College of Business recognizes retirees, faculty and staff

UTSA Business Building

By Wendy Frost
Director of Communications, UTSA College of Business

(May 1, 2015) -- The College of Business has recognized the outstanding contributions of faculty and staff members during the annual Business Awards Ceremony.

Two faculty retirees were honored for their service to the college. Faculty retirees are Bob Lengel, associate professor of management, and Cynthia Lengnick-Hall, professor of management. Lengel has taught at UTSA since 1982 and is the founding director of the Center for Professional Excellence, the Executive MBA and the Leadership Challenge program. His work in transformative leadership is nationally renowned.

Lengnick-Hall helped build the doctoral program in management and served as the Ph.D. faculty advisor for more than eight years. An active researcher in knowledge management and strategic human resource management, she has been at the College of Business since 2001.

Seven faculty members will be honored for excellence in the areas of teaching, research and service.

Karan Bhanot, professor of finance, received the E. Lou Curry Teaching Excellence Award. The college's premier teaching award, the E. Lou Curry Award was presented in memory of Lou Curry, a respected faculty member who passed away in 1995. Bhanot is a mainstay of the department's graduate programs and is a dedicated teacher. He was commended for his ability to break down difficult concepts into straightforward examples.

David Han, assistant professor of management science and statistics, was named the recipient of the Dean's Teaching Excellence Award for Tenure-Track Faculty. He is a demanding, but passionate teacher who encourages and motivates his students to excel while also making statistics accessible.

The recipient of the Dean's Teaching Excellence Award for Non-Tenure-Track Faculty was Daniel Davied, lecturer II in marketing. Davied is a seasoned business professional who shares his knowledge with his students. He looks to improve his students not only academically, but also professionally.

In the area of research excellence, Yinlong (Allen) Zhang, professor of marketing, was named the Col. Jean Piccione and Lt. Col. Philip Piccione Endowed Research Award recipient. Zhang has compiled an outstanding high-impact research agenda at UTSA. He has had six articles published in elite journals. His research focuses on two areas: the role of consumer's self-identity on consumer processing and the impact of accountability on decision making.

Dengfeng Yan, assistant professor of marketing, was the recipient of the Dean's Research Excellence Award for Tenure-Track Faculty. His research interests are in psychological distance and numerical cognition. Since joining UTSA in 2012 he has published six articles, three of which are in elite journals. His work makes him a rising researcher in the college.

Recognizing a career of service to UTSA, Marshall Pitman, professor of accounting, received the Patrick J. Clynes Endowed College of Business Excellence in Service Award. His extensive service contributions to the department, college and the professional accounting community are unprecedented. He leads the department's internship program and has made enormous contributions to the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Most recently he has been named to the Board of Directors of the Alamo Public Telecommunications Council.

The college's Endowed 1969 Commemorative Faculty Award for Overall Faculty Excellence honors a faculty member for their accomplishments in teaching, research and service. The award was established to commemorate the founding year of the university. This year's recipient was Cynthia Lengnick-Hall, professor of management. She has a distinguished research record with 40 journal publications. She has a passion for teaching, and her teaching evaluations place her among the top performers each year in the college. And, she leads by example through her service contributions to her department and the college.

In addition to the faculty awards, two staff members were honored for their contributions to the college. Heather Castro, academic advisor III, is a recipient of the Dean's Staff Excellence Award. She was selected for her dedication, leadership and service to students. She has a gift for mentoring, advising and connecting with students.

The second Dean's Staff Excellence Award was presented to Kandis Larkey, director of the Executive MBA program. Larkey is instrumental to the success of the EMBA program. This past year she was responsible for rebranding and developing a new marketing plan to increase recruitment for the program.

All recipients were honored at the college's awards ceremony on Thursday, April 30.

Original article reprinted with permission from the College of Business.

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