Seven Southwestern students — economics and studio art double major Asin Allavudeen ’27, economics and business major Cody Diez Jennings ’27, biochemistry major Jade Cindy Foka ’28, computer science and psychology double major Alyanna Martinez ’27, computer science and economics double major Juan Martinez Varela ’27, political science major Emma Sanchez ’29, and economics and business major Elias Sarwana ’27 — were selected to compete in the 2026 HSI Battle of the Brains (BOTB), held September 28–October 2 in Austin. This national interdisciplinary competition challenges student teams to tackle a complex business and technology problem in just 24 hours, requiring them to research the problem, develop an innovative and technically feasible solution, and create a business plan and presentation. The week also includes company visits, professional development, and recruiting opportunities with major employers, including Dell Technologies, Thrivent, CrowdStrike, eBay, The Home Depot, and Electronic Arts. Solutions are evaluated by industry experts on both their business and technical merits, with the seven highest scoring teams advancing to the finals. Southwestern was selected as one of those finalists and earned the highest business score in the competition! In addition, Diez Jennings received a scholarship from eBay, marking the second consecutive year a Southwestern student has received an eBay scholarship through the competition. The team was supported throughout the selection, preparation, and competition process by the Office of Student Life, Office of Academic Affairs, Director of the A. Frank Smith, Jr. Library Center & Head of Distinctive Collections Megan Firestone, Director of Student Engagement Jacorey Patterson, Assistant Dean of the Faculty & Professor of Spanish Laura Senio Blair, Board of Visitors Member Zoe Thompson, and team advisors: Director of the Center for Career & Professional Development Adrian D. Ramirez, Associate Professor of Spanish Abby Dings, and Professor of Business Debika Sihi.

Assistant Professor of Economics Hieu Nguyen and his co-author Paolo Nicola Barbieri of the University of Bologna published a study titled “In the Shadows of Silence: Wireless Restrictions and Long-Term Socioeconomic Outcomes” in the journal Information Economics and Policy. The paper treats the U.S. National Radio Quiet Zone, a 13,000-square-mile area of West Virginia and Virginia where federal regulators have restricted wireless transmissions since 1958, as a historical natural experiment. Using a regression discontinuity design that compares counties and census tracts just inside the boundary of the zone with those just outside it, Nguyen and Barbieri find lower educational attainment inside the zone along with a thinner local institutional environment, including fewer libraries and civic organizations per resident. The findings suggest that long-run exclusion from modern communication infrastructure can leave a lasting mark on regional development, and they add new evidence to policy debates over the “digital divide.” The paper can be read here.

Assistant Professor of Economics Chandrayee Chatterjee presented two papers, “Anticipating the Algorithm: Gender and Labor Supply Responses to AI in Hiring” and “Policy Timing and Design in Affirmative Action: Evidence from a Laboratory Experiment,” at the 101st Annual Conference of the Western Economic Association in Denver, held June 29–July 3. Both papers were selected for joint sessions of the Economic Science Association and the Society for the Advancement of Behavioral Economics.

Assistant Professor of Economics Dinushka Paranavitana presented her paper titled “The Price of Hate: The Effect of Title IX Exemptions on College Enrollment” at the Western Economic Association International Annual Conference held in Denver.

John Shearn Chair and Professor of Business Debika Sihi was chosen by the Colleges That Change Lives (CTCL) Member Institutions and Board of Directors as one of their 2026 Connectors That Change Lives. The award expands CTCL’s tradition of uplifting student-centered leaders to faculty, staff, students, and administrators across CTCL member institutions whose dedication, leadership, and care profoundly shape student experiences and campus communities. The Connectors That Change Lives Award honors those whose contributions exemplify student centered values, community engagement, and a belief in education as a transformative force.

Professor of Sociology Maria Lowe and business and sociology alumna ThuyMi Phung ’23 presented their co-authored work, “White Grievance as a Predictor of Opposition to the Black Lives Matter Movement,” at the Southern Sociological Society annual meeting in Jacksonville, FL from April 8–11. The presentation, co-authored with art history and sociology alumna Katherine Holcomb ’23, extends their research examining the dimensions of white grievance, how it attempts to undermine racial justice efforts, and effective strategies for countering this ideology.

Assistant Professor of Economics Hieu Nguyen has been appointed as a non-resident SLAR Scholar at Stanford University. During this one-year appointment, he will interact with the Center for Latin American Studies and leverage Stanford’s extensive library resources to further his research agenda and teaching endeavors related to Latin American economies.

Part-time Assistant Professor of Business Charles deWitt’s book, The Broken Chord: The Blackwood Brothers Quartet and their Influence on Southern Gospel Music, has been accepted for publication and should be published by this summer.

