Category: Spring 2024

Dear Engler College of Business Community, As we conclude this spring semester, we find ourselves reflecting on a period marked not only by significant achievements but also by poignant moments. One such moment was the mourning of Dr. Paul Engler, a visionary whose legacy continues to inspire our work and whose name we proudly bear. His legacy is a guiding light that continues to inspire us, and his profound love and commitment to education and the students he impacted are celebrated in the tribute found in this issue of our newsletter. I am proud and profoundly grateful for our faculty, students, and alumni, whose spirit of innovation and dedication to service continue to define our university. This newsletter is filled with stories that showcase these qualities, and I am excited to share them with you. We begin with a heartfelt tribute to Dr. Paul Engler, a figure whose passion for... Read more

The Paul and Virginia Engler College of Business was deeply saddened with the passing of Paul Engler on May 3. Engler, 94, was not only a cattleman of the highest order, but also a philanthropist and supporter of higher education whose life and generosity has affected many in the College. He will be remembered for his giving spirit, as well as his wit, laughter, charm, and enduring desire to make an impact on students, faculty, and staff. In response to the influence he has had in the College, he was awarded an honorary doctorate in May 2022. “I find it both a profound honor and a solemn duty to commemorate the legacy of Dr. Paul Engler, a visionary whose name our college is privileged to bear,” said Dr. Amjad Abdullat, Dean of the College. “Dr. Engler was far more than a benefactor; he was a true pillar of wisdom, innovation,... Read more

Innovation is a critically important component of academia, and the faculty is responsible for continually attending to the curriculum to ensure its relevance. Courses are updated, renamed, and even completely restructured. New programs are conceived that meet the evolving needs of business and students. Nothing stays the same aside from the fundamentals in each business discipline; everything else, though, is in flux. It’s up to the faculty to stay ahead of the changes around them. To that end, the College of Business is pleased to announce the launch of a new M.S. degree in Strategic Human Resource Management this coming fall semester, the result of a core group of Management faculty who sensed the need, and then put their minds together to craft an entirely new program. The program is offered completely online, and comprises 31 credit hours. It is accredited by AACSB, and includes a prep course for the... Read more

It is an expectation of a tenure-track faculty member that they publish in recognized journals. The College of Business has collectively done an outstanding job in this regard, with scores of major publications in recent years. But journals do not just run themselves. They rely on academics to provide valuable professional service to keep these publications in operation, and, as is the norm, these efforts are unpaid. They are efforts of love for the discipline and the process, with activities ranging from editorial duties to peer review of articles submitted by other academics. Andrew Li, the Williams Professor and Professor of Management, has been among the most prolific among COB faculty when it comes to publishing high-quality articles, but he is also a major contributor as well. Li serves on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Applied Psychology. “The most important job that I perform for this journal is... Read more

The message of community service is one that permeates courses at the College of Business. It’s about making an impact, of giving back, of leaving more than one takes. Dr. Kelly McCauley, the Engler Professor and Associate Professor of Management, incorporates this ethos in her undergraduate Leadership and Teamwork (MGT 4337) course. Along the way, students learn the essentials of what it takes to lead an organization, but also efforts to do good things for the broader community. As a result of student efforts, more than $13,000 was raised for charitable concerns this semester. “Because of the title and course purpose, I decided that the best way to teach the course that matches the title of it is to incorporate a team project that is weighted at 50% of the course grade,” McCauley explained. “While many courses in the College include a team project, not many place such a heavy... Read more

The College of Business prides itself on reaching a growing number of Hispanic students, reflective of the university’s broader emphasis on being an HSI, or Hispanic Serving Institution. About 30% of our students are of Hispanic heritage, many of whom are first-generation college students in their respective families. In order to provide both a service learning experience for Hispanic students, as well as a support network, Leslie Ramops Salazar, Professor and the Abdullat Professor of Business Communication and Decision Management, founded the WT chapter of ALPFA, or Association of Latino Professionals for America. “ALPFA is a friendly career and leadership development student organization,” she explained. “Our purpose is to enhance the business and professional networking opportunities for our Latino students and any other students who seek careers in business related fields by empowering them by developing their leadership skills.”  She launched WT’s chapter in Fall 2016. “I wanted to launch... Read more

