UM News

Philip D. Harvey, A. “Parsu” Parasuraman, Shigui Ruan, and Brian Soden.

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (August 14, 2015)—Four UM scholars are included in Thomson Reuters’ Highly Cited Researchers 2014, which recognizes scientists whose published works are most cited by fellow researchers. Earning the “mark of exceptional impact” were Philip D. Harvey, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences; A. “Parsu” Parasuraman, chair of the Department of Marketing; Shigui Ruan, professor of mathematics; and Brian Soden, professor of atmospheric sciences.

Harvey, who is also chief of the Division of Psychology at the Miller School of Medicine, specializes in cognitive, severe mental illness, and neuropsychiatric conditions, including traumatic brain injury, dementia, and Parkinson’s disease. Through his work, he has pioneered standards of care.

Parasuraman, who also holds the James W. McLamore Chair in Marketing at the School of Business Administration, has focused his research on defining, measuring, and leveraging service quality; the role of technology in service delivery; and strategies for effectively marketing technology-based products and services.

At the College of Arts and Sciences, Ruan focuses on nonlinear dynamics of differential equations. He uses mathematical models to study biological, epidemiological, and medical problems, such as antibiotic-resistant bacteria and immune response to HIV infections.

Soden, who is also associate dean for professional masters at the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, investigates the magnitude of key climate feedback processes, such as water vapor and clouds, and the response of extreme weather events, including hurricanes and extreme precipitation, atmospheric circulation, and wind events, to changes in climate from global warming.

Special to UM News

Laura Giuliano

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (June 2, 2015)—Laura Giuliano, an associate professor of economics in the School of Business Administration, has been appointed to the staff of President Barack Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers. Giuliano will serve one term as senior economist for labor and education beginning at the end of August.

The council, which consists of the chair and two senior members, offers the president expert economic advice on the formulation of both domestic and international economic policy. It bases its recommendations and analysis on economic research and empirical evidence, using the best data available to advise the president. The council is supported by up to 10 senior economists—each of whom works on different major areas of the economy.

Giuliano’s duties will include helping to prepare daily and monthly briefings for President Obama and council members and contributing to the annual Economic Report of the President. One regular task will be to help interpret the “jobs report” that is published each month by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

“As a senior economist for labor and education, I will provide economic analysis on a wide range of issues involving labor market policy, such as the minimum wage and overtime compensation, as well as issues related to anti-poverty programs, education, and work/family policy,” said Giuliano. “I will also work with other parts of the White House, the Department of Labor and the Department of Education.”

Giuliano has a Ph.D. in economics from the University of California—Berkeley, a master’s in international relations from Yale University, and bachelor’s in economics from the University of Virginia. She has been with the University of Miami  since 2004.

Special to UM News

The School of Business Administration has developed a new executive MBA program designed primarily for professional artists and athletes. Beginning February 2015, the Miami Executive M.B.A. for Artists and Athletes will teach these accomplished individuals, many of whom have strong personal brands, how to leverage their current career success into business and social achievement.

Because the program is expected to draw many players from the National Football League (NFL), classes will be held during the league’s off-season. The 18-month program consists of six two-week residency modules at the school’s main campus in Coral Gables. The program, which will be taught by the same world-class faculty who teach in the school’s other programs, has the same curriculum as the school’s existing Global Executive M.B.A. program, which meets on a similar schedule.

“The Miami Executive M.B.A. for Professional Artists and Athletes will equip current and former NFL players, as well as other athletes and artists, with the new knowledge and business skills they need to continue their personal and professional success,” said Dean Gene Anderson. “Like all of our Executive M.B.A. programs, this specialized program is designed to help participants become successful managers and leaders in the business world.”

The M.B.A. for artists and athletes adds another customized program to the school’s unique M.B.A. offerings. The school also offers the Miami Executive M.B.A. for the Americas program, designed for those engaged in the business of the Americas; the Executive M.B.A. in Health Sector Management and Policy program, designed for health care industry professionals; and the Spanish-language Global Executive M.B.A. program, designed for Spanish-speaking executives in Latin America, among the school’s other M.B.A. programs.

By Jill Schoeniger
Special to UM News

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (November 4, 2014)—People make financial and business decisions for many reasons, and researchers are always looking for new ways to predict and understand their behavior. The emerging fields of consumer neuroscience and neurofinance seek to examine the physiological aspects of such decision-making, and the School of Business Administration is expanding its research into these fields.