Business and international studies double major Cassidie Gomez ’26, Spanish and Latin America border studies double major Gerardo Ortiz ’27, biology major Adriana Salazar ’28, and sociology major Abigayle Stubby-Kern ’26 presented papers in Spanish at the Undergraduate Latin American and Latinx Studies Symposium at Rollins College in Winter Park, FL on March 27. Gomez, Ortiz, and Salazar presented a group project titled “De trabajadores a personas: la revindicación de la dignidad humana en la película mexicana La delgada línea amarilla” as part of the panel “Mexico: Community, Culture, and Development.” The group project was written for Associate Professor of Spanish María de los Ángeles Rodriguez Cadena’s course “Leisure and Play in Latin America” in Fall 2025. Stubby-Kern presented her paper “El lenguaje cinematográfico en la construcción de lo humano y el deterioro de las instituciones en la película argentina Un Hombre Mirando al Sureste” as part of the panel “Art, film, and identity in Latin America.” The paper was written for Dr. Rodriguez Cadena’s course “Conversation through Hispanic cinema” in Fall 2025. Dr. Rodriguez Cadena mentored her students during the process of research, writing, and presentation at the Symposium.

Alumna Katie Markey ’25 and Professor of Business Debika Sihi led a special session at the American Academy of Advertising (AAA) 2026 Annual Conference, held in Austin from March 26–29. They developed a workshop based on their research examining how AI is transforming marketing and advertising practice. In the session, they introduced participants to the CRAFT framework (Curate, Refine, Assess, Frame, Transform), a structured approach for guiding effective engagement with AI-generated outputs.

Assistant Professor of Business Di Wang attended the 2026 Midwest Economic Association Annual Meeting in Chicago, the largest annual gathering of economists in the midwest, where he presented two research papers: “Bilateral FDIs in a Multilateral World: An Empirical Study of the Role of Economic Integration and Political Turnover,” and “Does More Energy Consumption Drive Economic Growth? A Panel Data Analysis of High- and Low-Energy-Consumption Countries Using PostgreSQL.”

Assistant Professor of Business Di Wang represented Southwestern University at the Quinnipiac Global Asset Management Education Forum in New York City, the world’s largest student-run financial conference, which this year drew over 135 universities and 1,300 participants. During the event, Dr. Wang collected up-to-date information on undergraduate finance programs from peer institutions and is using these insights to support the development of the new finance major in the Department of Economics and Business.

Professor of Business Debika Sihi presented on complementing data intensive coursework with outdoor experiential learning at the Marketing Management Association Conference, held March 19–20 online… thus, #1 dog Winston could listen along with the other faculty. In addition, she moderated a session on innovations in marketing education, examining customer prediction models and the use of generative AI in brand messaging, as well as another session on sales education.

Assistant Professor of Economics Dinushka Paranavitana presented two papers at the 95th Annual Meeting of the Southern Economic Association on November 22–24 in Tampa. She presented her papers titled “The Price of Hate: The Effect of Title IX Exemptions on College Enrollment” and “Chiropractor Scope of Practice Laws” at two different sessions at the conference. She was also the discussant for a graduate student session, and provided feedback for an Economics PhD student on the job market this year.

For the first time, Southwestern University was represented at the 2025 HSI Battle of the Brains, a premier national competition that brings together top student talent from across the country to solve real-world business and technology challenges. Southwestern’s inaugural team included eight exceptional students: Asin Allavudeen ’27, Santiago Cuevas ’26, Cassidie Gomez ’26, Julyssa Hernandez ’27, Yeva-Mariya Hayko ’26, Anna Hulett ’28, Alyanna Martinez ’27, and Juan Carlos Martinez Varela ’27. Selected through a competitive internal application process, the students participated in a 24-hour cross-disciplinary challenge integrating computer science, marketing, finance, and sustainable business strategy. They also engaged in professional development workshops led by industry leaders from Dell Technologies, eBay, Thrivent Financial, Capital One, and The Home Depot. Southwestern’s team earned first place in the Video Marketing Challenge, an interactive activity sponsored by Kickin It ATX that tested their creativity and collaboration under a time constraint. In addition, Juan Carlos Martinez Varela was awarded scholarships from both Dell Technologies and eBay in recognition of his outstanding academic and professional accomplishments and his ability to make a lasting impression on company representatives throughout the event. Special thanks to the faculty and staff who coordinated the team’s participation: Hispanic Academic Success Coordinator Amalia Merino, Director of the Center for Career & Professional Development Adrian D. Ramirez, Associate Professor of Spanish Abby Dings, and Professor of Business Debika Sihi. Gratitude is also extended to the blind judges who assisted with the internal selection process, Assistant Vice President of Admission Christine Bowman, Director of Admission Jaime Gonzalez, and Professor of Kinesiology Scott McLean, as well as Visual Content Producer Todd White for photography and videography of the event.