As if the expenses of university and life in general were not enough, there is another one that comes at the end, and often unexpected until it becomes painfully clear. That is the professional wardrobe that is expected in many offices. Suitable office attire does not come cheaply, and is typically not hanging in a typical college student’s closet. Yet they need to have at least a modicum of professional wear even before interviews begin, much less walking into the office for the first time. To help alleviate the challenges some students face in acquiring acceptable garments, one College of Business faculty member has helped provide a solution. Rahul Chauhan, the McCray Professor of Business and Associate Professor of Management has helped ensure that COB students are properly attired. “I have served as a faculty advisor for the WT Chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) since 2016.... Read more

The spirit of community service permeates all that we do in the College of Business. It starts with faculty and staff adopting the ethos as their own, and then introducing the concept to students. But it continues once students graduate, who then go into their respective careers and continue to practice. Like with Jennifer Anguiano, the Executive Director of the Amarillo Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. The AHCC exists to serve the local Hispanic business community, but is also a bridge spanning the entirety of Amarillo businesses who wish to be engaged with the Hispanic community. That is of growing importance, given that 34% of Amarillo’s population is Hispanic. It’s just that Anguiano didn’t necessarily expect to find herself with such an important position, especially so quickly following her formal education. She graduated with a BBA in December 2023, following her Associate Degree two years prior from Amarillo College. Earlier, she... Read more

Each Spring the faculty is invited to nominate colleagues for Faculty and Staff Excellence Awards. These are offered for the three pillars of academic life (Instructional Responsibilities, Intellectual Contributions, and Professional Service, as well as Staff Excellence Awards for both within the COB, and the broader University. This year the faculty winners were Marisa Crisostomo for Instructional Responsibilities, Barbara Wang for Intellectual Contributions, and Rahul Chauhan for Professional Service. Staff Excellence winners were Mckayla Robinson in the COB, and Melissa White at the University level. Crisostomo is Clinical Assistant Professor of Decision Management, and joined the faculty in 2017. She earned her PhD in Cognitive Psychology and Quantitative Methods from the University of Oklahoma in 2017, and teaches introductory courses in quantitative methods and statistics. She is highly regarded by her students, with whom she maintains a high level of engagement in her courses. In her spare time, she enjoys... Read more

Each April the College of Business hosts the Students and Community Awards Symposium. The event was held this year on April 24, and recognized dozens of students at both the undergraduate and graduate level were honored, as well as four members of the broader COB community. The event kicked off with the induction of 28 students into Beta Gamma Sigma, the exclusive business honor society that is associated with our accreditor, AACSB. This was followed by student inductees into Alpha Mu Alpha (Marketing), Omicron Delta Epsilon (Economics), and Upsilon Pi Epsilon (Computing and Information Disciplines). A presentation by the students who represented the COB in this year’s CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) Research Challenge was then given. Next on tap were the 13 student organizations and their awards to individual outstanding student members, followed by the introduction of our four Engler Ambassadors, who represent the COB in numerous functions. But it... Read more

It is typical for College of Business courses to feature a lot of group work, which centers around projects and sometimes team exams. These are part and parcel of most business programs nationwide, preparing students for the inevitable demands of collaboration in the corporate world. But when your professor pushes you outside the classroom into the realm of national competitions, that takes teamwork to a new level. Such is the case with Mary Liz Brooks, Associate Professor of Digital Business and Communication & Barbara Petty Professor of Business Communication, and her Emerging Media course. The course is offered as MKT4343 to undergrads, and MKT5343 to graduate students. Two graduate students–Mehrdad Samimi and Kyndall Hill–worked as a team and represented the COB in the Digital Marketing Competition among numerous universities. The duo placed fourth out of thousands of participants. “The competition is just digital marketing, and not integrated marketing,” Brooks said.... Read more