Five faculty members were recently appointed to privately endowed chairs or professorships at Terry College.
Two were awarded to finance faculty who joined the department this fall. The other three were awarded to Terry professors known for their research in environmental economics, international trade law, and IT strategy.
“We are especially pleased to fill these important positions with faculty members who exemplify the highest standards of scholarship and learning,” said Terry College Dean Benjamin C. Ayers. “Endowed chairs and professorships allow us to recruit and retain the most accomplished faculty to improve the practice of business through the impact of their teaching, research and public service.”
Dorsey Chair
Scott E. Atkinson
Scott E. Atkinson in the Economics Department was named to the Jasper N. Dorsey Chair in Public Utilities Economics.
An expert in industrial organization, applied econometrics and environmental economics, Atkinson has been at the Terry College since 1986. Prior to his work at Terry, Atkinson held posts at the University of Wyoming, the American Petroleum Institute, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Information Agency, and the Environmental Protection Agency.
Atkinson has been honored for outstanding research by the college and outstanding teaching by UGA’s Honors Program. He previously served as associate editor for the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management. His research interests include bootstrap estimation, efficiency and productivity growth, market power estimation and the interaction of multiple child health indicators.
The Dorsey Chair was established in 1977 in honor of the former vice president of the Southern Bell Company. It was endowed in recognition of Dorsey’s work by several Southeastern utility companies.
Nalley Distinguished Chair
Ugur Lel
Ugur Lel is the first to hold the Nalley Distinguished Chair in Finance, having joined the Terry College this August from Virginia Tech. An expert on corporate and international finance with a special focus on corporate governance, Lel previously worked in the International Finance Division of the Federal Reserve Bank in Washington, D.C.
Lel’s research has been published in the Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial Economics and Journal of Banking and Finance. He has presented his research at many academic conferences, including the annual meetings of the Western Finance Association and Financial Research Association. He holds a Ph.D. and master’s in finance from Indiana University, a master’s from Concordia University and a bachelor’s in English from Istanbul Technical University.
The Nalley Distinguished Chair was endowed by Mr. And Mrs. C.V. Nalley III as a tribute to the entrepreneurial spirit of the Nalley family.
Cousins Professor
Marisa A. Pagnattaro
Marisa A. Pagnattaro, associate dean for research and graduate programs, has been named the I.W. Cousins Professor of Business Ethics.
A Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professor in Legal Studies since 2013, Pagnattaro has received many honors for teaching and research, including UGA’s Russell Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching and the Creative Teaching Award. She also won the Ralph J. Bunche Award for Best International Research Paper from the Academy of Legal Studies in Business and the college’s Outstanding Research Award. In 2015, she was selected for the inaugural class of Women’s Leadership Fellows at UGA.
Her research interests span employment law, protection of trade secrets and international trade law. She has held many positions with the American Business Law Journal, including editor-in-chief, as well as serving as managing editor of the Journal of Legal Studies in Business. She holds a Ph.D. in English from UGA, a J.D. from New York Law School and a bachelor’s in English from Colgate University.
The Cousins Professorship was endowed by the Cousins Foundation Inc. and named in memory of Isaac Williams Cousins Sr., who co-founded Cousins Properties and served as the company’s first CEO. Created in 1992, the professorship is meant to enrich the college’s program in ethics and to focus student attention on the impact of competitive market forces, governmental rulings, and personal values on the level of ethics in the business community.
McFadden Professor
Cesare Robotti
Cesare Robotti, a newcomer from Imperial College London, is the Bradford McFadden Professor of Personal Financial Management.
Robotti previously held positions at the Federal Reserve Bank in Atlanta, Boston College and Brandeis University. His research focuses on empirical asset pricing and portfolio management.
Robotti has published works in leading academic journals, such as the Journal of Finance, Review of Financial Studies, Management Science, Journal of Econometrics, Journal of Business and Economic Statistics, Econometric Reviews, and the Journal of Empirical Finance, and presented his research at a number of professional conferences and invited lectures. He earned a bachelor’s degree in economics and social sciences and a master’s in economics from L. Bocconi University of Milan and a master’s degree and a doctorate in economics from Boston College.
The McFadden Professorship was established in 1994 by Bradford McFadden (BBA ’64) to foster and promote an understanding of financial management as it relates to individual decision making, to advance the study of business administration and to enrich the teaching, research and service programs of the university.
Benson Professor
Amrit Tiwana
Amrit Tiwana, a professor of management information systems, is the first to be appointed to the P. George Benson Professorship.
An expert in software ecosystems, corporate IT governance and IT strategy, Tiwana held faculty posts at Emory University and Iowa State before joining the Terry College in 2010. He has consulted for top companies, including UPS, IBM, Sony, Hewlett-Packard and Ericsson.
Tiwana has received awards from the Information Systems Research, and the European Conference on Information Systems. He has written four books and currently serves in editorial positions for the Journal of Management Information Systems, Information Systems Research and Strategic Management Journal, and previously for MIS Quarterly.
The Benson Professorship was established by the Terry College Alumni Board in honor of the legacy and vision of P. George Benson, Terry’s dean from 1998 to 2007.