Faculty News Roundup

Faculty News Roundup represents news submitted by individual faculty to the University's online newspaper, UDaily. Faculty awards, scholarship activities and media recognitions submitted by faculty appear in UDaily in its Friday sections entitled "Faculty News" and "For the Record." If you have news that you wish to share with the University's UDaily, click here. The news below is excerpted from UDaily and is for this month and the past two months.

Burton Abrams, professor of economics, and George R. Parsons, professor of marine policy and economics, were cited in a Sept. 23 Detroit Free Press article about the government's cash for clunkers program. In a study published this week, Abrams and Parsons noted that the program cost about $2,600 per vehicle while producing benefits of just under $600 per trade, and that the benefits were from burning less fuel and not in real economic growth. They were also cited in Oct.4th top editorial opinions in the Wall Street Journal.

James Butkiewicz, professor of economics, was quoted in an Oct. 3 Cherry Hill (N.J.) Courier-Post article about New Jersey public revenue streams, with comparisons to other states in the region. He noted that Woodrow Wilson “chased the corporations out of New Jersey,” with Delaware retaining pro-business policies and becoming the corporate capital. He and Charles Elson, Center for Corporate Governance, were quoted in a Sept. 19 News Journal article on policies to police compensation at major banks.

Cihan Cobanoglu, HRIM, associate professor of hospitality information technology and management information systems, received the John Wiley & Sons Award for Innovation in Teaching at the International Council on Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Education (I-CHERIE) conference held in San Francisco in August. See full article--http://www.udel.edu/udaily/2010/sep/cobanoglu091409.html Dr. Cobanoglu also is now serving as the 40^th President of the University of Delaware’s Faculty Senate.In addition, Cihan was co-author with Mehmet Erdem and Natasa Christodoulidou, of an article in the September issue of Lodging, “Mission Critical: Point-of-Sale Systems Have Become Vital to Hospitality Operations.”

Fred DeMicco, ARAMARK Chair and Professor of  HRIM, invited talk, “Hotel and Travel Developments in Asia,” seventh annual International Hotel Conference, Oct. 23, Venice, Italy. DeMicco and two other speakers reviewed hotel and travel projects, trends and brands gaining market share throughout the region and explored strategies that will help hotel portfolios sustain continued growth and prosperity across all sectors in Asia, especially China and India. Leaders from Starwood, Marriott, Hilton, Choice and Langham Hotels of Hong Kong and many other hotel leaders attended the conference at the Hilton Molino, Venice.

Charles Elson, Edgar S. Woolard Jr. Chair and director of the John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance, was quoted in a Nov. 4 Baltimore Business Journal article about Black and Decker CEO Nolan D. Archibald. Elson was quoted in a Nov. 3 Reuters article about pay to employees at banks that received government bailout funds, and a Sydney (Australia) Morning-Herald article about executive pay levels. Elson also was quoted in a Nov. 2 Washington Post article about executive compensation, and a Nov. 2 Bloomberg article about executive Hector Ruiz and fallout from insider trading charges. He was quoted in Oct. 26 Wall Street Journal and Reuters articles about HealthSouth Corp. plans to reimburse activist shareholders for the expense of director elections. Elson is a HealthSouth director and chair of the nominating and corporate governance committee. Also, Elson was quoted in an Oct. 26 Dow Jones Newswires article about Biogen Idec Inc. and an Oct. 28 Baltimore Sun column about investor Nelson Peltz gaining a seat on the Legg Mason board. He was quoted in an Oct. 16 article in The New York Times concerning Bank of America. Elson also was quoted in an Oct. 14 Toronto Globe and Mail story about AIG and a report of widespread retention bonuses. “It is odd for a kitchen assistant to receive a retention award,” he said. “If everyone receives a retention bonus, it makes you wonder what the point of the program is.” He was quoted in an Oct. 7 MarketWatch article about controversial legislation being considered by Congress to split the position of chairman and CEO while giving shareholders greater say in the election of directors, and in an Oct. 6 CBS MoneyWatch article and an Oct. 7 USA Today article about plans by the Federal Reserve to act on bank pay. “The same Federal Reserve that allowed banks to take risky investments is now entrusted to reform compensation?" Elson asked USA Today. "If someone gets you lost in the woods, would that be the right person to get you out of the woods?" Elson also was quoted in an Oct. 8 Charlotte (N.C.) Observer article on Bank of America, in an Oct. 7 New York Times DealBook blog on executive compensation and the Obama administration's pay czar, and in an Oct. 5 Bloomberg article about plans by CIT to expand its board of directors and what that could mean for the current CEO. “The lenders are seeking greater control over company management to protect their investment,” Elson said.He as also in an Oct. 5 BusinessWeek article about GM chairman Edward E. Whitacre Jr. Elson also was quoted in an Oct. 1 News Journal article about the announced retirement of Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis. "Given what's happened, I think it's probably best for the bank and its shareholders that new leadership be brought in," Elson said. He was quoted in a Sept. 21 Providence (R.I.) Business News article about possible conflict of interest questions facing a Providence Equity Partners adviser, in a Sept. 21 Charlotte Observer article about executive compensation and in a Sept. 19 Charlotte Observer story about perks. Both Elson and James Butkiewicz, professor of economics, were quoted in a Sept. 19 News Journal article on policies to police compensation at major banks. Elson was quoted in a Sept. 17 Wall Street Journal article about subpoenas of Bank of America board members by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. He also was quoted in a Sept. 15 News Journal article about a Bank of America deal with the Securities and Exchange Commission that was rejected by a federal judge. He was quoted in a Sept. 9 article in The New York Times concerning the firing of the Bank of America general counsel following a shareholder vote to approve a merger with Merrill Lynch. “I'd like to know why he was dismissed,” Elson said. “If he was terminated because of disagreements on disclosure on Merrill, that's relevant. It goes right back to the effectiveness of management. You can always disregard a general counsel's advice, but the question is, Why did you?” Elson also was quoted in a Sept. 8 Bloomberg news service article about judges and punishment being meted out on Wall Street in the wake of the recession, and in a Sept. 11 News Journal article on recommendations concerning Delaware corporate law.

