, Greenway spent seven years with Haslam’s Office of Technology-Enhanced Education, where he designed online courses and produced digital content for classes, programs and promotion of college culture. His industry experience includes 11 years at Ruby Tuesday Corporate Headquarters. Greenway earned his MBA as part of Haslam’s ProMBA program. He also earned his B.S. in communications/broadcasting from the University of Tennessee.

Supply Chain Management

Jeffrey Barland, Assistant Professor of Practice

Jeffrey Barland joins the college as an assistant professor of practice with the Department of Supply Chain Management. Barland brings over 25 years of supply chain experience in retail, distribution and management roles. He also held several leadership positions in project management, supply chain management, process improvement and logistics. Barland’s experience in academia includes work as an online instructor for many years at several universities, including the University of Liverpool, Arkansas Technical University and the University of Washington, supporting student learning in supply chain, operations management and project management at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. He is certified in project management and holds certifications in production and inventory management and integrated resource management. Barland earned his DBA from the University of Dallas and his MBA and B.S. in business administration from Lynn University.

Dan Pellathy, Assistant Professor of Practice and Director of Operations, Advanced Supply Chain Collaborative

Dan Pellathy joins Haslam as an assistant professor of practice and director of operations of the Advanced Supply Chain Collaborative. His research interests include supply chain strategy, supply chain integration and organizational design, with special emphasis on creating sustainable business success. Pellathy is a co-author of numerous papers on forward-thinking topics in supply chain management, and this work has been featured in various practitioner outlets. His professional background includes enterprise risk management, and he continues to consult companies about various supply chain matters. Pellathy holds a Ph.D. in supply chain management from the University of Tennessee, an MBA/MPIA with a focus on international economics from the University of Pittsburgh and a B.A. in philosophy and anthropology from Cornell University.

Andrea M. Prud’homme, Clinical Professor

Andrea M. Prud’homme comes to Haslam from The Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business, where she was a faculty member from 2007 to 2023 and served as associate dean of undergraduate programs and students from 2019 to 2023. While at Fisher, she served as faculty adviser for the Buckeye Operations Management Society. She earned the Outstanding Student Organization Award and the Career Services Award from Ohio State and the Undergraduate Program Services Award and Teaching Award from Fisher. Prud’homme brings more than 15 years of corporate experience in worldwide supply chain management for companies such as Hewlett-Packard, Advanced Energy Industries and Valor Electronics. Her responsibilities have included managing projects for operations in Europe, Hong Kong, China and Mexico.

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Haslam College of Business - Fourteen New Faculty Join Haslam College of Business