Meet Our
Faculty

An expert on the effects of auditor reputation, Paul Chaney brings a breadth and depth of accounting knowledge and experience to the classrooms of Owen, where he has taught for over 30 years.

Awards & Accomplishments
At Owen, Professor Chaney has earned the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Teaching three times, in addition to the Research Award.

Leadership
Professor Chaney currently serves on the editorial boards of Auditing: A Journal of Practice and Theory and The Accounting Review. He is the area head of accounting for Owen, and has served in numerous committee and faculty senate capacities over his career at Vanderbilt.

Publications
Professor Chaney has been published in several notable journals, including the Journal of Accounting and Economics, the Journal of Accounting Auditing and Finance, Accounting Review, and the Journal of Corporate Finance. He co-authored Advanced Accounting, which is currently in its seventh edition.

Research
Professor Chaney’s work focuses on a variety of accounting-related subjects, including auditor reputation, the quality of earnings, earnings management, and audit pricing. He co-authored the study “Shredded Reputation: the Cost of Audit Failure,” which found a direct correlation between the public perception of an auditor’s reputation and a company’s market value, and drew considerable coverage in the wake of the Andersen-Enron debate.

Education
Ph.D., Accounting, Indiana University, 1983
MBA, Accounting, Indiana University, 1977
B.S., Accounting, Indiana University – Purdue University Fort Wayne, 1975

For over 30 years at Owen, Bill Christie has uncovered collusion at a leading global stock exchange, served as dean, and consistently earned top teaching marks at Owen.

Awards & Accomplishments
Professor Christie’s work on Nasdaq market makers earned first prize in the 1995 Smith Breeden Prize competition for outstanding papers published in the Journal of Finance, as well as the 1995 Pace Setters Research Award for Outstanding Contribution to Research.

By studying the operations of the major financial markets in the mid-1990s, Professor Christie, along with Professor Paul Schultz (Notre Dame), concluded that Nasdaq market makers were implicitly colluding to maintain artificially high trading profits at the expense of investors. His research subsequently resulted in a sweeping reform of the Nasdaq market, the introduction of the SEC Order Handling Rules, and a $1.027 billion settlement against the defendants.

He has earned “4 star” faculty member rankings in 3 separate Business Week surveys, the James A. Webb, Jr. Award for excellence in teaching on 5 separate occasions, and the Executive MBA Teaching award 5 times.

Leadership
Professor Christie served as dean and Ralph Owen Professor of Management from 2000–04 and twice served as associate dean for faculty. He has held editorial responsibilities for several journals, including the Review of Financial Studies, the Journal of Corporate Finance, and the International Review of Financial Analysis, and has served as co-editor for the Journal of Financial Intermediation and executive editor for Financial Management. He is the current chair of the Board of Trustees for the Financial Management Association. Professor Christie has also served a 3-year term on Nasdaq’s Economic Advisory Board.

Research
Professor Christie’s research focuses on financial markets, market microstructure, and corporate finance. His work touches every aspect of the marketplace, including bid-ask spreads, dividends, equity offerings, and market mechanisms.

Education
Ph.D., Finance and Economics, University of Chicago, 1989
MBA, Finance, University of Chicago, 1980
B.Com, Honours, Queen’s University, 1978

An expert on negotiation, conflict resolution, Chinese management, and diversity, Ray Friedman brings a variety of business-relevant insights to his fields of study and the classroom.

Leadership
Professor Friedman is the president of the International Association for Chinese Management Research, and serves on the editorial board of Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes. Professor Friedman has served as chair of the Conflict Management Division of Academy of Management, and as president of the International Association for Conflict Management. He served as associate dean for faculty and research at Owen from 2010–13.

Publications
Professor Friedman has been published in many influential journals, including the Journal of Academy of Management Journal, Administrative Science Quarterly, the Journal of Applied Psychology, the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, and Human Relations.

Research
Professor Friedman is currently working on studies of how contracts are understood in Chinese and Western contexts, the ways that people sometimes create their own personal “environments,” and different concepts of cultural “collectivism.”

Education
Ph.D., Sociology, University of Chicago, 1987
M.A., Sociology, University of Chicago, 1983
B.A., Economics & Political Science, Yale University, 1980

A former operations manager at Hewlett-Packard, Nancy Hyer has focused her extensive work in academic and business communities on cellular operations, quality and process improvement, and project management.