Professor of Business Debika Sihi had her chapter titled “Advertising and Connected Experiences Through Smart Home Devices” accepted for publication in the forthcoming book Developing Digital Narratives in Marketing Communication. This chapter examines how smart home devices like speakers, TVs, and appliances create marketing opportunities through personalized, interactive ads. While convenience and relevance are benefits, challenges include privacy concerns and ad fatigue. Both marketers and consumers stress the need for trust, non-intrusive design, and ethical, transparent strategies as device adoption grows amid evolving privacy rules.

Assistant Professor of Economics and Business Raji Kunapuli organized a professional development workshop titled “AI-Enabled New Research Methods in Entrepreneurship and Strategy” at the Academy of Management Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark. The workshop drew more than 250 research scholars and explored cutting-edge AI-based methods for management research, including text analysis and AI-enabled experimental designs.

Assistant Professor of Economics Hieu Nguyen recently had a research article, titled “Who are we up against? Heterogeneous group contests with incomplete information,” accepted, and subsequently published, in the Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization. In this paper, Dr. Nguyen and his two co-authors use a laboratory experiment to test the theoretical predictions of an inter-group Tullock contest model in which players have incomplete information about their opponent and may be subject to an advantage or disadvantage. In reconciling theory and experimental evidence, the researchers propose and test an extended model that incorporates some insights on players’ non-monetary utility of winning and in-group altruism from the social psychology literature. The article’s findings provide important implications for the future design of group competitions, and are potentially applicable to many legal, governmental, and scientific settings. The study’s published and preprint versions are available here and here.

Assistant Professor of Economics and Business Raji Kunapuli published an article titled “Expert Decision‐making Complexity in New Industries: The Case of Security Analysts” in the Journal of Behavioral Decision Making. This article examines how expert security analysts might be hindering the emergence of new technological firms.

Professor of Business Debika Sihi was selected to the Marketing Management Association (MMA) Board of Directors to serve a three-year term. In this role, Debika will have the opportunity to help shape the strategic direction of the organization and contribute to the continued growth and success of future marketing scholars, including service related to doctoral student consortiums and editorial/review work for conference proceedings and affiliated journals.

Professional Academic Advisor Jenny Terry Roberts ’95 received the Organization Advisor of the Year Award for her work with SU’s chapter of Alpha Phi Omega, the gender-inclusive national service fraternity. APO was founded 100 years ago on the principles of leadership, friendship, and service; the Alpha Gamma Kappa chapter was chartered at SU in 1991. Jenny joined in her first semester as a student at Southwestern and loves helping current students keep it going strong. Additional awesome SU APO Advisors include Faculty Advisor Debika Sihi, Community Advisor Paul Ford ’00, and Scouting Advisor Scott Roberts ’94.

Olivia Bakke ’25, Zachary Collins ’25, Shobby Enakpene ’26, Christina Kuras ’25, Kacy Miller ’26, Abby Ryan ’25, Elise Samples ’25, and Vanessa Villarreal ’25 participated in the National Collegiate Digital Marketing Championship held at Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business on April 1. All students demonstrated fantastic mastery of digital marketing strategy.

Professor of Sociology Maria Lowe, sociology and business graduate ThuyMi Phung ’23, and sociology and art history graduate Katherine Holcomb ’23 presented their co-authored paper titled “The Interaction of Race and Racial Grievance: Predictors of American Attitudes about Critical Race Theory” at the Eastern Sociological Society annual meeting in Boston from March 6-9.

Professor of Business Debika Sihi co-hosted a panel with Hannah Walters, Associate Professor of Marketing at Northern State University and author of “AI in Marketing: Applications, Insights, and Analysis,” at the Marketing Management Association Spring Conference. The panel explored four initiatives for integrating AI as a tool to develop critical thinking across marketing courses. Debika also presented her early-stage research project titled, “Place Marketing: Bridging the Gap Between Longtime Locals, Newcomers, and Tourists through Digital Marketing,” which examines how city marketing and communications teams manage the evolving brand identity of fast-growing communities.

