Research  Recognition

December 2010

Associate Professor of Economics Dhaval Dave was appointed Gibbons Research Professor of Economics. During the three year professorship, Dave will pursue research projects that investigate the intersection of economic and financial factors, individuals' risk-taking through various modes, and outcomes or behaviors related to health and human capital. In addition to welcoming Dhaval Dave to the professorship, the university also recognizes the accomplishments and contributions of the two outgoing Gibbons Professors: Jahangir (Jay) Sultan and Roy (Chip) Wiggins, both from the Department of Finance.

Pierre Berthon, marketing professor and Clifford F. Youse Chair of Marketing, received the Best Paper Award on the Marketing Strategy Track of the 2010 Australia and New Zealand Marketing Academy Conference (ANZMAC) for the paper "Creative Consumers: Awareness, Attitude & Action - Instrument & Preliminary Results". The award was presented at the annual conference held at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand from November 30 to December 2, 2010. In a call for companies to recognize the significant implications of customer innovations – made by creative consumers who adapt, modify or transform a proprietary offering -- the researchers present an instrument that considers three dimensions of a firm's stance - awareness, attitude, and action. The study is aimed at helping managers to identify, assess and strategically plan a coherent response to creative consumers.

November 2010

Professor and Chair of Mathematical Sciences Richard Cleary received the Howard Eves Award from the Northeastern Section of the Mathematical Association of America (MAA). The award was presented on November 17 at the 55th Annual Fall Sectional Meeting held at Providence College in Rhode Island. Award criteria includes both service and presentation components as a teacher and scholar in the field of mathematics. It also reflects Cleary's contributions to the Northeastern Section of MAA. He previously served as section chair, local arrangements chair, and on many section committees. At the national level, Cleary is serving a six-year term as associate treasurer. He is also serving a two-year term as chair of the Joint Data Committee of five mathematical organizations: Mathematical Association of America; American Mathematical Society; American Statistical Association; the Institute of Mathematical Statistics; and Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics.

The Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts honored President Gloria Cordes Larson as one of six remarkable role models at the 19th Annual Girl Scouts of Eastern Mass. Leading Women Awards Breakfast held at the Seaport Hotel in Boston on November 9. The honorees were chosen because they exemplify the Girl Scout mission to build women of courage, confidence and character and their desire to make the world a better place. Each honoree was introduced by a Girl Scout who had the opportunity to meet great role models who exemplify the Girl Scout mission.

Pierre Berthon, marketing professor and Clifford F. Youse Chair of Marketing, won a 2010 Best Paper Award from Business Horizons for the paper entitled "Event Sponsorship and Ambush Marketing: Lessons from the Beijing Olympics," published in the May-June 2010 issue. The article outlines the "Li Ning Affair" - how major Olympic sponsor Adidas was ambushed by a lesser-known Chinese competitor, Li Ning, whose namesake founder lit the Olympic flame at the 2008 Beijing Olympiad. Berthon and co-author Leyland Pitt (Simon Frazer University) also draw important lessons about ambush marketing for marketers in general, and advertisers and potential sponsors specifically.

October 2010

Professor of English Edward Zlotkowski received the Distinguished Contribution Award at the International Association for Research on Service-learning and Community Engagement (IARSLCE) Conference October 28 to 30 in Indianapolis. The award recognizes the significant role that Zlotkowski has played during the past two decades to advance service-learning and civic engagement, both in the United States and abroad. As founding director of the Bentley Service-Learning Center more than 20 years ago, Zlotkowski helped establish a model that connects student learning with real-world, public-sector initiatives. In the classroom, he regularly uses service-learning in courses such as Expository Writing, Effective Communication, and Forms of Drama.

August 2010

Associate Professor of Marketing Dipayan Biswas received the Award for Best Paper in the Consumer Behavior Track at the American Marketing Association Annual Summer Marketing Educators’ Conference in Boston. He was recognized for research on how consumers might make erroneous judgments when trying to compute mathematical averages. "Evaluating Ratio Data and the Role of Consumer Processing Mode: Can Analytical Processing Bias Judgments?" examines how consumer judgments might be biased when attempting to analyze commonly used ratios, such as loads per container for laundry detergent or calories per minute for fitness equipment. The study, co-authored with Patricia Norberg (Quinnipiac University, Hamden) and Donald Lehmann (Columbia University, New York) found that correcting consumer judgment bias can lead to more efficient use of resources.

