John Pickett
Professor of Economics; Ph.D., M.A.,  University of Missouri-Columbia;  B.A., Hendrix College

 Mark Funk
Associate Professor of Economics; Ph.D., University of California Davis; B.A., Trinity University

Dr. Funk joined the UALR Economics and Finance Department in 2003. He previously taught at Saint Louis University, teaching microeconomics, international economics, and managerial economics, and received the MBA Teaching Award in 2002, and the Outstanding Executive MBA Teaching Award in 2005. Dr. Funk’s research on innovation and international trade has been published in a variety of academic journals.

 Robert R. Oliva
Chairperson and Professor of Accounting; Ph.D. in Public Administration, Florida International University; LL.M. in Taxation, University of San Diego School of Law; J. D., Whittier College School of Law; B.S. (Finance), Florida Atlantic University.

Dr. Oliva is an inactive member of the Florida Bar and California Bar, and a Florida CPA. Prior to joining UALR in July 2005, he was a professor and Director of the Graduate Tax Program at Florida International University. His research agenda is directed to the tax, legal, and ethical implication of business decisions. He practiced business, corporate, and tax law in Florida and has acted as “of counsel” in the area of international tax law. Dr. Oliva has conducted continuing professional educational seminar for accounting firms, practitioners, and business owners, in the area of domestic and international and taxation, as well as ethics, in the United states and aboard. In addition to presentations at national academic conferences, Dr. Oliva’s research has been published in numerous tax journals, ethics journals, and law reviews. His ethics and tax publications has appeared in The Journal of Accounting, Ethics, and Public Policy, the leading tax research journal of the American Taxation Association (e.g., the Journal of Legal Tax Research), and tax journals of the international professional CPA organizations in the U.S. and Canada, e.g., the AICPA’s tax Advisor and the Canadian Tax Journal.

Larry C. Holland
Associate Professor of Finance; Ph.D., Oklahoma State University

Dr. Holland worked for 21 years in the oil industry before earning his Ph.D. in finance. He began his professional career as a chemical engineer and has extensive experience in strategic and operational planning, economic forecasting, productivity improvement, and environmental compliance. Dr. Holland brought his experience to UALR when he joined the faculty in 1995. He received the Outstanding Executive MBA Teaching Award in 1999 and 2001 and 2004, and the MBA Distinguished Graduate Teaching Award in 1997.

Robert Mitchell
Professor of Management; D.B.A., M.B.A., B.S., Louisiana Tech University

Dr. Mitchell is now serving as Interim Dean for the College of Business. He has  served as Chairman of the Department of Management and Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies. Dr. Mitchell coordinates the information technology component in the EMBA program, and teaches local area network design and administration, specialized software applications and corporate information systems management courses. He has extensive consulting experience in organization management in the nonprofit sector and has served as the National Executive Director of Delta Pi Epsilon and Delta Pi Epsilon Research Foundation, Inc. for fifteen years.

Joe T. Felan
Associate  Professor, Department of Management; Ph.D. University of South Carolina, M.B.A., B.B.A. Baylor University

 Dr. Felan recently joined the UALR College of Business. He previously taught at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, and Baylor University in Waco, Texas. He is member of the Decision Sciences Institution (DSI) and APICS (the Educational Society of Resource Management). Dr. Felan’s research interests include family businesses and operations, service operations management, and labor flexibility issues in production systems.

Rachel Smith
Assistant Professor, Department of Marketing and Advertising; Ph.D., M.B.A University of Memphis; B.S.,M.S., University of Kentucky

Dr. Smith joined the UALR College of Business in 2001, and brings extensive work experience to the classroom having been employed by both Dow Chemical and the Pillsbury Company. Most recently she worked in the service industry in marketing research, product development and strategic planning. Her specialties are services marketing, international marketing, marketing communications and ethics.

Rhonda A. Syler
Assistant Professor of Management; Ph.D., Auburn University; M.B.A., Columbus State University; M.S., Kansas State University; B.S., Middle Tennessee State University.