Assistant Professor of Economics Hieu Nguyen had a research article accepted for publication in the peer-reviewed Journal of Comparative International Management. Dr. Nguyen, the study’s main contributor, and his co-authors, Quang Evansluong of Umeå University and Aliaksei Kazlou of Linköping University, employed the Getis-Ord statistic, a local indicator of spatial autocorrelation, and a combination of publicly available and restricted-access data on new business formation in Sweden, to extend the existing discourse on native and immigrant entrepreneurship. The selection and agglomeration theories of economics and the disadvantage and cultural-capital theories of entrepreneurship research were used to rationalize some of the patterns observed in the study. A link to the paper’s preprint is available here.

Sociology and business alumna ThuyMi Phung ’23 has published an article with Professor of Sociology Maria Lowe titled “The Armed Home and Support for Trump: Predictors of Americans’ Attitudes Toward Gun Violence” in the Journal of Integrated Social Sciences. This work represents ThuyMi’s first peer-reviewed publication and stems from her Fall 2022 capstone project. The article can be found here. ThuyMi continues her research on attitudes about gun violence at the University of Washington where she is completing her Master’s in Public Health.

Abigail (Abby) Ryan ’25 and Professor of Business Debika Sihi have published their research, “Crafting and Evaluating Generative AI Prompts: Insights from Students, Educators, and Marketers,” in Marketing Education Review. This work draws on perspectives from these different groups to design a prompt engineering assignment that can be integrated into a variety of marketing courses. The abstract of the article can be read here.

Alumna Samantha (Sammi) Saenz ’23 earned the third highest performer distinction for the Enterprise Management Program, covering the entire geographic area spanning from the Rio Grande Valley to San Antonio. In her role, she engages in marketing, sales, and customer success management.

Assistant Professor of Economics Dinushka Paranavitana chaired a session titled “Health Behavior I” at the 94th Annual Meeting of the Southern Economic Association in Washington D.C. from November 23 – 24. She also presented her paper titled “The Unintended Consequences of Women’s Clinic Closures on Preventive Care” during this same session. This paper was also presented at the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management Fall Research Conference at National Harbor, MD from November 21 – 23.

Professor of Business Debika Sihi and two of her first-year seminar students, Abigail Norton ’28 and Mateo Torres ’28, were featured in a Litmaps Community Highlight, a newsletter received by over 100,000 researchers all over the world. The students were highlighted for their work visually mapping a literature review. The piece is available here. (Students granted permission to share their work, and the students’ names were redacted on the piece to protect their privacy due to the wide distribution of the newsletter, so they have agency on if/how they want to share the piece.)

Assistant Professor of Economics Chandrayee Chatterjee had two research papers presented at the 2024 Annual Conference of the Southern Economic Association in Washington, D.C. from November 23–25. She presented a paper titled “Examining the Spillover Effects of Weight Loss Product Advertising on Nutritional Choice and Physical Activity.” Her paper titled “The Role of Inattention in Statistical Discrimination” was also presented by her co-author at a different session.

Professor of Business Debika Sihi joined the Editorial Review Board of the Journal of Applied Marketing Theory, a double-blind, peer-reviewed journal that publishes articles focused on academic research with contributions for marketing practitioners and academics.

ASIANetwork/Luce PostDoc Fellow in Economics Maorui Yang published “Long-Run Effects of Childhood Exposure to Medical Marijuana Laws on Education and Labor Market Outcomes,” along with co-author Han Yu, in the Journal of Labor Research (2024): 1-33.

Assistant Professor of Business Raji Kunapuli presented a solo-authored paper, titled “Effect of Abstract Language on Critics’ Selection of Referents for IPOs” at the Southern Management Academy Conference in San Antonio, TX.

Sam Irizarry ’23 was an invited panelist at the Texas Communicators Network meeting focused on the topic “Connect & Conserve Through Social Media.” He represented Hill Country Conservancy, where he enhances the organization’s online presence through content strategy, social media management, and digital storytelling. More information about the panel can be found here.

Associate Professors of Business Gaby Flores and Hazel Nguyen, along with colleagues, published an article titled “The only  daughter effect: Examining the impact of child gender on a CEO’s hiring decisions” in Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal. The paper, which examines gender bias in top management hiring, can be found here.

Associate Professor of Business Debika Sihi published an article titled “Sustainability and Marketing: Examining the Digital Impacts” in the book Advances in Digital Marketing and eCommerce  by Springer. She virtually presented this work examining the developing standards, measurement, and disclosure of environmental impacts related to the advertising industry at the Digital Marketing and e-Commerce Conference held June 26-28 in Barcelona, Spain.

