May 9, 2005
Dukerich, Koonce Appointed to Named Professorships
Janet Dukerich and Lisa Koonce, both professors at the McCombs School of Business, have been appointed to named professorships. Dukerich, a professor in and chair of the department of management, has been appointed to the William H. Arlitt Professorship in the College of Business Administration. Koonce, a professor in the department of accounting, has been appointed to the Deloitte & Touche Professorship in Accounting.
Dukerich joined the McCombs faculty in 1989. Her research and teaching interests include reputation management, issue interpretation, ethical decision-making, and organizational identification, a process whereby employees become deeply and personally committed to an organization’s success.
Alison Davis-Blake, the McCombs School’s senior associate dean for academic affairs, said that Dukerich’s appointment recognizes her pioneering research on this latter topic.
“Janet’s research on the topic of organizational identification has been very heavily cited and recognized with multiple, prestigious awards,” said Davis-Blake. “Her research on identification is a critical lynchpin that explains how an organization can set in motion a virtuous cycle whereby a strong organizational reputation can lead to employee identification, commitment, and performance, which in turn lead to organizational prominence and reputation and even stronger levels of identification.”
Koonce, an expert in financial accounting, judgment and decision-making, has taught at the McCombs School of Business since earning her Ph.D. from the University of Illinois in 1990.
“Lisa is well-deserving of this recognition,” said Ross Jennings, chair of the department of accounting. “She is an outstanding teacher and a gifted scholar who is well-known nationally for her contributions to accounting research. Year in, year out, she makes invaluable contributions to the department and the school, and we are very fortunate to have her on our faculty.”
Alison Davis-Blake, the McCombs School’s senior associate dean for academic affairs, said that professorships and chairs are, essentially, promotions to a higher academic rank. Freshly-minted Ph.D.s are hired as assistant professors, and based on their research, teaching and service, may move up the academic ranks to become an associate professor and, eventually, a professor.
“Then, after becoming a full professor, a person may obtain a professorship
or chair,” Davis-Blake explained. “However, unlike promotions at the other
three ranks, promotion to a chair or named professorship is strictly based
on a person’s academic research, and, specifically, the impact of their research
on both theory and practice.”
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