Posted on August 17, 2021 by Wendy Frost
The UTSA Carlos Alvarez College of Business welcomes four new full-time faculty members this fall 2021 semester.
Department of Economics
Jon Moreno-Medina was named an assistant professor in the Department of Economics. His research focuses on urban, public and media economics as well as developmental economics and political economy. Moreno-Medina received his Ph.D. in economics from Duke University.
”My research is primarily empirical and emphasizes the use of rigorous econometric and causal inference methods using novel, and usually large, datasets to study topics of general interest in applied microeconomics,” said Moreno-Medina. “I combine methods in public, urban and development economics to better understand the causes and consequences of rifts in human cooperation across groups. I am particularly interested in the role of the media and informal institutions on housing markets, crime and segregation patterns.”
Department of Information Systems and Cyber Security
Gianluca Zanella will join as an assistant professor of practice in information systems and cyber security. He has a Ph.D. in information technology from UTSA and brings valuable experience in entrepreneurship, information technology and data analytics.
He has previously taught at UTSA as an adjunct professor since 2019 and will support the department’s teaching in information systems, data analytics and the management of technology.
Department of Management
Two faculty members are joining the Department of Management. They are Assistant Professors Xiaohong (Violet) Xu and Peng Zhao.
Xu previously worked at Old Dominion University and received her Ph.D. in industrial/organizational psychology at Texas A&M University. Her primary research interests are job attitudes, team, leadership and occupational health. Her work has appeared in the Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Management, Journal of Organizational Behavior and Journal of Occupational Health Psychology.
“I have overlapping research interests with all OB/HR faculty in the college,” said Xu. “This will open a lot of collaboration opportunities. Collaboration provides great opportunities for me to learn from others and often leads to high-quality publications. Most importantly, collaboration helps build a more open, connected and engaged workplace.”
Zhao’s research focuses include employee selection, job attitudes and employee well-being, and teamwork and team processes. He has published his research in the Journal of Applied Psychology, Personnel Psychology, Journal of Vocational Behavior and Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology.
“The department and college-level support for junior faculty is excellent,” said Zhao, who received his Ph.D. in management from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University. “Resources for research and teaching are abundant, and there are just so many potential opportunities for research collaborations.”
Nationally ranked and recognized, the Alvarez College of Business is home to over 200 faculty members across seven academic departments. With over 7,900 students, the college is one of the 40 largest business schools in the nation and offers a comprehensive curriculum at the undergraduate, master’s and doctoral level that expands the boundaries of a traditional business education.
— Wendy Frost
