Bauer College Welcomes 15 New Faculty for Fall 2023
New Tenure and Non-Tenure Track Faculty Experts in
Finance, Public Health and Marketing
As the Fall 2023 semester begins, Bauer College is adding impressive faculty to its ranks. Six new tenure track professors bring earned expertise in critical areas of scholarly inquiry ranging from climate finance, to technological innovations, shareholder activism and financial markets.
“At Bauer, our world-class faculty help our students gain knowledge and shape the business world of tomorrow,” Dean Paul A. Pavlou said. “These new additions to our faculty allow us to continue that mission of offering leading-edge education founded on research and grounded in the real world.”
Non-tenure instructors who are joining Bauer this year have impressive professional expertise, and their teaching will be informed by relevant insights from the areas of marketing, accounting, financial planning and public health.
“Faculty are the foundation for preparing Bauer students as the business leaders of tomorrow. Each year, we recruit scholars who are doing ground-breaking research and who also generously share their expertise in the classroom. At the same time, we continue to add working professionals whose on-the-job expertise enhances and reinforces the teaching of basic principles of business,” said Senior Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs Praveen Kumar.
Tenure-Track Faculty
Mehdi Farahani
Assistant Professor
Department of Decision & Information Sciences
Farahani was an Assistant Professor of Operations Management at Miami Herbert Business School, University of Miami, before coming to Bauer College. Prior to joining University of Miami, he spent a year as a Postdoctoral Associate at MIT. Farahani’s research concerns socially-responsible operations, service operations management and supply chain contracting.
He received a Ph.D. in Operations Management (with High Distinction) from the University of Texas at Dallas. He also has a Master’s in Industrial Engineering from the University of Kurdistan.
Leila Hosseini
Assistant Professor
Department of Decision & Information Sciences
Hosseini comes to Bauer College from the Department of Management Information Systems at Temple University, where she was an assistant professor. An underlying theme of her research is to identify managerial and operational solutions to improve efficiency in technology markets, particularly cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and real-time digital advertising. The focus of her research is to make practical impacts by addressing urgent and timely business issues.
She has a Ph.D. in Management Science from the University of Texas at Dallas and a Master’s in Industrial Engineering from the University of Kurdistan.
Byung Lee
Assistant Professor
Department of Marketing & Entrepreneurship
Lee graduated with a doctorate in Marketing from Columbia Business School, Columbia University, in 2023. He was a University of Houston Doctoral Symposium Fellow in 2022.
Lee’s research explores consumer response to recommendations from technology or social others.
Haaris Mateen
Assistant Professor
Department of Finance
Mateen completed a Ph.D. in Economics at Columbia University in 2023. He also has an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad and a Bachelor's in Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee.
Mateen’s research concerns climate economics, public finance and financial economics. His paper on local government debt valuation won the NASDAQ Award for Best Paper in Asset Pricing at the Western Finance Association Meeting, 2023.
Paolina C. Medina
Assistant Professor
Department of Finance
Medina was previously Assistant Professor of Finance at Texas A&M University. Her research is in the field of household finance, with a focus on how psychological biases in consumer behavior affect outcomes in financial markets.
Medina has a Ph.D. in Managerial Economics from the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University.
Steve Sauerwald
Professor
Department of Management & Leadership
Sauerwald comes from the University of Illinois at Chicago, where he was an Associate Professor of Management. His research interests include corporate governance, shareholder activism, strategic leadership, CSR, and sustainability.
Sauerwald has a Ph.D. in International Management Studies and an MBA from the University of Texas at Dallas.
Non-Tenure Track Faculty
Margarita Barcenas
Adjunct Faculty
Department of Finance
Margarita Barcenas is a Certified Financial Planner® (CFP) with Frontier Investment Management. She has worked in wealth management since 2003, after earning her MBA at Bauer College. During that time, she was one of 16 students chosen for the Cougar Investment Fund, and currently serves on the Cougar Fund Board of Directors. She served on the Bauer Alumni Association board for 10 years, and received a UH Distinguished Alumni Award in 2016 for Outstanding Service. Barcenas received an MBA from Bauer College, and an MS degree in clinical psychology from the University of Arkansas.
Bonnie Buffaloe
Adjunct Faculty
Department of Marketing & Entrepreneurship
Buffaloe is a Communications Manager at the University of Houston Law Center and has taught classes and managed course content as an Instructional Assistant in Bauer’s Marketing Department. She received her master’s degree in marketing from Bauer College in 2022. She also earned Certificates in Digital Marketing Management and Marketing Analysis from Bauer. Buffaloe’s professional experience includes conducting social media audits and advertising campaigns, as well as overseeing media engagement at leading global law firms.
Matthew Caire
Adjunct Faculty
Department of Finance
Caire is a Certified Financial Planner® and has worked as a portfolio manager for Vaughan Nelson since 2021. He previously worked as a Senior Vice President at Houston Trust Company. Caire received a Master’s degree in Finance from Tulane University.
Vanessa Fellers
Adjunct Faculty
Department of Finance
Fellers is a Certified Financial Planner® with more than 15 years professional experience in education and financial services, including currently working as the Firm Operations Manager at Mosaic, a financial planning and strategy firm, and as the Specialty Tracks in Finance Academic Advisor at Bauer College. She holds a master’s degree in Higher Education Administration from the University of Michigan and a bachelor’s degree in English from Texas A&M University.
Yonghui “Lay” Huang
Adjunct Faculty
Department of Finance
Lay is a Certified Financial Planner®, Enrolled Agent, and Wealth Advisor with Corient. He graduated with a BA in Accounting from Bauer College in 2014.
Michael Kraten
Director of Accounting Program Initiatives
Instructional Assistant Professor
Department of Accountancy & Taxation
Kraten comes to Bauer College from Houston Christian University, where he was Accounting, Economics and Finance Program Chair and an Accounting Professor. A CPA, he is a board member of TXCPA Houston and a Leadership Council member of TXCPA. Kraten earned a doctoral degree in Behavioral Accounting from the University of Connecticut and holds a master’s degree in Public Policy & Management from Yale University.
Miguel Lozano
Adjunct Faculty
Department of Management & Leadership
Miguel Lozano is a Change Management Consultant and Executive Coach at the University of Texas (UT) M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. He is also an adjunct professor at the UT School of Public Health Houston MPH program and an adjunct professor for the UH-Downtown MBA Program.
He received a Ph.D. from UT School of Public Health in Houston, an MBA from UT El Paso, and a BS in Industrial & Systems Engineering from I.T.E.S.M. in Monterrey, Mexico.
Deborah Stavis
Adjunct Faculty
Department of Finance
Stavis, a Certified Financial Planner®, founded the private wealth management firm, Stavis and Cohen Private Wealth, with Eddie Cohen in 2009. A pioneer in the financial planning sector, she has more than 35 years professional experience. Stavis has been featured in numerous publications, including Forbes, Bloomberg, the Houston Chronicle, Oil & Gas Investor, and Investment News. She is a founding member of the Barbara Bush Foundation Ladies for Literacy Guild and a member of the Women’s Energy Network, Houston.
Priscilla Zhu
Professor of Practice
Department of Accountancy & Taxation
Zhu is an Adjunct Professor of Accounting at Houston Christian University and a Lecturer in Accounting at Prairie View A & M University. A CPA, she has also worked as an assistant vice president senior accountant and tax analyst. Zhu received a Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) in accounting from Walden University and an MBA from City University of New York. Her research interests include applied digital technologies for accounting practice, business education, corporate governance and international tax.
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