Mays welcomes 13 new faculty members for Fall 2014

At Mays Business School, our outstanding faculty are consistently recognized for their research and teaching accomplishments. This year, we welcome 13 new faculty members.

Mark Houston has joined the Department of Marketing as department head, professor and the Blue Bell Creameries Chair in Business. Houston is the inaugural holder of the chair, which was created in 2009.

Prior to joining Texas A&M University, Houston served on the faculties of Texas Christian University (chaired full professor), University of Missouri (endowed professorship), Saint Louis University and Bowling Green State University.

Houston said he was attracted to Mays because of its reputation as a college that encourages research, and he looks forward to working with PhD students again.

“Also, it is a great opportunity to be a part of a nice community and to lead a group of great colleagues,” he said. “I am looking forward to it.”

Christa Bouwman has joined the Department of Finance as an associate professor. Prior to joining Texas A&M, she served the faculty of Case Western Reserve University as an associate professor of Banking and Finance.

Bouwman received a master’s degree in Economics and Business from the University of Groningen — the Netherlands, an MBA from Cornell University and a PhD from the University of Michigan.

Her research is empirical and focuses on Financial Intermediation and Corporate Finance. She was a visiting professor at MIT Sloan’s School of Management, and is currently an Associate Editor of two journals (the Review of Finance and the Journal of Banking and Finance), a Research Associate at the Federal Reserve Banks of Cleveland and Boston, and a Fellow of the Wharton Financial Institutions Center.

Cindy Zapata has joined the Department of Management as an associate professor. Prior to joining Texas A&M, Zapata served the faculty of Georgia Institute of Technology as an assistant professor of Management.

Zapata received both her PhD and bachelor’s degrees from the University of Florida.

Her research interests include organizational justice and trust, supervisor-employee relationships and personality and individual differences.

Yan Liu has joined the Department of Finance as an assistant professor. Prior to joining Texas A&M, Liu was a PhD student at Duke University.

Liu’s current research focuses on empirical asset pricing and information bounds.

David R. Skeie has joined the Department of Finance as an assistant professor. Prior to joining Texas A&M, Skeie worked in New York as a senior economist for the Federal Reserve Bank.

Skeie received his PhD in economics from Princeton University. His primary fields of interest are in financial intermediation, macro-finance and financial stability.

Jeff Yu has joined the Department of Accounting as an assistant professor. Prior to joining Texas A&M, he served the faculty of Southern Methodist University as an assistant professor of accounting.

Yu received both a master’s degree and a PhD from The Ohio State University.

His research focuses on empirical capital markets in financial accounting and areas of specialization include debt contracting, information intermediaries and economic effects of financial reporting and disclosure.

Tim Torno has joined the Department of Accounting as an executive professor. Prior to joining Texas A&M, Torno served the faculty of the University of Dallas as an adjunct professor of Accounting.

Torno received a bachelor’s degree from Texas A&M and an MBA from the University of Phoenix.

Ed C. White has joined the Department of Finance as an executive professor. Prior to joining Texas A&M, he served the faculty of Bowling Green State University-Ohio as an executive-in-residence. White received an MBA from the University of Hawaii.

Prior to joining academia, White was a Senior Vice President and the Chief Financial Officer of Owens-Illinois, Inc. (NYSE: OI) for seven years until his retirement in 2012. During his 38-year career with OI, White worked in a variety of management roles across finance, manufacturing and marketing. His international experiences included senior management positions as an expatriate in Finland, Poland, France and Switzerland. He also served in the United States Army.

Andre Araujo has joined the Department of Information and Operations Management as a clinical assistant professor. He received a PhD from the University of Oklahoma.

Bilal Erturk has joined the Department of Finance as a visiting assistant professor. Prior to joining Texas A&M, Erturk served on the faculty of Oklahoma State University as an assistant professor of Finance.

Erturk graduated from Bilkent University in Ankara Turkey with an industrial engineering degree. He earned a PhD in finance from Texas A&M.

Marco Rossi has joined the Department of Finance as a visiting assistant professor. Prior to joining Texas A&M, Rossi served the faculty of The University of Notre Dame as an assistant professor of finance.

Rossi obtained a PhD in Finance from the Pennsylvania State University. Before joining academia, Rossi spent approximately one year working full time on a currency options desk for Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein (of the Allianz group) in London.

Morgan Moore has joined the Accounting Department as a lecturer. Prior to joining Texas A&M, Moore worked for Ernst & Young in Houston as a CPA.

Moore received a bachelor’s degree from TCU and a master’s degree from the University of Texas-Austin.

Kristopher Muir has joined the Undergraduate Special Programs Office as a lecturer. Prior to joining Texas A&M, Muir served the faculty of Woodward Academy as a Spanish instructor.

Muir received a bachelor’s degree from University of Tennessee, Knoxville, a master’s degree from University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Doctorate of Education from Walden University. His goal is to design meaningful work at the intersection of learning, innovation and technology.