The Mathematical Association of America (MAA) awarded Nathan Carter with the 2010 Henry L. Alder Award for Distinguished Teaching by a Beginning College or University Mathematics Faculty Member. Carter, who is an assistant professor of mathematical sciences, is one of only two winners of the national award. He was honored with $1,000 and a certificate of recognition at the MAA annual summer meeting, MathFest 2010, held August 5-7 in Pittsburgh, PA. The award honors college or university faculty whose teaching has been extraordinarily successful and whose effectiveness in teaching undergraduate mathematics is shown to have influence beyond their own classrooms.

July 2010

The American College Health Association (ACHA) presented the national E. Dean Lovett Award to Geraldine Taylor, assistant dean for Health and Wellness and director of the Center for Health and Wellness at Bentley University, recognizing her contributions to Bentley, the community and ACHA -- particularly in regard to the H1N1 pandemic. Taylor was honored at the organization's annual meeting on June 3 in Philadelphia. ACHA acknowledged Taylor's exemplary work on the university's crisis management team and her collaborative efforts with other New England schools as they dealt with the H1N1 pandemic, as well as her work with the Massachusetts Director of Public Health as part of the Massachusetts H1N1 Advisory and Statewide Surge Committees.

June 2010

Accountancy professors Jean Bedard and James Hunton are top ranked researchers among their academic peers, according to the study, Individual Accounting Faculty Research Rankings By Topical Area and Methodology. The study by researchers from Brigham Young and Utah State Universities was created to rank research productivity in the most recent six, 12, and 20-year windows, expanding on previous rankings in two important ways: by providing separate rankings for each accounting topical area and methodology; and developing a measure to examine the contribution of individual faculty to their respective institutions. In the Overall Academia Ranking of Researchers, James Hunton, Darald and Juliet Libby Professor of Accounting, ranks No. 1 in both the 20-year and 12-year time periods, and No. 4 in the most recent six-year period. He also ranks No. 1 in all three time spans in the topical area of Accounting Information Systems (AIS) and Experimental research. Overall, Jean Bedard, Timothy B. Harbert Professor of Accountancy, ranks No. 4 in the six-year span, No. 8 in the 12-year and No. 9 in the 20-year. Within auditing, her primary research specialty, Bedard ranks No. 4 in the six-year span, and No. 3 in the 12- and 20-year spans. Also, in the AIS category, she ranks No. 5 in the six-year, No. 11 in the 12-year, and No. 16 in the 20-year span.

The Marion and Jasper Whiting Foundation awarded Professor of Management Joseph Weiss with a 2010 Marion and Jasper Whiting Fellowship. Weiss, who is one of only 20 recipients, is using the funding for research that explores the ethics, values and career prospects of emerging Russian professionals and entrepreneurs. He is collaborating with the Career Center of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations and the Association of Young Entrepreneurs in Moscow. The project builds upon preliminary research that Weiss began in December 2009 with Oleg Rykhtikov, a recent Ph.D. graduate of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations.

May 2010

Professor of Marketing and Clifford F. Youse Chair of Research Pierre Berthon and Senior Lecturer of Marketing Perry Lowe received the 2010 Excellence in Practice Award from the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD), a global organization devoted to the continuous improvement of management education. The case study, "Prism, KickApps and Bentley University: An Innovative Case of Synergistic Learning and Development between Venture Capital, Startup and University," was co-written with Prism VentureWorks Partner Woody Benson (Bentley '80) and Chief Executive Officer of KickApps Alex Blum. The study explores the successful interaction between a university (Bentley), a social software platform startup (KickApps), and venture capital enterprise (Prism VentureWorks).

