Five University of Georgia professors were appointed this summer to endowed professorships in the Terry College of Business.
Dean Benjamin C. Ayers announced the new faculty appointments in accounting, economics, finance, management and risk management and insurance, following their approval by the University System of Georgia Board of Regents.
“These five faculty members have made notable contributions to academic research across a range of business disciplines,” Ayers said. “They are respected as educators, valued by their colleagues and highly deserving of these appointments in recognition of their hard work and productivity as scholars.”
The faculty members who were awarded new chairs and professorship include:
John Campbell, a professor in the J.M. Tull School of Accounting, was appointed as the J.M. Tull Chair of Accounting. Campbell’s research focuses on capital market participants’ use of accounting and tax information, and the effectiveness of accounting and disclosure regulations. He serves as an editor or editorial board member for three of the top six accounting research journals.
Since joining the Tull School faculty in 2010, Campbell has won eight teaching awards for his work with undergraduate and graduate students, including being named as a university-wide Lilly Teaching Fellow. He is currently the Tull School’s Ph.D. program director, EY Faculty Fellow and a visiting research professor at Renmin University of China in Beijing.
David Eckles, a professor of risk management and insurance, was appointed to the P. George Benson Professorship. Eckles’ research examines insurance economics, policyholder behavior, and accounting-based incentives of insurers.
He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in risk management and insurance and has taught in the Terry Travels and First-Year Odyssey programs. He has a long history of service on the boards of national and regional risk and insurance associations, currently serving as a board member of the American Risk and Insurance Association. Eckles joined the risk management and insurance faculty in 2005.
Jie (Jack) He, an associate professor of finance and BB&T Scholar, was appointed to the Mercer W. Hull Professorship in Finance. He specializes in corporate finance, financial intermediation and entrepreneurial finance.
He has been an associate editor of the Journal of Corporate Finance and the Asia-Pacific Journal of Financial Studies. Since joining the Department of Finance in 2010, he has taught undergraduate courses in corporate finance theory for both finance majors and non-majors, a Ph.D. course on advanced research topics, an MBA course on corporate valuation, as well as a First-Year Odyssey course on entrepreneurial finance.
John Turner, formerly the Nicholas A. Beadles Professor of Economics, was appointed to the Jasper N. Dorsey Chair of Public Utilities Economics. Turner’s research focuses on industrial organization and international trade.
Since joining the department in 2002, Turner has taught undergraduate courses in microeconomics and organizational economics and graduate courses in econometric research methods. He currently serves as an associate editor of the Journal of Industrial Economics, the International Journal of Industrial Organization and the Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization.
Fadel Matta, an associate professor of management, was named to the Terry Dean’s Advisory Council Distinguished Professorship. Matta’s research examines how life experience and affective behavior impact employee and manager interactions and views of organizational fairness.
Matta serves on the editorial boards of several top-tier management and applied psychology journals. In addition to research, he teaches courses on leadership and organizational behavior to graduate and undergraduate students. He joined the Department of Management in 2016.