Named Professorships

Named Professorships recognize and honor NC State Poole faculty members who are leading scholars in their fields. Established through generous gifts from our supporters and complemented by matching state funds, these professorships provide vital funding to enhance and support the research activities of our extraordinary faculty.

At NC State’s Poole College of Management, our faculty excel in their disciplines, offering insights on critical business challenges. Their expertise is frequently sought by national media and leading business publications. To further elevate their groundbreaking work, the college honors faculty with distinguished and named professorships.

Meet our named professors and discover how philanthropic support drives innovation in their research and teaching.

Deanship

Frank Buckless

Stephen P. Zelnak Jr. Dean of the Poole College of Management

How it Helps: The Stephen P. Zelnak Jr. Deanship provides the Poole College of Management resources to attract the best leader for Poole, who can lead the college’s strategy. A key part of Poole’s strategy is recruiting, supporting and retaining world class faculty who are outstanding teachers and researchers.

The Impact: While some colleges are facing declining enrollment due to many external factors, Poole is attracting record-setting numbers of students. And at the same time, our rankings continue to climb. Our Undergraduate, MBA and MAC programs continue to be recognized in the space of entrepreneurship and analytics as some of the best in the country, which are justified by our outcomes.

Why I’m Grateful: I continue to be inspired by the caliber of individuals on both sides of the classroom. I truly believe there are no better educators out there than our Poole College faculty. Our students are extraordinarily gifted and incredibly qualified and they’re making a huge impact on the college, the university and our community. And together, as a team, we all continue to be strategic in our growth, working hard to create the impact that Poole is known for.

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Distinguished Professorships

Mark Beasley

Alan T. Dickson Distinguished Professor of Accounting

How it Helps: The Dickson Professorship gives me the time to lead Poole’s Enterprise Risk Management Initiative, which offers global thought leadership to assist business leaders in enhancing their organization’s risk oversight in today’s complex environment. We engage with leaders across the U.S. and globally through our research on emerging risk issues, our speaker series, executive education, and participation in global ERM think-tank projects.

The Impact: I am part of a multi-year, five-person advisory team assisting the Assistant Secretary-General and Controller of the UN in enhancing internal controls over its operations, compliance, and reporting. Having the time to engage in such activities provides invaluable insights that enrich my NC State classroom and research, showing how support like the Dickson Professorship benefits not just the recipient.

Why I’m Grateful: I am honored to receive the Dickson Professorship and grateful for the generous support, which allows me to focus on research-based thought leadership while providing a stamp of credibility recognized by business professionals and academics worldwide.

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Joe Brazel

Jenkins Distinguished Professor of Accounting

How it Helps: The Jenkins Distinguished Professorship has had an extraordinary impact on my career as a faculty member at NC State. I am a firm believer in faculty being inspirational in the classroom and tackling challenging research questions. The Jenkins Distinguished Professorship allows me the resources and time to be extraordinary at both.

The Impact: My teaching and research focus on the areas of financial statement auditing and assurance services, fraudulent financial reporting, professional skepticism, and data analytics. Thus, I always have important research questions to examine that are of interest to Poole College stakeholders and beyond.

Why I’m Grateful: Above all else, being a Jenkins Distinguished Professor offers me time. Time to tackle big-picture, high risk and impactful research projects. Time to develop my classes so that I bring cutting-edge research to my Poole College students. It also affords me the time to travel nationally and internationally, presenting my research to practitioners, policy-makers, standard setters, regulators, and fellow academics.

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Mehmet Caner

Thurman-Raytheon Distinguished Professor of Economics

How it Helps: My distinguished professorship helps me gain international recognition for my work. For example, I was asked to write recommendation letters for three outstanding international promotion cases at Oxford University in England, Vanderbilt University and Emory University. Unless you are recognized as a worldwide expert, these institutions do not ask you to write recommendation letters. A distinguished professorship helped to achieve this outcome.

