The Dean’s Newsletter - April 2025

Seniors: Tell Us Where You're Headed!

Graduation is almost here, and we want to celebrate your next steps! If you’ve secured a job, grad school spot, or other post-grad plans, take the First Destination Survey and share your success. Still looking? Let us know by filling out the Still Seeking Survey so we can help connect you with opportunities!

👉 Take the First Destination Survey

👉 Fill Out the Still Seeking Survey

Undergrads: What Are You Doing this Summer? We Want to Hear from You!

Share your summer plans with us! Whether you're interning, job hunting, traveling, or taking time to relax, we want to hear about it! Fill out the Career Experience Plans Survey and let us know what you’ll be up to this summer.

👉 Take the Career Experience Plans Survey

Make your voice count and help shape career services for future Hokies! 🦃

Professor Michael Cardman Recognized

Blackwood Department of Real Estate adjunct professor, Michael Cardman, was formally recognized as one of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering's 2025 Outstanding Young Alumni. 

Blackwood Department of Real Estate Goes Back-to-Back at Mulroy National Real Estate Competition; Lands Two Teams in National Top Four

What happens when you combine strategic thinking, real-world application, and months of dedicated teamwork? For Virginia Tech’s Blackwood Department of Real Estate students, it results in national recognition, a $5,000 check—and another major win.

The 16th annual Mulroy Real Estate Challenge brought together 35 teams from 26 universities to develop a project plan, market analysis, and financial strategy for an urban infill site in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The panel of judges featured senior executives from top commercial real estate firms. Read more

Alan Abrahams to Present at OECD Panel on Digital Product Safety

Alan Abrahams, Associate Professor in the Department of Business Information Technology, has been invited to speak at the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Committee. His panel later this month will address methods for identifying the physical and psychological harms of digital technology products. 

Abrahams and his research team have developed text analytics tools that identify safety concerns in consumer feedback, particularly related to products used by older adults. Their work includes the VT RAPTOR model, which helps stakeholders detect and respond to potential risks more quickly. Abrahams’ previous OECD presentation in 2022 focused on using AI to detect unsafe online products.

He was also recently recognized with a Commercialization Champions Award from Virginia Tech’s Innovation & Partnerships team. He will receive his award at this year’s Celebrating Innovation ceremony on April 28th!

Wenqi Shen to Co-Chair HICSS Mini-Track

Wenqi Shen, Assistant Professor in the Department of Business Information Technology, will serve as co-chair of the “Digital and Social Media in Enterprise” mini-track at the 59th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS) in January 2026.

HICSS is one of the longest-running international conferences in the field of information systems. The mini-track explores how digital and social media continue to transform workplace communication, organizational processes, and business strategy. Shen’s leadership reflects her active engagement in global digital transformation and social media analytics research.

Alan Wang Named Senior Member of INFORMS

Alan Wang, Arthur Andersen Co., Alumni Professor in the Department of Business Information Technology, was recently recognized as a Senior Member of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS). This honor is awarded to members who have shown sustained professional achievement and service in the fields of analytics, operations research, and management science.

Wang’s research interests include data and text mining, generative AI, knowledge discovery, and quality and service management, with applications in social media analytics, health care, engineering, and decision support. His appointment as Senior Member reflects his leadership and scholarly impact across academic and professional communities.

Christina Daves didn’t plan on becoming a media expert. She had plans of attending law school and started out as a double major in German and political science at Virginia Tech. After many career shifts, it was a broken foot that led her to invent a line of fashionable boot covers, unexpectedly winning the Steve Harvey Show’s Top Inventor Competition. That moment marked the beginning of her successful media career.  Read more 

ACIS 150-Hour Student Panel

To obtain a CPA license, candidates must meet several requirements, one of which is completing 150 credit hours of collegiate coursework (or, depending on the state, substituting two years of professional experience under a licensed CPA). On Monday, March 3rd, the ACIS Department hosted a student panel featuring current undergraduate and graduate ACIS students who shared their unique journeys toward meeting the 150-hour requirement.

The panel included Tyler Dickson, Olivia Batten, Imtinan Rehman, Juliana Ivarone, and Julia Warshauer, each of whom has taken a distinct approach to fulfilling the credit hour requirement. Their paths included participation in the MACIS 152-Hour Program, which allows students to earn graduate credits while completing their undergraduate degree and pursuing double majors and entering college with substantial AP or dual-enrollment credits.

ACIS Assistant Professor of Practice Jacob Shortt moderated the panel as each student reflected on their academic journey and explained why those routes were the right fit for their goals.

In addition to discussing their strategies for reaching 150 credit hours, panelists shared valuable insights about their internship experiences, post-graduation employment offers, and advice for navigating the ACIS curriculum and entering the accounting job market. 

Jack Maher, Ph.D is Retiring

Jack Maher Ph.D. is retiring at the end of this academic year. Maher joined Virginia Tech in January of 1985 as an Assistant Professor of Accounting. During his time at Virginia Tech Maher taught 15 different courses ranging from Principles of Accounting to Ph.D. seminars. Maher served as Department Head of Accounting and Information Systems (ACIS) from July 2016 to December 2021. Prior to becoming Department Head, Maher was Director of the ACIS Ph.D. program for 15 years. He is a three-time recipient of Pamplin College’s Business Teaching Excellence Award and was recognized in 2009 as Pamplin’s Outstanding Faculty in Doctoral Education having chaired or served on 25 dissertation committees. He currently holds the endowed Tom Wells/Kathy Dargo Professorship.