Two East Asian Studies faculty members, Associate Professor of Art History Allison Miller and Visiting Professor of Economics Maorui Yang, and two students attended the ASIANetwork conference in Atlanta, Georgia from April 12-14. Natalie Davis ’27 presented her poster titled, “Dueling Depictions: Zhang Zhixin and the Politics of Femininity in Chinese Scar Art.” Kate Medlock ’26 presented her poster titled, “Reviving the Past: A Mid-Western Zhou Jade Pendant and its Neolithic References.” Maorui presented on the panel, “Teaching and Research in the Liberal Arts: ASIANetwork-Luce Postdoctoral Fellows.”

Olivia Bakke ’25, Logan LeBlanc ’25, and Abby Ryan ’25 competed in the National Collegiate Digital Marketing Championships hosted by Baylor University on April 10-11. They competed in all the events and demonstrated outstanding team camaraderie. Logan won the Viral Competition on YouTube marketing.

Associate Professor of Business Debika Sihi and Student Researcher Abigail (Abby) Ryan ’25 presented their research project, “Proactively Leveraging Generative AI Tools in Marketing Courses: A Process for Prompt Engineering Assignments” at the Marketing Management Association’s Spring Educators Conference on March 21-22.

Assistant Professor of Economics Chandrayee Chatterjee presented her co-authored paper titled “Spillover Effects of Advertising: Do TV Advertisements for Non-Food Health Products Promote Healthy Food Choices?” at the American Marketing Association Winter Academic Conference at St. Pete’s Beach, FL, on February 25. The paper was accepted for a session in the competitive paper category.

Visiting Assistant Professor of Theatre Amy King wrote, directed, and produced a staged reading of her new play Finger Lickin’ Goodat the Jones Theatre in February. The cast included students Jason Bui ’27 as Raymond, Kyle Bussone-Peterson ’24 as Kevin, and Connor Bustos ’26 on stage directions. They were joined by guest Gina Houston in the leading role of Alice and Director of Business Internships and Assistant Professor of Business Andy Ross as Jim, etc., in his acting debut! The reading was also performed at Austin Community College in Highland Park.

Assistant Professor of Economics Chandrayee Chatterjee was invited to present her work in the Economics Seminar Series at the Department of Economics and Decision Sciences at Western Illinois University. She presented her paper titled “Spillover Effects of Advertising on Health Behavior and Nutritional Choices” virtually on February 16th.

Assistant Professor of Economics Chandrayee Chatterjee jointly organized a session called “The Economics of Risky Behavior” and presented her paper titled “Vaping Regulations and Mental Health of Teenagers” at the 2023 Annual Conference of the Southern Economic Association in New Orleans from November 18th to 20th.

Associate Professor of Business Debika Sihi published her coauthored paper “Implementing Big Data Analytics in Marketing Departments: Mixing Organic and Administered Approaches to Increase Data-Driven Decision Making” in Informatics. The paper examines different strategies utilized by marketing departments to become more data-driven in their decision making.

Associate Professor of Business Debika Sihi participated on a panel about innovations to connect students with industry practice at the Marketing Management Association Conference, held virtually October 13–15. Sihi also presented her research project titled “Remaining Relevant and Renewing Perceptions: The Use of Interactive Marketing by Small Businesses during Operational Disruptions” at the Interactive Marketing Research Conference, held virtually October 20–22 and 25–26 and hosted by the Gabelli School of Business at Fordham University.

Assistant Professor of Business Raji Kunapuli’s co-authored paper titled “Seeking Input When the Train Has Left the Station: The Decoupling of Participative Strategic Decision-Making Processes and the Role of New Technology in Symbolic Management” was published in the journal Strategic Organization.

Associate Professor of Business Debika Sihi helps different organizations develop marketing campaigns to highlight the importance of budgeting and financial literacy, stemming from her days as a volunteer with Junior Achievement. Recently, she shared insights about budgeting for college students in U.S. News & World Report.

Southwestern University alumni Jose Melendez ’20 and Mikayla Miller ’19 graduated from the Rice University master of accounting program this May.

Part-Time Assistant Professor of Economics Mohammad Khan had an article titled “Household Evacuation Planning and Preparation for Future Hurricanes: Role of Utility Service Disruptions” accepted for publication in the journal Transportation Research Record.

Please join us in congratulating the recipients of the following awards:

• 2021 Teaching Awards
• Tenured: Associate Professor of Education Alicia Moore
• Tenure-track: Assistant Professor of Business Gabriela Flores
• Visiting, part-time, and staff with faculty rank: Director of General Chemistry Labs Willis Weigand
• 2021 Jesse E. Purdy Excellence in Scholarly and Creative Works Award
• Tenured: Associate Professor of Communication Studies Bob Bednar
• Tenure-track: Assistant Professor of History Joseph Hower
• 2021 Excellence in Advising Award
  • Professor of Spanish Laura Senio Blair

Business and biology major Andrew Vergote ’21 gave a talk titled “Novel Bioinks: The Gateway to Bioprinting Complex Biological Tissues” at the 2021 BBB South Central Virtual Regional Convention. The talk resulted from research that Vergote completed with Assistant Professor of Physics Cody Crosby in spring 2021. They plan to continue this research as a funded Faculty–Student Project this summer.