The Impact: People have come from other institutions to work as postdoctoral students with me, which helps generate top publications. I am currently engaged in research with a postdoctoral student who was offered a job at the prestigious ETH University in Zurich, Switzerland. As PhD students write their thesis, they seek my advice as well. It has been an honor to be a distinguished professor.

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Jon Carr

Jenkins Distinguished Professor of Entrepreneurship

How it Helps: A key impact of being the Jenkins Distinguished Professor of Entrepreneurship is the ability to champion research projects with faculty at NC State and at other organizations that are interested in entrepreneurship research. A number of research projects directly benefit from the opportunities associated with the Jenkins Professorship, including projects on entrepreneurial frugality, business model processes, health and well-being and self-employment, and the implications of creativity within established organizations.

The Impact: I am very interested in using the professorship support as a means to showcase entrepreneurship and innovation research at NC State, but also to be a key player in the southeastern United States for regional research conferences and grants and contracts.

Why I’m grateful: I think the Jenkins professorship will continue to allow me to shine a spotlight on our entrepreneurship research activities and give Poole College and NC State the visibility it deserves with respect to its engagement with the entrepreneurship community.

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Jesse Ellis

Alan T. Dickson Distinguished Professor of Finance

How it Helps: My distinguished professorship award is invaluable in enhancing my productivity in research and teaching. The financial support allows me to purchase necessary data and resources for my research. Additionally, it funds my attendance at conferences and workshops, which are crucial for staying current with developments in my field and networking with leading researchers. Most importantly, the award gives me more time to devote to research projects, enriching both the academic community and my teaching.

The Impact: This award enables me to explore the finance fields I am passionate about. My research and teaching have advanced understanding within academia while providing insights for professionals in the financial industry and everyday investors. The recognition from this award amplifies the impact of my work on the community.

Why I’m Grateful: I am deeply grateful for this award. The support and validation it provides are motivating and will further my impact in finance. It also offers invaluable opportunities for professional development and networking with other leading researchers and professionals.

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Rob Handfield

Bank of America University Distinguished Professor of Operations and Supply Chain Management

How it Helps: The distinguished professorship helps me align my work with the university’s Think and Do motto. To ‘do,’ you have to have connectivity in industry; you need thought leaders; you need to bring in speakers. The professorship gives me the opportunity and the time – time to reach out to the community, to the business sector, to the government sector, to better understand what’s going on and then funnel that knowledge back into the university.

The Impact: My role as a distinguished professor at NC State allows me to lend that expertise to hospitals, medical manufacturers, government acquisition companies and others in discussion about supply chain logistics and issues. It facilitates interdisciplinary conversations on campus as well – talking with the Wilson College of Textiles, for example, about ways to reduce shortages in the supply chain.

Why I’m Grateful: Having an endowed position allows me the time and resources to dig deeper into supply chain problems. It provides the community and resources to support graduate students who can work alongside me with a hunger to explore today’s supply chain challenges and find meaningful solutions to these challenges.

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Sebastian Heese

Owens Distinguished Professor of Supply Chain Management

How it Helps: I’m usually working on 15 to 20 research projects at the same time with doctoral students and faculty from NC State, Poole College of Management and other universities all over the world. Much of this ties back to the Owens Distinguished Professorship of Supply Chain Management.
The key themes in my recent projects are related to retail and healthcare operations. For example, I study new retail formats such as on-demand platforms – online channels and subscription services – and their interactions with traditional retail channels.

The Impact: In the coming years, I plan to continue my research in retail and health care operations, while also beginning several research projects related to aspects of sustainability. We are exploring how legislation could induce firms to implement cleaner technologies in their product designs, or to enforce clean sourcing throughout their supply chains. In another study we aim to characterize indicators of inhumane working conditions to facilitate more efficient auditing mechanisms for firms that want to detect and eliminate such “modern slavery” from their sourcing.