Farley Grubb, professor of economics, "Testing for the Economic Impact of the U.S. Constitution: Purchasing Power Parity across the Colonies versus across the States, 1748-1811," at City University of New York Graduate Center, New York City, Oct. 13, 2009.

Saul Hoffman, chairperson of the Department of Economics, was quoted in a Sept. 27 News Journal article about the effects of recession on poor residents of Rehoboth Beach. “It's extremely severe. I'm not sure (minorities) are facing a depression, but their situation is much worse than other populations,” he said.

William Latham, associate professor of economics, wrote an opinion piece in the Nov. 1 News Journal concerning the state economy. The piece appeared in advance of the Nov. 9-10 conference, “Creating New Economies for Delaware, the Region and the Nation,” which will be held at UD's Clayton Hall.

Bob Nelson, HRIM chairperson, announced that Bill Sullivan, managing director of Marriott's Courtyard Newark-University of Delaware hotel on campus, has been selected its 2009 Renaissance Award. The award honors those who exemplify community service in the city of Newark. Sullivan joins past winners Newark Mayor Vance Funk, David E. Hollowell, UD executive vice president and treasurer emeritus, and restaurateur Bob Ashby.

Sheldon D. Pollack, professor of law and legal studies, was a participant on a panel at the annual conference of the American Political Science Association in Toronto, Canada, on Sept. 6. See http://www.apsanet.org/mtgs/program_2009/program.cfm?event=1510218 for the panel description. The panel was entitled "Author Meets Readers: Sheldon Pollack's War, Revenue, and State Building: Financing the Development of the American State,” and was devoted to a discussion of Pollack's third book, War, Revenue, and State Building: Financing the Development of the American State, Cornell University Press, September 2009. See http://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/cup_detail.taf?ti_id=5474 for a description of the book. The book was nominated by Cornell University Press for the J. David Greenstone award given by the Politics and History Section of the American Political Science Association for the best book on politics and history written in 2009-2010. That award will be given in Spring 2010.

Donald Puglisi, professor emeritus of finance, was quoted in an Oct. 15 News Journal article about the rising Dow Jones industrial average.

John Sawyer, professor of business administration, has been appointed associate provost for professional education for a three-year term effective September 2009. As associate provost, John will provide critical leadership and strategic direction to integrate the Division of Professional and Continuing Studies into the Office of Graduate and Professional Education.http://www.udel.edu/udaily/2010/sep/sawyer091609.html

Tom Vermeer, Associate professor of accounting and management information systems (MIS), was awarded the prestigious 2009 Outstanding Research Paper Award by the American Accounting Association’s Government and Nonprofit Section for the paper “Do Local Governments Present Required Disclosures for Defined Benefit Pension Plans?” (co-authored with Terry Patton and Alan Styles), August 2009. Full article available:http://www.udel.edu/udaily/2010/oct/vermeer100109.html

Clinton "Skip" White Jr., professor of accounting and management information systems (MIS), received the 2009 Outstanding Educator Award from the Strategic and Emerging Technologies Section of the American Accounting Association at the 2009 annual meeting in New York City, Aug 3. See full story--http://www.udel.edu/udaily/2010/aug/honor081309.html