Nereida Zarco ’16 and Associate Professor of Economics and Business Debika Sihi were selected as members of the inaugural Marketing EDGE Ambassador program, a select group of corporate professionals, students, and academics that help connect students to opportunities in the field of marketing.

Associate Professor of Economics and Business Debika Sihi  was invited to join the editorial review board for the Journal of Business Research  under the Big Data and Analytics track.

Assistant Professor of Business and Director of Business Internships Andy Ross presented “Designing a Study Abroad Program for Business Students” at the 13th annual Virginia Tech Conference on Higher Education Pedagogy on February 5, 2021.

Associate Professor of Business Debika Sihi provided insights about Netflix’s audio-only version of its content in an article for Lifewire, a technology information website (ranked a top-10 tech information site in 2017). Read the article here.

Part-Time Assistant Professor of Economics Mohammad Khan presented a paper titled “The Deadly Connection between Hurricanes and Sinkholes: Analyzing Market Responses to Multiple Environmental Risks” at the virtual Allied Social Science Association 2021 Annual Meeting on January 3.

Associate Professor of Business Debika Sihi presented a coauthored project titled “The Use of Social Media and Social Interaction in Crowdsourcing in the FFE (fuzzy front end) of NPD” at the Society of Marketing Advances Annual Conference November 4–7, 2020. This project examines the impact of online versus offline mechanisms of crowdsourcing on idea generation during the new product development process.

Associate Professor of Business Debika Sihi presented and chaired a panel titled “Calm during Crisis: Creating Classroom Environments that Foster Learning and Collaboration” at the Marketing Management Association Conference October 28–30, 2020. She and two colleagues (from a private and public university) led a discussion on different initiatives to support and engage students during a challenging academic year.

Associate Professor of Business Hazel Nguyen and economics graduate Diana Trevino ’20 presented their research titled “They’ve Figured It out! Gender Differences in Executive Language Styles through Shareholders’ Letters” at the virtual Financial Management Association Annual Meeting on October 23. The presentation was based on work conducted as part of SCOPE 2019. In their project, Nguyen and Trevino  ask whether there are differences in language and communication styles used by female versus male CEOs and how these language differences represent differences in leadership styles. They find that there are significant differences in thematic tones between female and male CEOs. Female CEOs’ languages are more comprehensible and emphasize transformational changes, optimism, mutual understanding, and rapport more than those of male CEOs while also being more resolute and authoritative.

Part-Time Professor of Economics Jim Christianson was one of three Austin certified public accountants selected via a random drawing to serve on the the City of Austin Applicant Review Panel. This panel will select 60 applicants for the City of Austin Independent Citizens Redistricting  Commission, which is charged with redrawing the 10 City of Austin Council districts after the 2020 census is complete. Christianson teaches Accounting and Business Law at Southwestern. 

Associate Director of Admission Rebecca Rother and Associate Professor of Economics and Business Debika Sihi presented a session about business degrees in the liberal arts through the Colleges that Change Lives virtual program.

Associate Professor of Business Debika Sihi  was interviewed, along with the vice president of brand at E.l.f. Cosmetics and faculty from the University of Virginia and Carnegie Mellon, for an article in Retail Dive  on what the future of TikTok means for retail. Read the article here .

Associate Professor of Business Debika Sihi taught a class on August 4, 2020, titled Marketing for Start-Ups during COVID-19 for 25 entrepreneurs. She offered guidance on developing and adapting marketing strategies in the current economic environment. On August 7, 2020, Sihi was an invited speaker at the virtual Summer Stukent Digital Summit, where she conducted a session titled “Cookies, Clicks, and Credit Cards: Teaching Students How Their Data Is Used and Protected.” The session covered how to structure multiple class lessons on data use and privacy. Specific topics included the consumer privacy paradox and the current regulatory environment (e.g., the General Data Protection Regulation and the California Consumer Privacy Act).

Five Southwestern students, Tanmai Korapala ’21, Melanie Lim ’21, Cassidy Mayfield ’20, Thuymi Phung ’23, and Blake Stilwell ’22, completed the Marketing EDGE Summer Series, in which they participated in interactive sessions with the director of graduate development at Equifax, the vice president of marketing for the Brooklyn Nets, the CEO of FishUSA, Inc., and university students around the country.