Consulting
Professor Hyer has consulted and led executive seminars for a number of organizations, including Community Health Systems, Cigna Insurance, Boeing, McDonnell Douglas, Genesco, Ingram Barge, Hewlett-Packard, Compaq, Hancor, Performance Food Group, Baptist Hospital, Black & Decker, and the U.S. Army.

Leadership
Professor Hyer has served as the president of the Operations Management Association and on the review boards of a number of academic journals, including Decision Sciences, the Journal of Operations Management, Production Operations Management, Production and Inventory Management Journal, and Management Science.

Publications
Professor Hyer is co-author of Reorganizing the Factory: Competing through Cellular Manufacturing, which won the 2003 Shingo Prize for Research in Manufacturing. She is also the co-author of Managing Projects: A Team-Based Approach.

Research
Professor Hyer’s interests include cellular operations, lean production, project management, law practice operations, and legal project management.

Education
Ph.D., International Business & Operations Management, Indiana University, 1982
MBA, Operations Management, Indiana University, 1981
B.A., History & Russian Studies, University of Richmond, 1977

As a leader, teacher, and researcher, Johnson brings an infectious enthusiasm to everything he does, with impressive results.

Awards & Accomplishments
Johnson has authored patents on interface design and testified before the U.S. Congress on information security. He was one of the youngest professors to receive tenure in Owen’s history, winning the Dean’s Teaching Excellence Award twice. His work on channel postponement strategies won an Accenture best paper award. He has earned grants from the National Science Foundation, Department of Homeland Security, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Consulting
Johnson has consulted with global companies such as Accenture, Hewlett-Packard Enterprises, HP Inc, Nike, Nokia, Oracle, and Philips Healthcare.

Leadership
Johnson has served on numerous editorial boards including Electronic Markets, Management Science, Operations Research, and Production and Operations Management. He is currently serving on the board of Nashville Capital Network and previously served on boards at Nashville Healthcare Council, Nashville Technology Council, Evant Inc. (sold to Manhattan Associate), Dartmouth Regional Technology Center, INFORMS, and POMS.

Publications
Johnson has published work in research and scholarly journals such as Harvard Business Review, Health Services Research, Management Science, Production and Operations Management, and Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association. His writing and expert commentary have been featured in global media outlets that include the Associated Press, Bloomberg Business, New York Times, USA Today, U.S. News & World Report, and the Wall Street Journal.

Research
Johnson’s teaching and research focus on digital strategies and the impact of information technology on the extended enterprise. He studies how information technology improves process execution, but also how security failures create friction throughout the extended enterprise. He is currently focused on the role of information technology to improve healthcare quality and reduce cost.

Education
PhD, Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management, Stanford University, 1991
M.S., Industrial Engineering and Operations Research, The Pennsylvania State University, 1987
B.S., Industrial Engineering and Economics with Honors, The Pennsylvania State University, 1986

An award-winning teacher, Mumin Kurtulus’s research explores the effectiveness of various retail supply-chain practices.

Awards & Accomplishments
Professor Kurtulus has won several awards at Owen, including the 2015 and 2016 Executive MBA teaching award, the 2016 Dean’s Teaching Innovation Award, and the 2013 Research Productivity Award. He earned the Wickham Skinner Best Paper Award in 2006 and the Gold Medal in the 2004 ECR Paper Competition.

Publications
Professor Kurtulus’s research has appeared in Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, Production and Operations Management, the Journal of Marketing, and the Journal of Retailing.

Research
Professor Kurtulus’s research focuses on retail supply chains. In particular, his research explores the effectiveness of various retail supply-chain practices such as category management, collaborative forecasting, and direct-store delivery. More recent research by Professor Kurtulus examines the implications of private labels on the retailers’ category management strategy.

Education
Ph.D., Operations Management, INSEAD, 2005
M.S., Management, INSEAD, 2002
M.S., Industrial Engineering, Bilkent University, 2000
B.S., Physics, Koc University, 1998

The winner of multiple teaching awards at Owen, Brian McCann is an authority in the field of strategic management.

