McCullough promotion highlights myriad faculty, staff changes, additions

Kathleen McCullough has been promoted to senior associate dean for academic affairs in the Florida State University College of Business.

McCullough, also the Kathryn Magee Kip Professor in Risk Management and Insurance, gained a reputation for energy, engagement and innovation – plus a quick wit – on behalf of students and the college in her more than eight years as an associate dean for academic affairs. 

“Kathleen has assembled a highly competent, professional and integrated academic affairs team across undergraduate and graduate programs,” Michael Hartline, dean of the college, wrote in an email announcement to faculty and staff members. “I am deeply appreciative of Kathleen’s wisdom, support and humor over the last eight years and look forward to many more years to come.”

McCullough’s new title highlights an abundance of faculty and staff promotions, hirings and changes across departments and centers as the college embarks on the 2023-24 calendar year. Hartline said the personnel moves aim to keep the college on its “path to preeminence,” as he calls it. 

“We welcome our new faculty and staff members to the College of Business family, and we congratulate other colleagues on exciting new roles,” he said. “These changes and additions keep us on our journey to becoming one of the top business schools in the world.”

Hartline added: “We also thank faculty members who stepped down from their roles to take on other initiatives and responsibilities, and we look forward to additional valuable contributions from them.”

Here’s a look, by department, school or unit, at all the additional new people and roles in the college since January:

Academic Technology

Joseph Rider, in June, joined the college as an instructional technologist.

Center for Professional Success

Luke Hopkins takes on the title of Christopher E. Iansiti Director. He had been serving as the center’s director, and he will remain a senior lecturer in marketing, plus director of the James M. Seneff Honors Program and the BS-MAR/MBA Combined Pathway.

Andrew Joop joins the college as a course facilitator and career coach.

Mark Zeigler, a long-time FSU faculty member who serves as head marshal for the university’s commencement ceremonies, joins the college from the College of Communication and Information and becomes senior lecturer and director of the college’s First-Year Experience programs. He will oversee the Business Living-Learning Community based in the center. The LLC, launching in Fall 2024, aims to help business-intent freshmen identify pathways for success in business.

Center for Risk Management Education & Research

Gabriel Carrillo, in May, became executive director of the center, as he continues to work on his Ph.D. in risk management and insurance at FSU.

Department of Accounting

Zahn Bozanic has been promoted to the William Hillison Professor of Accounting.

Greg Gerard has been promoted to professor.

Rick Morton, the associate dean for academic operations, is now the Julian V. Smith Family Professor of Business Administration.

Department of Finance

Don Autore, the Dean L. Cash Professor of Finance, becomes the department’s interim chair, succeeding William Christiansen, who served in this capacity since 2005. Christiansen becomes interim director of the Master of Science in Finance (MSF) and Finance Combined Pathway programs. He remains director of the Truist Center for Free Enterprise.

Jeong Ho “John” Kim, in June, joined the college as an assistant professor of finance after serving as an assistant professor of economics at Emory University. He also serves as a visiting scholar at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.

Sergey Mityakov has been appointed the Truist Associate Professor of Finance.

Department of Management

Darren Brooks has been promoted to senior lecturer, and early this year, he had his college-leadership title revised to assistant dean for executive and professional programs. He also serves as assistant department chair, director of the MBA program and program manager of the BS-HRM/MBA Combined Pathway.

Department of Risk Management and Insurance

Evan Eastman has been appointed the Independent Life and Accident Insurance Associate Professor of Risk Management and Insurance.

Chuck Nyce, in January, became department chair and the Dr. William T. Hold Associate Professor of Risk Management and Insurance, succeeding Cassandra Cole, now the Robert L. Atkins Professor in Risk Management & Insurance. She remains director of the MS-RMI program.

Chongyu Wang, in June, joined the college as an assistant professor. He previously worked as an assistant professor of real estate finance at the University of Hong Kong, an assistant professor of finance at Concordia University and a post-doctoral associate at the University of Florida.

FSU Organizational Effectiveness Institute 

Samantha Paustian-Underdahl, the Mary Tilley Bessemer Associate Professor of Business Administration, became the new Barry & Janice Anderson Director of the FSU Organizational Effectiveness Institute (formerly the Center for Human Resources Management).

Office of the Dean

Sarah Collins, in May, returned to the college as director of strategic engagement. She previously served as a development officer for the college and other sites around campus.

Office of Finance and Human Resources

Madyson Lee, in January, joined the college as an accounting specialist.

Michelle Kane Mannheimer, in May, returned to the college as assistant director of HR, training and development. She previously worked in the college as a human resource assistant.

Blake Merritt, in May, joined the college as an accounting specialist.

Tara Tarin, in January, returned to the college as travel specialist. She previously served as assistant director of finance.

Office of Information Technology

Giovanni Lopez, in January, joined the college as IT director.

Office of Undergraduate Programs

Zachary Link, in March, joined the college as an academic advisor.

Rockwood School of Marketing

Angie Kovarik joins the college as an assistant lecturer. Kovarik has been working as an associate professor at Bemidji State University in Minnesota.

Riley Krotz, in June, joined the college as an assistant professor. Krotz has been working at Texas Tech University as an assistant professor and Academic Advisory Council for Signage Research & Education (AACSRE) Emerging Research Fellow.

Harrison Pugh, a doctoral alumnus, joins the college as an assistant lecturer. Pugh has more than 10 years of sales and management experience in hospitality and technology and has been working as an assistant professor at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Ph.D. students

Joining the college beginning in the Fall semester are, by department or school:

Accounting: Connor Dawkins, Philip Obialor, Mitch Stanton and Min Xu; Finance: Miles Nathan and Yu Zhang; Management: Wei Wang, Yuyan Wang and Xin Zheng; Rockwood School of Marketing: Michael Burrage, Ye Tian and Jin Zhang.

-- Pete Reinwald and Kayla West