Faculty members Jane Fedorowicz, Rae Anderson Professor of Accountancy and Information Systems, and Professor of Government Christine Williams, and Bentley PhD student Arthur Tomasino received a Best Research Paper award from the Digital Government Society of North America. The award, which included a cash prize sponsored by IOS Press, was presented to Williams at the 11th annual international conference on Digital Government Research held May 17 to 20 in Puebla, Mexico. The research, "Governmental Factors Associated with State-wide Interagency Collaboration Initiatives," explores the differences among state public safety programs, with emphasis on Public Safety Networks (PSNs) in the United States. PSNs represent a combination of police and other agencies that have joined together at various levels of government to share information and communicate when faced with public safety incidents. The paper is an initial effort to explain differences such as the size and maturity of extant state-level PSNs. It is a product of a larger research project funded by the National Science Foundation.

Adjunct Professor of Information Design in Corporate Communication (IDCC) Jon Boroshok was awarded the Bentley University Service-Learning Faculty Award for leading a series of community service projects within his Public Relations Writing course. Boroshok's students helped local Waltham-area nonprofits --including Communities Without Borders, National Multiple Sclerosis Society's Waltham chapter, and Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships (NEEP) -- develop public relations plans and implementation materials in order to better promote their organizations.

March 2010

The Boston Business Journal honored Toni G. Wolfman, executive in residence at Bentley's Women's Leadership Institute (WLI), for her efforts to advance the cause of women in business and the professions on March 12. She received the Advancing Women Award at the Boston Business Journal's first-ever Advancing Women breakfast. At Bentley, Wolfman serves as a liaison between the university and business leaders, helps to identify and create programs for current and future women leaders, and engages in research and advocacy to promote better corporate governance and a more inclusive business environment. A former partner at a major Boston law firm, Wolfman has long played key roles in organizations dedicated to the empowerment of women.

December 2009

The government of Mozambique (Africa) invited Joni Seager, professor and chair of global studies, to help develop a national strategy and five-year government policy plan to address gender and climate change. Seager traveled to Mozambique several times to work with the Environmental Ministry on the project. The topic of gendered analysis and its role in climate change has become an important focus for the United Nations and other international agencies, making it a rich topic for exploration and research. Seager is one of a small group of scholars working on analytical and theoretical explorations of the social -- and gendered -- nature of climate change. The issue is increasingly emphasized in a United Nations call for action, she notes, citing a recent report from the United Nations Population Fund on gender and climate change.

October 2009

Professor of Political Science Christine Williams was appointed Managing Editor for North America for the Journal of Political Marketing. Three additional Bentley faculty members were also appointed as members of the Editorial Board: Pierre Berthon, Clifford F. Youse Chair of Marketing; Abdolreza Eshghi, professor of marketing; and Girish J. (Jeff) Gulati, assistant professor of political science.

September 2009

W. Michael Hoffman, founder and executive director of the Center for Business Ethics and Hieken professor of Business and Professional Ethics, was honored at the Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics (SCCE) Fifth Annual Compliance and Ethics Awards ceremony on September 14. Award recipients included four individuals and two organizations making considerable contributions to the fast-growing corporate compliance and ethics field. The award recognizes outstanding performance, achievement, leadership abilities, personal commitment, and contribution to the integrity and growth of the corporate compliance profession.

M. Lynne Markus, the John W. Poduska, Sr. Professor of Information and Process Management at Bentley University, received a Best Paper Award from the Journal of the Association for Information Systems for the project, "A Foundation for the Study of IT Effects: A New Look at DeSanctis and Poole's Concepts of Structural Features and Spirit." The article appeared in a special issue to commemorate internationally known information systems scholar Gerardine DeSanctis. Markus and Fordham University Professor Mark Silver explored several of DeSanctis' best known articles about decision support systems, which focus on structural features and spirit to help explain the effects of IT.

As part of the Undergraduate Fellows Seminar, the Valente Center for Arts and Sciences at Bentley University named faculty members in four different fields as 2009-2010 teaching fellows: Mike Frank, associate professor of English; Susan Adams, associate professor of management, Susan Dobscha, associate professor of marketing, and Jeff Gulati, assistant professor of global studies. Faculty members led discussions of literary works far-removed from their own disciplines.

