Four MU Faculty Named as 2013-2014 SEC Academic Leadership Development Program Fellows

October 3rd, 2013

By Jerett Rion

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Four faculty members from the University of Missouri will join 45 other faculty from Southeastern Conference (SEC) universities as 2013-2014 SEC Academic Leadership Development Program fellows. The four MU faculty are Stephen Ferris, Jana Hawley, Sandy Rikoon and Gregory Triplett.

The SEC Academic Leadership Development Program (ALDP) is a professional development program that seeks to identify, prepare and advance academic leaders for roles within SEC institutions and beyond. The program has two components: a university-level development program designed by each institution for its own participants and two SEC workshops for all program participants.

The SEC ALDP, established in 2008, fosters academic leadership among SEC faculty by allowing them opportunities to address the challenges of academic administration at major research universities. The four MU faculty who will collaborate with other SEC faculty are:

• Stephen Ferris, senior associate dean for graduate studies and research, Robert J. Trulaske, Sr. College of Business – In addition to his appointment as associate dean, Ferris is also the J. H. Rogers Chair of Money, Credit and Banking and a professor of finance at MU. Prior to his current appointment, he served as the chair of MU’s Department of Finance for 10 years. Ferris’ research focuses on the areas of corporate governance and international corporate finance, in which he has published more than 110 refereed articles. He also has served as editor of The Financial Review and is currently the editor of the Journal of Multinational Financial Management.

• Jana Hawley, professor and department chair, Department of Textile and Apparel Management, College of Human and Environmental Sciences – Prior to her appointment at MU, Hawley was professor and department chair for Apparel Textiles and Interior Design at Kansas State University. She also is a Pathways to Leadership Fellow, a Fulbright Scholar, a Global Scholar and recipient of the Kemper Award for Excellence in Teaching at MU. Currently, Hawley is working on initiatives that promote ethical sustainability in the apparel industry and has led students to work internationally with fair trade organizations to develop women’s economic cooperatives.
• Sandy Rikoon, associate dean for research and graduate studies, College of Human and Environmental Sciences – Rikoon also is a Curators Distinguished Professor of rural sociology in the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources at MU. In addition, he is the director of the Interdisciplinary Center for Food Security at MU, the only university center in the U.S. that integrates education, research and outreach activities on domestic food security. His research focuses on diverse aspects of food, environmental problems and public policy issues in the Midwestern U.S. and Eastern Europe.  He has directed numerous survey research and contract projects for state and federal agencies, as well as for non-governmental organizations on various food security topics.
• Gregory Triplett, director of undergraduate studies,  Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering – In addition to serving as director of undergraduate studies, Triplett is also the associate director of the MU Honors College where his role involves strategic planning and communications, honors research, pre-health advising, and curriculum development. Previously, he was selected as an Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) Summer Faculty Fellow and has acquired research funding from AFOSR, the National Science Foundation, the Army and the Department of Energy. His research involves the development of mid-infrared photonic structures and compound semiconductor device manufacturing.

To learn more about the SEC ALDP visit: http://www.secdigitalnetwork.com/Portals/3/SEC%20Website/SECAC_leadership.pdf.