Why I’m Grateful: Few economists receive the academic, financial, and motivational support to develop a research and teaching program that engages academics, citizens, firms, and institutions.

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Brad Kirkman

General (Ret.) H. Hugh Shelton Distinguished Professor of Leadership

How it Helps: The Shelton Distinguished Professorship supports my research in leadership, teamwork, and cross-cultural management, allowing me to focus on empowering leadership. In today’s complex business environment, organizations need an empowered workforce to tackle challenges and drive innovation. My work helps leaders become more effective in empowering their teams.

The Impact: This professorship funds essential research activities that enhance the quality of my program. It has been vital in translating academic research for practitioner audiences, ensuring my work reaches those who can benefit from it. Many practitioners don’t access scholarly journals, so I’ve used this support to write two books for them. It’s crucial for Poole College to be recognized for producing high-quality research with actionable insights for managers, and the Shelton Professorship has made this possible.

Why I’m Grateful: I am grateful for the support from the Shelton Professorship over the past eight years. It has expanded my research reach and increased my ability to target diverse outlets. I sincerely appreciate General and Mrs. Shelton, along with Worth and Ann Harris, for their generous funding of this professorship.

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Melinda Morrill

Jenkins Family Foundation Distinguished Professor of Economics

How It Helps: I am thankful for the support from the Jenkins Family Foundation. Their funding enables me to access vital resources, purchase data, attend conferences, collaborate with fellow scholars, and hire graduate student research assistants. These activities significantly enhance the quality and relevance of my research and teaching.

The Impact: This award supports travel to conferences and collaborations, allowing me to bring contemporary research findings into both undergraduate and graduate classrooms. As a result, students appreciate the diverse topics economists study and learn how economic models inform decision-making.

Moreover, the Distinguished Professorship impacts my research by allowing me to hire graduate student research assistants, providing essential support and training opportunities. It also gives me the time to invest in my research, while the recognition enhances my credibility within the academic community.

Why I’m Grateful: I am honored to receive the Jenkins Family Foundation Distinguished Professorship and truly appreciate the time and financial support it provides, greatly enhancing my research and teaching.

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Luca David Opromolla

Owens Distinguished Professor of International Economics

How it Helps: Distinguished professorships attract faculty whose groundbreaking work sustains and elevates research and teaching. This benefits the university by enhancing its reputation and promoting collaboration across departments to identify potential synergies.

The Impact: I am honored to serve as the Owens Distinguished Professor for International Economics. My mission is to develop resources for studying how trade and migration policies impact national welfare, and how firm performance relies on international engagement. In my first year, I laid the groundwork for NC State to be a respected contributor to international economics. We established a fellowship with the Peterson Institute for International Economics, organized student visits to a Caterpillar plant to learn about global sourcing, and created a high-quality seminar series in collaboration with Duke and UNC.

Why I’m Grateful: It is not every day that an economist receives the academic, financial and motivational support to develop a research and teaching program that is of interest to both academics, citizens, firms and institutions.

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Jeffrey Pollack

Lynn T. Clark II Distinguished Professor of Entrepreneurship

How it Helps: Serving as the Lynn T. Clark II Distinguished Professor of Entrepreneurship allows me to support important initiatives both at NC State and beyond. Internally, I have more time and resources to collaborate with the Department of Management Innovation & Entrepreneurship and extend its reach across the university. Externally, this Professorship provides opportunities for elected and appointed roles, as well as editorial positions, including my role as an editor for the Financial Times 50-ranked journal, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, and on the editorial boards of two other FT 50 journals.

The Impact: This role helps align my activities with NC State’s strategic plan, enhancing my professional visibility and that of the MIE Department and Poole College. I aim to promote our work locally, regionally, and internationally. I envision a long-term research agenda that fosters interdisciplinary collaboration, benefiting our students and supporting NC State’s land-grant mission.

