baylor business buzz

Baylor Business Review, Fall 2006

New Department Chairs Named at Hankamer

Two Hankamer faculty will step into roles of chairs of academic departments for the upcoming academic year. New department chairs in the Hankamer School of Business are Timothy R. Kayworth, chair of the Department of Information Systems, and J. Allen Seward, chair of the Department of Finance, Insurance and Real Estate.

Kayworth joined the management information systems faculty at the Hankamer School of Business in 1996. He has prior industry experience in information systems consulting and has also held positions as MIS director and operations manager for private sector firms. Kayworth's research interests center on the management of IT in organizations, and his most recent research projects have included such topics as leadership in global virtual teams, the impact of organizational culture on knowledge management practice, and the role of culture in information systems research.

A Baylor graduate, Seward served as a lecturer in the economics and finance departments until deciding to continue his education at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned his master's and doctoral degrees. He then returned to the Hankamer School of Business in 1987. Seward's research and teaching interests are currently focused on risk and insurance issues, and he has refereed publications in the areas of insurance regulation and insolvency, health care, forensic economics, and real estate.

Buckley Named Director of Career Management

Terry S. Maness, dean of Baylor University's Hankamer School of Business, has announced a newly-created position to focus on MBA career placement initiatives. The Cox-Hawkins Director of Career Management will report to the associate dean of Graduate Business Programs at the School. Ken Buckley, a Baylor alumnus and former vice president of Sales at Tanisys Technology in Austin, has been appointed to the post.

"This is an important area of emphasis," said Maness. "As we place our students successfully in internships and full time positions, our reputation will grow. In turn, we expect to see an increase in applications and enrollment of high quality students who will select our Graduate Business Programs because of the strong curriculum and job placement we can offer."

The new position is funded by generous donations from the William Thomas Cox, Jr Estate and Jim Hawkins, Chairman of the Board of J-Hawk Funding Corporation.

Business Professors Recognized with Outstanding Faculty Awards

The following professors at the Hankamer School of Business were recognized by the University with Outstanding Faculty Awards in Spring 2006:

Professor Martha Agee, lecturer in Business Law - teaching award for nontenured faculty throughout the university.

Dr. Tom Kelly, professor of Economics and director of the Center for Business and Economic Research - award for significant contributions to the Academic community in ways other than teaching or researching.

Dr. Charles Delaney, Associate Professor of Real Estate - teaching award for tenured faculty (selected from nominations from Schools of Business, Law, Engineering and Computer Science)

Econ Alumnus Reaches Final 4 on Trump's 'Apprentice'

"You're fired."

Two words. Two syllables. Too bad.

Multi-billionaire business tycoon, Donald Trump, has made the phrase synonymous with his hit reality TV series "The Apprentice" aired on NBC. However, contestant and Baylor grad Roxanne Wilson proved she could hold her own as a competitor, becoming one of the final four contestants before hearing the dreaded phrase from the notorious mouth of The Donald.

Finance Department Ranked 15th for Teaching Quality

Baylor University's Finance department placed 15th out of 444 institutions for teaching quality, according to researchers from Western Kentucky University who conducted a study of finance programs. No other Texas university made it in the top 25. Of Big 12 institutions, only one other made the top 25, which was Oklahoma State University following Baylor in 16th place.

"It's nice to be recognized for having excellent teaching," said Alien Seward, chair of Baylor's Finance, Insurance & Real Estate Department at the Hankamer School of Business. "The Finance faculty at Baylor are, indeed, outstanding researchers and teachers."

The researchers determined rankings on contributions to research on financial education to rank finance programs' teaching quality.

Lapes Named Director of Casey Computer Center

Anthony Lapes has been appointed director of Hankamer's Casey Computer Center, replacing Larry Hssary. Essary will be moving to North Carolina with his wife, Baylor Law Professor Melissa FLssary, who has been named the new dean of the School of Law at Campbell University.

Lapes comes to the Business School from Baylor's Electronic Library, where he served as a technology project manager, developing and upgrading technology classrooms, labs and other audiovisual presentation spaces, as well as budgeting and procuring technology for the organization. Prior to that, he was an academic technology consultant at the Information Technology Center and a programmer for the Center for Computing and Information Systems, both at Baylor.