Coming from three countries, two branches of the United States military and some of the top business schools in the country, the eight new tenure-track faculty members joining the Oregon State College of Business in 2013 bring a range of skills and experience.
Jonathan Arthurs
Jonathan Arthurs joins OSU as an Associate Professor in Strategy and Entrepreneurship. He graduated from Texas A&M University with a BBA and was a commissioned officer in the U.S. Army. After leaving the military, he worked as a bookstore manager before going back to Texas A&M to earn his MBA. After graduating he worked in the finance department of a large corporation and then on an internal consulting team reporting directly to the top management team. Next, he attended the University of Oklahoma and completed his Ph.D. with a focus in strategy and entrepreneurship. He spent nine years at Washington State University where he was also the doctoral program coordinator for the management track. He teaches strategy and entrepreneurship courses and his research focuses on governance and innovation, particularly in new ventures.
Arthurs said his love of entrepreneurship started in high school, when he was mentored by an entrepreneur who gave him an appreciation for what it takes to start a new venture.
“I love to do research into innovation and the governance of new ventures,” he said. “I also like to do research into understanding how entrepreneurial ventures are able to appropriate value from their activity.”
Jeffery Barden
Jeffrey Barden is an Assistant Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship, joining Oregon State after teaching at the Foster School of Business at the University of Washington since 2005. Barden earned his B.A. in Economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, his MBA from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University and his Ph.D. in Management from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University.
“I got into strategy in large part because strategy is arguably the most integrative discipline,” Barden said. “Answering big questions about firm performance requires a tremendously broad set of knowledge. I was also inspired by my MBA strategy professor, Idie Kesner, who is now dean of the Indiana University business school.”
Inga Chira
Inga Chira joins OSU as an Assistant Professor of Finance. She completed her Ph.D. in May at Florida Atlantic University, where she taught corporate finance and financial institutions. Prior to pursing her Ph.D., Chira was a full-time instructor at Jacksonville University in Jacksonville, Fla., where she taught courses in corporate finance, financial statements analysis, financial markets and institutions, investments, financial management, international finance, security analysis and venture finance. In addition to her academic career, Chira has industry experience in corporate finance and financial systems analysis at CitiStreet, ING, UPS and CSX.
Chira’s research is focused on empirical corporate finance and is concentrated on mergers and acquisition and the efficiency of financial regulation. Her plans include pursuing a CFP certification and working towards promoting financial literacy and education.
Chira said she’s enjoyed getting to know Corvallis and her new colleagues in the Finance discipline.
“They have a true commitment to being the best teachers they can be and doing the best research they can do, and I am looking forward to becoming part of this group,” she said. “And I am not going to lie, I am a big wine fan and this is a great place for that.”
Peter Frischmann
Peter J. Frischmann is an Associate Professor of Accounting. He is a Certified Public Accountant and received his B.S. in Accounting from Utica College of Syracuse University; his M.B.A. from the University of Michigan; and his Ph.D. from Arizona State University. Before pursuing his academic career, Frischmann was a manager with Ernst and Young in Phoenix, Ariz. Frischmann’s research focuses on taxation and the interaction of taxation and financial reporting. He has been named as an outstanding faculty member by Business Week’s Best Business Schools and has published in such journals as the Journal of Accounting and Economics, the Journal of the American Taxation Association and National Tax Journal. His work has been honored by the Financial Accounting Standards Board as research addressing issues relevant to the FASB and containing conclusions likely to benefit their decision-making process.
“The real inspiration for my career in accounting education came from Randy Huta at Utica College of Syracuse University, my first accounting professor who became a life-long friend,” Frischmann said. “My greatest career pleasure comes from leaving our next generation better educated to take on the challenges of a changing world.”
Aimee Huff
Aimee Huff joins the College of Business as an Assistant Professor of Marketing. She recently completed her Ph.D. at the Ivey Business School at the University of Western Ontario, Canada. She earned her M.B.S. in Food Marketing at the University College Cork, Ireland, and her B.Com. at the University of Guelph, Canada. Huff’s research explores the intersection of consumer experience, consumer culture and family in contexts that involve complex, emotional decisions. Her dissertation examined the experiences of new mothers choosing care for their infants, the experiences of elderly individuals and their adult children choosing elder care facilities, and the experiences of adult males purchasing commercial intimacy. Huff’s research has been published in Journal of Consumer Affairs, and presented at multiple conferences of Association for Consumer Research and Consumer Culture Theory. She’ll teach Marketing Management in the MBA program and Advertising Management at the undergraduate level.
Anthony Klotz
Anthony Klotz is an Assistant Professor of Management. He completed his Ph.D. at the University of Oklahoma in 2013 and earned his MBA from Creighton University in 2009. Klotz’s primary research areas are in organizational citizenship behavior, counterproductive work behavior, team conflict and employee resignations. His research has been published in the Academy of Management Review, the Journal of Applied Psychology, the Journal of Management, and the Journal of Organizational Behavior. Prior to pursuing his Ph.D., Klotz spent five years in managerial roles with General Mills at the company’s Albuquerque, N.M., Lodi, Calif., and Midland, Ontario, manufacturing facilities, and operated a small business for three years.
While working for both a Fortune 100 company and an entrepreneurial firm, Klotz realized his passion was in helping employees grow personally and professionally.
“I realized as a management professor I would have the opportunity to dedicate myself to studying employee behavior and to helping prepare students for success in their professional and personal lives,” Klotz said. “That is the part of my job that I enjoy most — giving students the tools to make their transition from student to manager as successful and minimally stressful as possible.”
Guanyi Lu
Guanyi Lu is an Assistant Professor of Global Business Analysis. He earned his B.S. in Management Information Systems from the Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, his M.S. in Business and his Ph.D. at the Mays Business School at Texas A&M University. In 2012 he received the Outstanding Teaching Award at Mays Business School.Previously he served in a leading Asia-based original equipment manufacturer (OEM) as an assistant supply chain manager for three years.
His research focuses on supply chain security, a topic that caught his interest after a truckload of around 5,000 LCD monitors was stolen from a company he was working for. Lu investigated the aftermath of the theft, which significantly affected his firm.
“The most joyful part about supply chain security research is that it is very relevant, business-driven,” he said. “All managers I met cared about their supply chains and were eager to develop effective supply chain security programs for their firms. The topic allows me to conduct research that not only provides academic insights but also brings value to practitioners.”
Charles Murnieks
Charles Murnieks is an Assistant Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship. He received his B.S. in Civil Engineering from the United States Air Force Academy, his MBA from the Anderson School of Management at UCLA and his Ph.D. in Business Administration from the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado. Most recently he taught as an Instructor and Assistant Professor of Management at the United States Air Force Academy. In 2010 he received the Military Bronze Star Medal for meritorious service while deployed to Iraq.
While serving as a civil engineering officer in the Air Force, Murnieks was given the chance to become an assistant professor at the Air Force Academy, and began his research after earning his Ph.D.
“Honestly, I love both teaching and research,” Murnieks said. “I love the student interaction and the process of discovery that accompanies teaching, and I love the intellectual challenge and the prospect of uncovering new knowledge in research. It’s a perfect blend, and I think Oregon State offers the opportunity to do both very well.”