Why I’m Grateful: I feel incredibly fortunate to be the Lynn T. Clark II Distinguished Professor of Entrepreneurship. I am proud to be listed among other Distinguished Professors and deeply grateful to the Clark family for their generous support of NC State.

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Bill Rand

McLauchlan Distinguished Professor of Marketing and Analytics

How it Helps: The McLauchlan Distinguished Professorship enables my innovative research at the intersection of computer science and business. With a PhD in artificial intelligence, I transitioned to teaching marketing 15 years ago, focusing on how technology can enhance decision-making. As interest in analytics and AI grows, this professorship allows me to stay current on these crucial topics.

The Impact: In line with Poole College and NC State’s commitment to data-driven decision-making, I was appointed Executive Director of the Business Analytics Initiative. I’ve helped design and implement graduate programs in analytics and support our existing undergraduate honors program and graduate certificate. The McLauchlan Professorship provides the resources to further these efforts, aiming to make business analytics curricula accessible to all students and expand innovative degrees across all educational levels, positioning Poole College as a global leader in business analytics.

Why I’m GratefuI: I am deeply grateful for the dedicated time the McLauchlan Professorship provides me to enhance my classes, develop new offerings, engage with students, and advance research in data-driven decision-making. I envision a future where every organizational decision is informed by data, and I strive every day to make this a reality.

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Stacy Wood

Langdon Distinguished University Professor of Marketing

How it Helps: The Langdon Distinguished Professorship in Marketing significantly impacts my efforts to help innovation-focused firms leverage behavioral science theories for greater success while involving students in the process. This role provides me with the time and resources to train Jenkins MBA students in advanced research techniques and guide them in data interpretation.
Through this professorship, I have addressed challenges arising from innovations in healthcare and technology. Collaborating with doctors, hospital administrators, and new healthcare technologies—like Amazon’s Alexa for in-home health management—has allowed me to advocate for patient-centric decision-making.

The Impact: I am honored to be appointed as a forthcoming editor of the Journal of Consumer Research. This prestigious role enhances our university’s reputation, alongside other editors from Columbia University and the University of Oxford. The Langdon Professorship has granted me the time necessary for scholarship, enabling me to influence the trajectory and impact of my field.

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Named Professorships

Roby Sawyers

Forvis Mazars Professor
Professor of Accounting

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Tom Zagenczyk

Stephen P. Zelnak Jr. Professor
Professor of Management

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Nathan Goldman

Stephen P. Zelnak Jr. Scholar
Associate Professor of Accounting

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Tim Kraft

Stephen P. Zelnak Jr. Scholar
Associate Professor of Operations and Supply Chain Management

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Christina Lewellen

Stephen P. Zelnak Jr. Scholar
Associate Professor of Accounting

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Shawn Mankad

Stephen P. Zelnak Jr. Scholar
Associate Professor of Analytics

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Erin Powell

Stephen P. Zelnak Jr. Scholar
Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship

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Rishika Rishika

Stephen P. Zelnak Jr. Scholar
Associate Professor of Marketing

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Jared Smith

Stephen P. Zelnak Jr. Scholar
Associate Professor of Finance

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Rob Whited

Stephen P. Zelnak Jr. Scholar
Associate Professor of Accounting

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Patrick Flynn

Matthew and Soogi Hong Fellow
Assistant Professor of Human Resource Management

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Named Professorships

Deanship

LEADING THE POOLE PACK

Frank Buckless

Distinguished Professorships

Mark Beasley

Joe Brazel

Mehmet Caner

Jon Carr

Jesse Ellis

Rob Handfield

Sebastian Heese

Brad Kirkman

Melinda Morrill

Luca David Opromolla

Jeffrey Pollack

Bill Rand

Stacy Wood

Named Professorships

Roby Sawyers

Tom Zagenczyk

Nathan Goldman

Tim Kraft

Christina Lewellen

Shawn Mankad

Erin Powell

Rishika Rishika

Jared Smith

Rob Whited

Patrick Flynn