 Dr. Syler brings 14 years of professional experience to the UALR College of Business. Prior to beginning her PhD, Dr. Syler served as a marketing executive in the financial industry. Her professional experiences also include serving as an Information Manager for the 1996 Olympic Games and gaining international experience as a Public Affairs Officer for the U.S. Army. Dr. Syler’s primary research interests focus on the interrelationships of organizations and information systems.

Warren Stone
Associate Professor of Management; Ph.D, (Management, Human Resources), MBA, B.S. Economics, Virginia Commonwealth University

Dr. Stone's experience includes over 20 years in private sector management at all levels, in large, medium, and small organizations, in multiple industries. In addition, he has entrepreneurial and labor negotiation experience. Consulting and research activities include the automobile, managed care, health care, outdoor recreation, construction, engineering, and outdoor recreation industries, as well as government agencies. He has taught in Canada and Italy and developed an online management program, currently delivered to managers in the Peoples Republic of China. Dr. Stone received the Outstanding Executive MBA Teaching Award in 2000, and the College of Business' Teaching Excellence Award in 2002.

Andy Terry
Associate Professor of Economics and Finance; Ph.D., M.A. University of Michigan; B.A. Hendrix

 Prior to attending graduate school Dr. Terry was a CPA with a major accounting firm where he specialized in bank and investment bank audits. Dr. Terry enjoys the classroom and has won teaching awards at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Dr. Terry is a consultant to the business community primarily in the area of business valuation and economic damage calculation, and has served as an expert witness in federal and state courts. Dr. Terry’s primary areas of interest are corporate finance and personal financial planning.

Gary Wagner
Associate Professor of Economics; Ph.D., West Virginia University

Dr. Wagner earned his B.A. in Economics and Political Science from Youngstown State University and his M.A. in Economics from West Virginia University. Dr. Wagner has also held faculty position in the school of Government at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and the School of Business at Duquesne University. His research examines state and local public choice, and Gary's  publications have appeared in such journals as the National tax Journal, Public Choices, Public Finance Review and the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Review.

Thomas R. Tudor
Associate Professor of Management; Ph.D., M.B.A., Virginia Commonwealth University; B.S. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Dr. Tudor brings extensive private and public sector work experience to the classroom with employment ranging from IBM to the Dept of the Navy. His academic specialties include human resource management and organizational behavior. Dr. Tudor is an avid researcher and consultant with projects involving recruitment and retention, labor planning and forecasting, conflict resolution, and work team development. He has received over $29,000 in research grants. Internationally, Tudor has been a faculty guest at Providence University in Taiwan, Assumption University in Thailand, National University of Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, and the University of the Philippines.

Ashvin P. Vibhakar
Associate Professor of Finance; Ph.D., University of Arkansas, Fayetteville; M.B.A Central Missouri State University, B.E.E., (Maharajah Sayajirao University of Baroda, India

Dr. Vibhakar joined the UALR College of Business faculty in 1981. He is presently Director of the Institute for Economic Advancement. Vibhakar holds the professional designation of Chartered Financial Analyst and Certified Financial Planner. He has received numerous awards for excellence in teaching including the Outstanding Teacher Award in the College of Business. Vibhakar’s teaching and research focus on corporate finance, investment management, and international finance. He also works as a consultant in the areas of business valuation and commercial bank management.

Susan Elsworth
Events manager; M.A., Boston University, B.A. Kingston College

 Mrs. Elsworth joined the UALR College of Business in 2004. She oversees the events for the Executive MBA program and presents etiquette classes during the residency week. Susan is the founder of First Impression, Ltd., which specializes in developing training programs for hotels, country inns, and restaurants. These programs are designed to create high standards of service with particular emphasis on social skills. Trained in London, England and Montreux, Switzerland, she holds a Master Degree in Educational Counseling and has developed a program for children called “where are your manners?” which is currently being used in several schools in Warrenton, Virginia and surrounding counties.

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