Business school celebrates faculty through scholar series

The Beacom Scholar Series showcases the business school’s faculty through presentations of their research.

Venky Venkatachalam, dean of the business school, implemented the Beacom Scholar Series when he came to USD.

“It was very important for me at that time to have this Beacom Scholar Series as a forum to showcase faculty research contribution,” he said.

Venkatachalam said the series aims to do three things: recognize the research conducted by faculty members, provide a forum for faculty to pursue collaborative research and celebrate and recognize other faculty members’ successes.

“I call it a culture of celebration,” Venkatachalam said.

The presenters in the series are mostly USD faculty members, but speakers from other universities are brought in as well.

“Every year a lot of our faculty take part in (the series), but then we also bring very distinguished scholars from outside,” Venkatachalam said. “That way we also bring in outside speakers who are recognized and well established scholars in their own field.”

Venkatachalam said it “enhances the research culture” for graduate and undergraduate students as well as faculty.

“It’s an opportunity for students… to hear from very well-known scholars in the field,” he said.

Business students are encouraged to watch their professors present so that they can learn about research opportunities.

“For students it’s a great opportunity to get to understand the professor of whom they’re learning from, and understand the research side of the professor,” Venkatachalam said.

Students are also involved in the Beacom Scholar Series. Graduate student Murtzana Nasir presented in the series.

Obtaining his masters in business analytics, Nasir’s presentation that looked at predicting what companies are more likely to make mistakes in their records, like sales or earnings.

“I’m not very good at public speaking but… I enjoyed it,” Nasir said.

Nasir said he was grateful for professors Ali Dag and Srini Ragothaman, who gave him the opportunity to contribute to this project.

The series’ last three presentations are:

• Internal Control in Extreme Conditions: Black Hills Harley-Davidson and the Sturgis Phenomenon presented by Dan Tracy Nov. 15
• Access to Higher Education: Evidence from Merit-only States presented by Kathryn Birkeland Nov. 29
• Production Functions in Academia presented by Mike Allgrunn Dec. 6