Emeritus Professor of Economics Emily Northrop’s op-ed about climate change and COVID-19 was featured in AL.com. It can be read here.

Associate Professor of Business Debika Sihi served as a judge for the American Marketing Association (AMA) Collegiate Case Competition in collaboration with Cotton Incorporated. The competition includes submissions from student teams from different universities across the U.S.

Assistant Professor of Business Debika Sihi coauthored an article titled “The Marketing Organization’s Journey to Become Data Driven” in the Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing. The article explores the experiences of managers implementing data analytics into the processes of the marketing function. It also uncovers the challenges and identifiable stages of implementation.

Assistant Professor of Economics Katherine Grooms and coauthors were awarded a prestigious National Institutes of Health (NIH) two-year grant for their work “Drinking Water and Infant Health: Evidence from Contaminant Levels in California.” Dr. Grooms presented their research at the annual meeting of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, in Incline Village, NV.

Ellie Crowley ’19, Todd Coachman ’20, and Andrea Hern ’20 are three of only 70 students who were selected from around the country for the Marketing EDGE Collegiate Summit, held in New York City, June 9–11. They met with leadership from companies including Plated, Facebook, NBC Universal, Ernst & Young, and more. Assistant Professor of Business Debika Sihi also attended.

Assistant Professor of Business Debika Sihi was invited to discuss the findings from her recent paper examining the use of virtual- and augmented-reality tools in the real-estate industry at the annual Austin Home Buyer Fair on June 1, 2019.

Economics majors Abbie Boatwright ’19, Stan Kannegieter ’19, and Diana Trevino ’20 presented their research at the Economics Scholars Undergraduate Research Conference at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.  Boatwright, under the direction of Professor of Economics Dirk Early and Dr. Paul Brenner, associate director of high-performance computing at the University of Notre Dame, presented her research on the link between intellectual-property protections and patenting, “Global Innovation and Intellectual-Property Rights.” Kannegieter presented his work on the effectiveness of solar incentives in solar adoption, “The Effect of Financial Incentive Policies on Residential Solar Panel Installation,” and Trevino presented her paper on discrimination in jury selection, “Discrimination in Peremptory Challenges.” Assistant Professor of Economics Katie Grooms supervised the projects produced by Kannegieter and Trevino.  Grooms was also the keynote speaker at the conference and presented her work “Water Pollution in the United States: Regulatory Enforcement, Firm Compliance, and Human Health.”

Assistant Professor of Business Debika Sihi was invited to join the editorial review board of Marketing Education Review. The journal is focused on innovative and rigorous research to advance marketing education.

Emma Cooper ’20 and Markell Henderson ’19 participated as panelists in a financial seminar titled GLAD (Greeks -and others- Learning to Avoid Debt). Professor of Economics and Chair of the Department of Economics and Business Dirk Early and Assistant Professor of Business Hazel Nguyenalso participated as panelists and provided sage advice to student participants seeking knowledge about avoiding debt before and after graduation. The GLAD event was supervised by Associate Professor of Education Alicia Moore and was cohosted by the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.; the Kappa Sigma fraternity; and EMPIRE.

Assistant Professor of Business Debika Sihi participated in an invited panel on teaching digital marketing at the American Marketing Association Winter Educators’ Conference, in Austin, TX, Feb. 22–24, 2019. In addition, her coauthored project “The Challenge of Engagement and Co-Creation” was featured in the conference poster session.

Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies Joshua Long and Professor of Economics Emily Northrop were signatories on a letter to Governor Abbott from Texas climate scientists and other experts urging his understanding of climate science and his action to address it. As reported in the Austin American Statesman, Northrop spoke at the Jan. 8 press conference held prior to delivering the letter to the Governor’s office.

Assistant Professor of Business Debika Sihi was featured in an interview conducted by the U.K.-based agency Giraffe Social Media, sharing her insights about marketing and social media strategy. The interview can be found here.

Professor of Economics Dirk Early’s article on housing discrimination, “Racial Rent Differences in U.S. Housing Markets: Evidence from the Housing Voucher Program,” has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Regional Science. The article is coauthored with Edgar Olsen at the University of Virginia and Paul Carrillo at George Washington University.

Professor of Economics Emily Northrop, who also serves on the Environmental Studies Program Committee, authored a lengthy commentary, “University Faculty Passes Resolution to Urge Climate Legislation,” that was published in the June issue of the peer-reviewed journal Sustainability: The Journal of Record.​

Assistant Professor of Business Debika Sihi had a project titled “Home Sweet Virtual Home: The Use of Virtual and Augmented Reality Technologies in High Involvement Purchase Decisions” recently accepted in the Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing. This research explores the various ways digital technologies, specifically virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) features, impact different stages of consumer decision-making in a high-involvement purchase decision context (i.e., the purchase of a home). In addition, the use of such technologies is examined as a competitive advantage for sales agents.