Milica Mormann, who recently joined the finance department as a research assistant professor, is spearheading the creation of a  neurofinance lab at the school. The lab will  enable faculty and students to add another layer to their research, by exploring how physiological aspects factor into the final behavioral choices that people make.

“Instead of just using traditional surveys and asking people what they do, we can now do eye tracking, where we look at where their eyes move as they look at a page to see exactly what they focus on. We will also have an EEG machine, so we can get brain-activity measurements,” explained Mormann, whose interdisciplinary research focuses on consumer behavior, financial decision-making, and environment-related decisions.

In addition to stationary and mobile eye trackers and the EEG system, the lab will have facial expression analysis software, which records a person’s face and then analyzes her reactions while processing information.

Mormann also organized a Consumer Neuroscience Symposium, hosted by the school on September  25, which drew more than 90 scholars from top research institutions across the globe with diverse backgrounds, including economics, psychology, neuroscience, medicine and finance. Attendees examined the current knowledge at the intersection of consumer research and neuroscience.

The breadth and depth of this emerging field were on display in the panel discussion “Big Picture: What Can Neuroscience Offer to Consumer Research?” which Mormann moderated. It featured Colin Camerer, a professor at Caltech and recipient of a 2013 MacArthur Foundation “genius award”; Scott Huettel, director of the Center for Cognitive Science at Duke University; and Wes Hutchinson, director of the Wharton Behavioral Laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania.

“Neuroscience is not going to replace traditional methods” of consumer research, Huettel told the audience. “We think of neuroscience as something that accompanies traditional methods. … Neuroscience can speed the pace of discovery.”

The school’s neurofinance lab is already off to an auspicious start with an exciting lineup of projects. For instance, Mormann will study how people process information related to financial institutions and how this information affects their choices—such as whether to invest in a retirement fund.

“When I first worked on these issues at Caltech, eye tracking was largely considered the exclusive domain of vision scientists,” Mormann says. “Today, most of the top research schools have embraced its interdisciplinary potential and are setting up eye-tracking labs or neuroscience labs. The deans and many of my colleagues were interested in getting a similar lab started here.”

Special to UM News

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (October 31, 2014)–The U.S. Department of Education has awarded a grant of more than $1 million to the University of Miami to continue supporting its Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER), which has been housed at the School of Business Administration. The Center will receive more than $250,000 each year for four years to continue carrying out innovative services and interdisciplinary endeavors to strengthen U.S. competitiveness. The funding will be matched by the university, resulting in more than $2 million in total funding for programming. The University of Miami is among just 17 universities nationwide, and the only institution in Florida, to receive the CIBER funding in 2014.

“We are thrilled and honored to be among the elite institutions to receive this funding, particularly at a time of increased competition for fewer grants,” said Joseph Ganitsky, director of the University of Miami CIBER. “Our CIBER will deliver results by leveraging Miami’s strengths as a gateway to the Americas, by combining the expertise and competencies of the School of Business and the university’s other schools and colleges, and by focusing on South Florida’s service areas of excellence such as health care and finance, which are key drivers of U.S. competitiveness.”

In this second funding cycle, the University of Miami CIBER will focus on three areas that will help enhance U.S. competitiveness, the common goal of all CIBERs:

• The CIBER will strengthen Florida’s international expertise in order to improve the nation’s capacity to succeed abroad. This will include working with such organizations as Enterprise Florida and the South Florida U.S. Export Assistance Center.

• The CIBER will create international experiences that enhance student employment opportunities. This will include enhancing international business courses, exchanges and experiential learning opportunities such as field study trips, consulting, reverse mentoring, and interdisciplinary projects.

• And the CIBER will promote interdisciplinary research and the international business competencies of university faculty members. The Center will sponsor eight interdisciplinary programs that will include breakthrough international business research, academic and professional conferences featuring leading business and academic leaders from across the U.S. and Latin America, and field study trips, among other programs.

“A key part of the strategy of the School of Business is to build our global perspective, particularly as it pertains to Latin America,” said Gene Anderson, dean of the School of Business Administration. “This grant will enable us to develop and carry out programs that enhance the international perspective of our students, faculty, and wider business community while helping to achieve the CIBER goal of strengthening U.S. competitiveness.”

The University of Miami CIBER will be supported by more than 50 faculty members from across the university and more than 50 community partners including Miami Dade College, the University of Florida’s Center for African Studies, and several foreign universities.

The CIBERs were created by Congress under the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988. Administered by the U.S. Department of Education under Title VI, Part B of the Higher Education Act of 1965. The CIBER network links the manpower and technological needs of the United States business community with the international education, language training, and research capacities of universities across the country.