June 2009

PhD candidate Philip DesAutels served as chairman of the jury for the Globe Forum's Globe Award for Sustainability Innovation 2009, presented on June 3 by H.R.H. Swedish Crown Princess Victoria at a ceremony at the Grand Hotel in Stockholm, Sweden. Also serving on the jury of internationally recognized experts was Pierre Berthon, marketing professor and Clifford F. Youse Chair of Marketing. DesAutels was also a featured speaker at the 2009 Globe Forum. Founded in 2003 in Sweden, the Globe Forum is an international business network and marketplace for innovators, entrepreneurs and investors interested in sustainable business. The Globe Award was created to foster sustainable development in society and business. It is the world's preeminent sustainability honor and is awarded to Globe Award Laureates who serve as ambassadors and role models.

Three Bentley faculty members were named research fellows for the 2009-2010 academic year by the Valente Center for Arts and Sciences at Bentley. Working on research related to this year's theme, "Behaving Ourselves: Motivation and Agency Across the Disciplines," are Scott Boss, assistant professor of accountancy ("Attitudinal Motivation for Security Behaviors"); Angela Garcia, associate professor and chair of sociology ("Creating a Cardboard World: The Collaborative Construction of Motivation and Agency in the Completion of Jigsaw Puzzles"); and Axel Seemann, assistant professor of philosophy ("The Social Mind: Intersubjectivity and Joint Engagement").

May 2009

The Massachusetts Society of Certified Public Accountants (MSCPA) named Tracy Noga, assistant professor of accountancy, Educator of the Year for 2009. The award was presented on May 13 at the MSCPA Annual Meeting and Recognition Reception at the Colonnade Hotel in Boston. It is bestowed to a full-time accounting educator at a college or university who is distinguished for excellence in classroom teaching, motivating students, and educational innovation; has served as a liaison between the classroom and the business world; and is actively involved in professional activities. Noga is committed to educating students about changing professional regulations and refinements in field work to help prepare them for the corporate world.

April 2009

Jeff Gulati, assistant professor of political science, and Christine Williams, professor of political science, received a Best Paper Award from the Journal of Information Technology & Politics (JIPT) for the project "Congressional Candidates' Use of YouTube in 2008: Its Frequency and Rationale." The award was presented at JITP's first annual conference held in Amherst, Mass., on April 16 and 17. The study investigates and analyzes how and with what frequency the 2008 Congressional candidates used the video sharing website YouTube. Findings showed that among House candidates, better-financed candidates and those running in competitive races were the most likely to open a YouTube channel, but it has not replaced traditional campaign tactics or tools.

Iris Berdrow, associate professor of management, and Marc Stern, professor and chair of the Department of History, received fellowships from the Marion and Jasper Whiting Foundation to support their research and pedagogy. Berdrow traveled to France during the 2008-2009 academic year to explore innovative behaviors across organizational and national boundaries, particularly how innovation happens in France and between French and non-French managers. She also taught at Groupe ESC Rouen and Groupe ESC Clermont-Ferrand, both Grande Ecoles. From summer 2009 to summer 2010, Stern is traveling to various U.S. cities -- including Washington, DC; Minneapolis; Chicago; Vancouver, WA; San Francisco; Los Angles; Dallas; and Atlanta -- to research the history of the American fitness industry in the late 20th century; particularly the rise of the modern fitness culture and its relationship to the growth of the fitness center.

February 2009

Assistant Professor of Marketing Dipayan (Dip) Biswas received the Best Paper Award in the Consumer Behavior Track at the American Marketing Association Winter Conference in Tampa, Fla. His research, which addresses consumer preferences when sampling experiential products, is also forthcoming in the Journal of Marketing Research. The results of five studies reveal that when sampling a series of experiential products such as beverages or music, consumers prefer the product sampled second in a series of two desirable products but relatively prefer the product sampled first in a series of two undesirable products. The underlying process for both outcomes is a recency effect, such that there is better recall for the most recently sampled experiential product. Biswas' research provides information that could help companies implement better and more effective experiential marketing programs.