Assistant Professor of Business Debika Sihi was invited to participate as a judge for the Marketing EDGE Collegiate ECHO Marketing Challenge, cosponsored by Fossil Group, Inc. Public and private universities from around the U.S. participated in the competition

Professor of Economics and Environmental Studies Emily Northrop joined Dr. Kerry Cook of UT’s Department of Geological Sciences to make the case for climate science and for legislation to incentivize CO2 reductions in a Georgetown Community Forum titled “Climate Science: Fact or Fiction.” Speaking against the science were Henry Savage, a retired chemical engineer, and Bob Parmelee, a retired computer and business executive. Approximately 160 attended and witnessed the fact-based arguments prevail. The forum was held on July 17 in the Georgetown Public Library. Learn more about the debate through this Williamson County Sun article. 

Professor of Economics Dirk Early had his research proposal “Effective Homeless Interventions and the Importance of Local Housing Market Conditions” accepted for funding through a partnership between the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Bureau of the Census. The research grant funds his analysis of data from the Family Options Study, a randomized evaluation of housing interventions targeted toward homeless families. He will examine which interventions available to homeless families are the most effective in reducing homelessness and whether their effectiveness varies with local housing market conditions. The primary goal of the research is to guide policymakers in developing homeless prevention strategies that are the most effective for their area.

Five Economics majors traveled to present their research at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas Undergraduate Research conference held April 6.

• Maranda Kahl, class of 2018, presented “Wellbeing and Marriage: Does Marriage Improve Mental Health?”
• Manuela Figueroa-Casaand Aresha Davwa, both class of 2018, presented “A Cost-Benefit Analysis of Federal Housing Assistance Programs.”  
• Stan Kannegieter, class of 2019, presented “Does Higher Education Decrease Hypertension Death Rates?”
• Penny Phan, class of 2018, presented a poster related to her work on “The Effect of H-1B Visas on Economic Growth.”  

Assistant Professor of Business Debika Sihi was invited to participate in the “Survey of Digital Governance in Municipalities Worldwide” conducted by the E-Governance Institute at the Institute for Public Service at Suffolk University. This study represents a continued effort to evaluate digital governance in large municipalities throughout the world. Invited participants, who work/research in the domain of digital innovation, contribute by evaluating online citizen participation opportunities of various municipalities.

Professor of Economics Emily Northrop’s blog “Southwestern University faculty collectively endorse climate legislation” was published by the Citizens’ Climate Lobby (CCL) on April 4, 2018. CCL has nearly 100,000 members worldwide, organized into 475 chapters. It is a grassroots organization that lobbies for a carbon tax with proceeds distributed to US households on an equal basis.  

Assistant Professor of Business Debika Sihi and Southwestern University alumna Kara Lawson ’16 published a co-authored paper titled “Marketing Leaders and Social Media: Blending Personal and Professional Identities” in the Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice. The paper examines marketing leaders’ use of social media accounts which connect their personal and professional identities. Using feedback from Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) and secondary social media data, the authors investigate the motivation, benefits, and challenges in maintaining an account which is both personal and professional in nature. In addition, content published through these accounts is analyzed to better understand the nature of the information disseminated through these channels.

Assistant Professor of Business Gaby Flores presented “Construct Validity of an Objective Measure of Ethical Climates” at the Iberoamerican Academy of Management in New Orleans, LA, on Dec. 9.

Assistant Professor of Business Debika Sihi participated on a panel in Austin, Texas on Dec. 7, 2017 with Kevin Brown (a partner at Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis, LLP ) and Ryan Garcia (a social media attorney at Dell and adjunct professor at University of Texas at Austin Law) sponsored by the Association of Corporate Counsel, Austin Chapter. The panel was titled Marketing Liability in the Digital Age: Tales from the Trenches and Best Practices and addressed legal issues arising from advertising, social media, online data collection, and copyright infringement.

Assistant Professor of Business Debika Sihi and two co-authors published a paper titled “Managerial perspectives on crowdsourcing in the new product development process” in Industrial Marketing Management. The paper explores the use of crowdsourcing in the new product development (NPD) process of business to business (B2B) companies.

Assistant Professor of Economics Patrick Van Horn’s research article “In the Eye of a Storm: Manhattan’s Money Center Banks During the International Financial Crisis of 1931” (coauthored with Gary Richardson) was accepted for publication in the peer-reviewed journal Explorations in Economic History.