Awards & Accomplishments
Professor McCann is a 2004 MBA graduate from Owen, where he was an Owen Merit Scholar and earned the Bruce D. Henderson Merit Prize and the Founder’s Medal as the top graduate of the class. While at Purdue, he received numerous awards and grants, including the Purdue Research Foundation Grant, the Krannert Certificate for Distinguished Teaching, a Kauffman Fellowship Award, and the Ross Fellowship.

Leadership
In addition to his academic career, Professor McCann has more than ten years of industry experience, including running JMD Development, Inc., a residential land development company; serving as the CFO for the Internet start-up Solve Interactive; and developing new strategic initiatives for the Dayton Development Coalition, a non-profit economic development group.

Publications
Professor McCann’s work has appeared in such leading journals as the Strategic Management Journal, Organization Science, the Journal of Business Venturing, the Journal of Management Studies, and the Journal of Management. He is also the co-author of the leading textbook Managerial Economics: A Problem-Solving Approach, which is in its fifth edition.

Research
Professor McCann’s research interests span strategic management and entrepreneurship, including the performance implications of firm agglomeration, effects of ownership structure on competitive behaviors, and the role of threshold-based decision-making in the entrepreneurial process.

Education
Ph.D., Krannert School of Management, Purdue University, 2009
MBA, Owen Graduate School of Management, Vanderbilt University, 2004
B.A., Wright State University, 1990

Dave Owens is a well-established authority on innovation and new product development who has lended his expertise to Fortune 500 companies and students alike.

Consulting
Professor Owens has consulted for NASA, The Smithsonian, Nissan LEAF, Gibson Music, American Conservatory Theater, Alcatel, Tetra Pak, Tennessee Valley Authority, Cisco, LEGO, The Henry Ford Museum, and many other organizations. He has done product design work for well-known firms, including Daimler Benz, Apple Computer, Dell Computer, Coleman Camping, Corning World Kitchen, Steelcase, and IDEO Product Development.

Leadership
Professor Owens is executive director of The Wond’ry, Vanderbilt University’s center for creativity, innovation, design, and making.

Publications
Professor Owens’s book Creative People Must Be Stopped! Six Ways We Stop Innovation Without Even Trying has received acclaim from academics and corporate executives across the world.

His work has also been featured in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Guardian, and the San Jose Mercury News, as well as on NPR’s Marketplace.

Research
Professor Owens’s research focuses on the management of innovation in product, process, and service industries. He also studies the effects of social status on organizational effectiveness and design.

Kimberly Pace uses her formal training in the performing arts to bring a unique perspective to business education and practice.

Consulting
As the CEO and co-founder of Executive Aura, LLC, Professor Pace offers masterclasses for effective presentations and personal branding. She helps executives understand the unique value they bring to their company, staff, clients, and customers.

Leadership
Professor Pace held executive marketing and communications roles within 2 faith-based non-profit agencies located in Nashville. Kimberly also served as the executive director and “on-air talent” for a radio and television program that aired on Fox, CBS and NBC in seven states to 5.5 million homes. She directed and produced the broadcasts, interviewed guests, and trained other on-air hosts.

Research
Professor Pace brings her knowledge of presentation skills, business writing, active listening, on-the-job management communications, mediation, crisis communications, public relations, and personal branding to all of her courses.

Education
M.M., Shenandoah University, 1994
B.A., Millsaps College, 1992

Rangaraj “Ranga” Ramanujam is a leading researcher and consultant on the organizational causes and consequences of operational failures in high-risk work settings.

Consulting
Professor Ramanujam has consulted for several organizations, including Aravind Eye Care System, HCA, the Vanderbilt Heart and Vascular Institute, the Pittsburgh Regional Healthcare Initiative, the Pacific Gas & Electric Company, and Underwriters Laboratories.

Leadership
Professor Ramanujam is co-editor of the Stanford University Press series High Reliability and Crisis Management. He previously served on the editorial boards of Organization Science and the Journal of Organizational Behavior. He is a member of the Nashville Hospital Authority Board.

Publications
Professor Ramanujam’s research has appeared in various journals including the Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, the Journal of Management, the Journal of Applied Psychology, Organization Science, and Medical Care.

Research
Professor Ramanujam’s current research examines the role of leadership, communication, and learning processes in enhancing the quality and safety of healthcare.

Education
Ph.D., Carnegie Mellon University, 2000
PGDM, Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata, 1988
B.E., Anna University, Chennai, 1986