Faculty Awards and Honors

Doron Avramov, associate professor of finance, received a Q-group award for his paper, “Credit Ratings and the Cross Section of Stock Returns.”

Hui Lao, associate professor of management and organization, received the 2009 Distinguished Early Career Contributions Award from the Society of Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP) in recognition of her research.

“The Transformation Age,” a book authored by Henry Lucas, Smith Professor of Information Systems, and turned into a PBS documentary, received the Golden Eagle Trophy from CINE recognizing excellence in broadcasting.

Dilip Madan, professor of finance, gave the keynote address at the Third Annual Hedge Fund Conference at Imperial College in London.

A recent paper in the Journal of Finance by Vojislav Maksimovic, Dean’s Chair Professor of Finance, and Gordon Phillips, Bank of America Professor, “The Industry Life-Cycle, Acquisitions and Investment: Does Firm Organization Matter?” is a finalist for the Brattle Best Paper prize.

Louiqa Raschid, professor of information systems, has been named a Distinguished Scientist by the ACM (the Association for Computing Machinery) in recognition of her individual contributions to both the practical and theoretical aspects of computing and information technology. The new ACM Distinguished Members include computer scientists and engineers from some of the world’s leading corporations, research labs, and universities.

Michel Wedel, Pepsico Professor of Consumer Science, received the Werner Pommerehne Prize for best paper in the Journal of Cultural Economics, 2004-2005.

Russell Wermers, associate professor of finance, received the Banque Privee Espirito Santo and Swiss Finance Institute Award, awarded at the Swiss Finance Institute annual meeting in Geneva.

Editorial Appointments

Chrysanthos Dellarocas, associate professor of information systems, is senior editor of Information Systems Research.

Wolfgang Jank, associate professor of management science and statistics, joined the editorial boards of Management Science and the Journal of the American Statistical Association. He was elected program chair for the marketing section of the joint statistical meetings 2010.

Rachelle Sampson, assistant professor of business, logistics and public policy, was appointed to the editorial board of Organization Science. 

Conferences

The Center for Complexity in Business (CCB) will hold its inaugural conference on April 24, 2009. Speakers include Josh Epstein, director of the Center on Social and Economic Dynamics, The Brookings Institute; Kathleen Eisenhardt, Stanford University; Doyne Farmer, Santa Fe Institute; Brian Uzzi, Northwestern University; Smith School faculty Bill Rand, the center’s research director and assistant professor of marketing; and Roland Rust, David Bruce Smith Chair in Marketing, Distinguished University Professor, and executive director of the center. 

The CCB was launched in 2008 to focus on the application of complex systems research to business problems. The center’s focus includes applications of complex systems methods, such as agent-based simulation, to analyze and solve problems that arise when a large number of entities—consumers, employees, traders, firms, etc.—interact in ways that stretch the limits of traditional management tools like game theory, operations research, statistical analysis, controlled experiments, qualitative methods, and the like. The center is interdisciplinary and draws on the expertise of faculty from across the Smith School and the University of Maryland, including decision, operations and information technologies; marketing; and computer science.  

The center’s leadership team includes director Chrysanthos Dellarocas, associate professor of decision, operations and information technologies; executive director Roland Rust, David Bruce Smith Chair in Marketing, Distinguished University Professor, and executive director of the Center for Excellence in Service; and research director and assistant professor of marketing William Rand.