Five faculty members in the University of Houston-Victoria School of Business Administration recently were named Partnership Professors for their professional accomplishments and contributions.

The faculty members are Xavier Garza-Gomez, Massomeh Hajilee, John Kagochi, Stephanie Solansky and Jie Yang.

Farhang Niroomand

They are the first recipients of the award – a tradition the school launched this year to recognize the exceptional achievements of faculty.

“We congratulate these professors who during the past year have shown outstanding performance in teaching, scholarly research and service to their school, profession and community,” said Farhang Niroomand, dean of the School of Business Administration.

Throughout 2012, the faculty members will be listed as Partnership Professors of their respective disciplines and receive $3,000, either as a stipend or to support faculty development or research.

The Partnership Professors are:

Xavier Garza-Gomez

Xavier Garza-Gomez, an associate professor of finance, is the Partnership Professor of Finance. Known for the quality of his teaching, he consistently receives favorable comments from his students and ranks in the top quarter of the business school’s faculty for student satisfaction, Niroomand said. His online teaching method has been featured as a best practice within the school. With research interests in both finance and accounting, he recently has had work published in journals such as “Investment Management and Financial Innovations” and “Total Quality Management & Business Excellence.”

Garza-Gomez has served on the UHV Faculty Senate and committees addressing promotion and tenure, policy review, faculty development and curriculum planning. His work on program assessment has played an important role in UHV’s continuing accreditation by AACSB International – The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, Niroomand said. This accreditation is the hallmark of excellence in management education. Garza-Gomez supports his colleagues outside the institution by serving as a reviewer and session coordinator at academic conferences, as well as reviewing scholarly submissions to journals in his field.

Garza-Gomez intends to use the $3,000 award to attend accounting and finance conferences this year in Washington, D.C., and Denver.

“It’s an honor to be recognized among my peers, especially since there are so many talented professors at this school,” he said.

Massomeh Hajilee

Massomeh Hajilee, an assistant professor of economics, is the Partnership Professor of Economics. Since coming to UHV in August 2010, Hajilee has been active in scholarly research, and five of her articles have been published in journals such as the “Economics Bulletin,” “Applied Economics,” “Applied Economic Letters,” “Global Business & Economics Review” and the “Journal of Post Keynesian Economics.” Her face-to-face and online students have responded favorably to her teaching, and she is known among peers and students for her responsiveness and professionalism, Niroomand said.

Within the university, Hajilee has served on committees addressing curriculum planning and assessment, and has participated as a panelist at both the Bachelor of Business Administration and Master of Business Administration conferences, at which students present original case studies in competition with each other.

Hajilee intends to use her Partnership Professor funds to support her ongoing research in international finance and macroeconomics.

“I am honored and very appreciative to UHV,” she said.

John Kagochi

John Kagochi, an assistant professor of economic development, is the Partnership Professor of Economic Development. As the coordinator of student capstone projects for the Master of Science in Economic Development and Entrepreneurship, Kagochi is active in promoting the economic well-being of the communities in which his students live and work, Niroomand said. His research has been published in journals such as the “International Journal of Applied Economics,” “International Journal of Trade and Global Markets,” “Journal of African Finance and Economic Development” and “Journal of Developing Areas.”

Kagochi has served on a UHV committee addressing curriculum planning and assessment, represented the university to the Texas Economic Development Council, and served as a panelist and reviewer at professional conferences, including the BBA and MBA conferences. He also has worked closely with the Community Food Bank of Victoria to develop a five-year strategic plan.

He intends to use his reward money to fund his research on economic development, he said. One such project he looks forward to is doing a study on the profile of small businesses in the Victoria region.

“This project is important because it will show us the current status of small businesses in the Victoria region and, hopefully, what they need to grow – be it training, technology or something else,” Kagochi said.

Stephanie Solansky

Stephanie Solansky, an assistant professor of management, is the Partnership Professor of Organizational Management. Solansky is passionately committed to high quality teaching and research, Niroomand said. Her teaching method is regarded as a best practice within the school, and she was recognized last year for exemplary course design by UHV’s Center for Teaching Innovation. Her research has been published in journals such as the “Leadership Quarterly” and the “Academy of Management Journal,” which presented her with the Best Paper Award. In 2011, she also received the Bloomberg BusinessWeek Teaching Award and a Best Paper honor from the Academy of Management Conference.

At UHV, Solansky has served on committees addressing faculty development, new faculty searches, and curriculum planning and assessment. She supports her colleagues outside the institution by serving as a reviewer, moderator and facilitator at academic conferences in her field.

Solansky plans to use her Partnership Professor award money to advance her research in leadership development.

“I’m honored to be listed with the other four professors,” she said. “I have a lot of respect for each of them. I’m appreciative to our SBA administration for recognizing us in this way.”

Jie Yang

Jie Yang, an associate professor of quantitative management science, is the Partnership Professor of Operations Management. Since coming to UHV in August 2009, Yang has received excellent feedback from her students in operations management and quantitative methods, Niroomand said. Her outstanding research record includes recent articles in the “International Journal of Production Economics,” “Journal of Engineering and Technology Management,” “International Journal of Production Research,” and “International Journal of Technology Management.” She was the first recipient of the Bloomberg BusinessWeek Research Award in 2011. In 2009, she received the Bright Idea Award in Management from the Stilman School of Business at Seton Hall University and the New Jersey Policy Research Organization Foundation.

Within the university, Yang has served on committees addressing promotion and tenure, and curriculum planning and assessment. She has mentored other faculty. She also is helping develop a new undergraduate concentration in supply chain management. Yang’s service to her profession includes reviewing submitted articles for more than a dozen journals in her field.

“I am very happy to receive this honor recognizing my accomplishments at UHV,” Yang said. “This award encourages me to pursue a higher level of excellence in my scholarly works. The funding will be used to continue my efforts in conducting research and to support research initiatives in the areas of operations and supply chain management.”