Turning to Florida Atlantic

Florida Atlantic: Turning to Florida Atlantic

College of Business Faculty Play an Integral Role in News Media

Florida Atlantic faculty members play an invaluable role serving as experts to media across the country. The College of Business is an intricate part of this network. At a time when the economy, inflation and real estate are at the forefront of national importance, several of its faculty members have established themselves as top experts in providing their research to inform and educate. Ken H. Johnson, Ph.D., associate dean; William Luther, Ph.D., associate professor; and Monica Escaleras, Ph.D., chair of the College of Business’ economics department, are some of the faculty regularly interviewed both locally and nationally on television and quoted in such publications as The Wall Street Journal, Fortune and The New York Times.

“All of this enhances the public awareness of the university and promotes more informed decision-making,” Johnson said.

Johnson, an economist, co-founded three separate monthly real estate indexes that analyze U.S. home prices and rents to show which markets are the most overvalued. He was featured in more than 4,000 news placements in 2022 for his real estate expertise, including a segment on NBC’s “TODAY,” which explained how high home prices and rents in Florida have made the Sunshine State a less-attractive spot to retire.

Escaleras, director of FAU’s Business & Economics Polling Initiative, consistently secures local and national coverage with political polls and quarterly consumer confidence surveys, while Luther is a sought-after source for his analysis of the latest inflation figures.

“Many college professors — myself included — struggle to convince students that the ideas we discuss in the classroom are of practical importance in the real world,” Luther said. “Writing op-eds and discussing current events with journalists force me to remain relevant, and the corresponding publications demonstrate to my students that these ideas really are important for their lives after FAU.”

Other College of Business professors, including Siri Terjesen, Ph.D., associate dean; Peter Ricci, Ed.D., director of the Hospitality and Tourism Management Program; and Sofia Johan, Ph.D., associate professor in the finance department, also serve as important experts for the news media.

“During an interview, the questions are very similar to those asked in the classroom,” Johnson said. “But when I explain a thorny housing issue to a reporter, for example, I have come to realize that I have just educated one ‘student’ who will now go and explain the issue to hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people. Reporters are the perfect megaphones.”

Some of the College of Business’ faculty members also are featured in the prestigious Stanford University database of the top 2 percent of the world’s most-cited researchers. Terjesen, along with Anil Bilgihan, Ph.D., Rebel A. Cole, Ph.D. and Douglas Cumming, Ph.D., are listed in the database, which is considered one of the best ways to measure faculty research productivity and impact across 22 scientific fields of study.

Bilgihan, an associate professor of marketing, is listed in the sports, leisure and tourism category, while Cole and Cumming, both finance professors, are listed in the finance category. Terjesen, professor of management programs, is listed in business and management.

“I’m delighted that my research is considered insightful and cited by other researchers, as well as policymakers and practitioners,” Terjesen said.

Cumming noted that FAU offers an excellent opportunity for faculty to engage in research and bring novel insights into the classroom.

“The top-cited scholars’ acknowledgement is evidence that our research and teaching efforts are paying off,” he said.

Cumming and Cole both praised Daniel Gropper, Ph.D., dean of the College of Business, for providing the necessary support to enable a productive research environment.

“I am proud to be one of the four College of Business professors on this list, three of which were brought to the university by Dean Gropper, who has worked tirelessly during his tenure to improve the standing of the college,” Cole said.

World's Most Cited Researchers

Four College of Business professors are among 53 from FAU to make Stanford University’s database of the world’s most cited researchers. The other 49 FAU researchers are mainly in the sciences.

Douglas Cumming, Ph.D.
Douglas Cumming, Ph.D., joined the College of Business in 2018. He has published five books with Oxford, Wiley, and Elsevier, and more than 60 peer-reviewed articles on venture capital, private equity, hedge funds, fintech and stock market manipulation and regulation. Cumming’s work has been cited more than 23,500 times. He is the recipient of the 2022 Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance World Class Faculty Award.
Anil Bilgihan, Ph.D.
Anil Bilgihan, Ph.D., is a renowned services marketing expert with a specialization in information technology applications in the tourism and hospitality industries. His research involves the use and impact of technology, user experience, digital marketing and online social interactions in the service industry. Since joining FAU in 2013, he has published more than 90 peer-reviewed scientific articles that have been cited more than 11,000 times. Bilgihan is the author of a widely adopted hospitality information systems textbook. He is the recipient of the Cisco Extensive Research Award, Emerald Citations of Excellence Award, FAU Scholar of the Year Award and Highly Commended Award winner of the Emerald/EFMD Outstanding Doctoral Research Awards.
Siri Terjesen, Ph.D.
Siri Terjesen, Ph.D., joined FAU’s College of Business in 2019. She serves as associate dean for research and external relations, Phil Smith Professor of Entrepreneurship and executive director of the Madden Center for Value Creation. Her research on strategy, entrepreneurship and corporate governance has been cited more than 15,500 times and has garnered more than $6 million in grants and gifts. Terjesen was appointed by the U.S. president to the National Board for Education Sciences and has supervised 10 doctorate students. She is an affiliated professor to her alma mater, the Norwegian School of Economics in Bergen, Norway. Terjesen has consulted for the World Bank and multinational companies worldwide and her research has been cited in international media such as U.S. News & World Report, Businessweek and CNBC.
Rebel A. Cole, Ph.D.
Rebel A. Cole, Ph.D., is the Lynn Eminent Scholar Chaired Professor of Finance in the College of Business. Prior to joining academia, he worked as a financial economist in the Federal Reserve System and as a special adviser to the Asian Development Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and other non-governmental organizations, providing training and technical assistance in more than 60 countries. Cole has published peer-reviewed articles in many top academic finance journals, and his research has been featured in Businessweek, Financial Times, Fortune, The New York Times and the The Wall Street Journal. His articles have been cited more than 12,000 times. His primary areas of research are corporate governance, entrepreneurship, financial institutions, and real estate.

If you would like more information, please contact us at dorcommunications@kome-shibahara.com.