In his last three years as Department Head, the ACIS undergraduate placement rate increased to over 95%. During this time, ACIS applied for and became one of nine elite universities partnering with KPMG as part of their MADA program. This program facilitated the incorporation of data analytics throughout the curriculum and included faculty training and resources. Maher also initiated a Technology Initiative requiring topic-relevant technology projects be incorporated in every ACIS Department upper division and graduate course, as well as a Writing Initiative to improve critical written communication skills of ACIS students. Maher also worked to advance the research rankings of the Department, which increased more than 80 positions to an overall rank of #11 worldwide and #2 for Audit research for publications in the top five Accounting journals for the 3-yr period ending with his completed term as Department Head.

In giving back to the community, Maher spent many years volunteering his time and talent as coach of youth soccer and basketball programs at various levels. He also served for 20 years as a member of the Recreation Advisory Board in his community. Finally, Professor Maher has helped build houses for Habitat for Humanity and has been active in his church as a member of the Finance Council and Sunday lector.

ACIS Researchers Explore How Audit Committees Are Evolving to Meet New Needs

Oversight responsibilities for many audit committees are evolving to include some of the hottest topics in the boardroom, including cybersecurity and risk management. However, certain audit committees avoid overseeing these evolving areas, creating significant variation across boards in the assignment of responsibilities.

Using qualitative methods, a research team including Sarah Stein and Kim Walker research team conducted interviews with audit committee members from U.S. public companies to better understand how audit committees navigate these evolving responsibilities. Their findings, “Redefining Perceived Boundaries: Insights into the Audit Committee’s Evolving Responsibilities”, were recently published in The Accounting Review. 

Together with their co-authors – Lauren Cunnningham (University of Tennessee) and Karneisha Wolfe (University of Illinois and a Virginia Tech PhD graduate), the authors’ analysis highlights the following distinct approaches employed by audit committees:

• Proactively Taking on New Responsibilities: Audit committees who proactively sought out new responsibilities pointed to their personal expertise or a personal desire to keep up with emerging business practices, which can leave the committee exposed if they fail to account for these traits during succession planning.
• Reluctantly Accepting New Responsibilities: The research team also encountered audit committees who took on the additional responsibilities reluctantly and who failed to proactively seek out opportunities to improve their expertise related to the evolving topics.
• Maintaining Current Responsibilities: A final group of audit committees in the study included those pushing back on evolving responsibilities as they cite concerns about workload and the risk of slipping in their core responsibility for financial reporting oversight. This approach leaves the board in a position of either finding another committee or retaining oversight at the full board level.

The research highlights the critical importance of obtaining board member buy-in for these evolving roles. Without consensus and collaboration, it becomes increasingly difficult for audit committees to ensure effective oversight.

The research has been summarized in a practitioner-friendly version, published in partnership with the Center for Audit Quality, which provides a more accessible overview for professionals interested in the implications of this research.

The full academic study can be accessed here: https://doi.org/10.2308/TAR-2023-0474

For a practitioner-focused summary, visit: https://www.thecaq.org/ac-kitchen-sink

Global Connections Dinner: A Memorable Evening of Networking and Inspiration

In late March, Pamplin International Programs and Pamplin Career Services teamed up to host the annual Global Connections Mixer at the Inn at Virginia Tech. This special event aims to foster connections and provide valuable career insights for international students. It offered a unique opportunity for students to network with industry professionals and gain practical career advice. Read more

On April 24, 2025, join the Pamplin College of Business in New York City for Hokies on Wall Street. The event will run from 6 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. at the Invesco offices. The evening’s events will begin with an expert pane discussing  “Trade Policy, Inflation, and the Global Economy”, followed by a reception for current Hokies and alumni to network and connect. Registration information can be found here: https://aimsbbis.vt.edu/hows25.

Advancing Research: Bridging the Gap between Academia and Industry 

Professor Shane Wang’s research bridges the gap between academia and industry, bringing together different approaches – consumer behavior and quantitative marketing, and constantly finding new ways to communicate these complex technical ideas. Read about his work is pushing the boundaries of AI-driven consumer research. Learn more: here  

Celebrating Student Excellence: 2025 Senior Awards Recipients 

The 2025 Pamplin Students of Distinction Ceremony, held on March 30th at the Inn at Virginia Tech, celebrated the exceptional achievements of Pamplin seniors. Among those honored were eight outstanding marketing-affiliated seniors. 

Five students received departmental level honors from Marketing: 

•  Julia Lee – Marketing Outstanding Senior Award 

• Angelina Jannace and Lainie Thompson – Marketing Outstanding Service Award 

• Sydney Epps and Maeleigh Moore – Marketing Outstanding Leader Award 

 Three students received college-level honors: 

• Tyler Chillot (Double Major in Marketing and BIT) – Outstanding Senior Award 

• Katie Ramboyong (Marketing Major) and Alessia Ucci (Finance Major, Digital Marketing Strategy Minor) – College Service Award 

The Department of Marketing congratulates these students, and all our seniors, for their hard work and accomplishments. Read more: here  

Experiential Learning in Action: The Battle in Blacksburg Sales Competition 

Battle in Blacksburg, the annual sales competition, was hosted at the VT Data & Decision Sciences Building on March 28th – 29th with teams from across the region including VCU, CUA, ODU, and JMU. Students competed in either the Speed Selling Competition or the Role Play Competition.  

We are proud to announce the following Virginia Tech student winners: 

• Role Play Competition: 1st place – Eva Carney, 2nd place – Trang Woolridge 

• Speed Sell Competition: 1st place – Briana Reveron, 3rd place – John (Jack) Spurlin 

More information: here

Community Involvement: High School Mentorship in Social Media Strategy 

This semester, Professor Carolyn Kogan launched a mentorship project connecting her Social Media and Content Marketing students with students at Blacksburg High School. The goal is to foster connection and belonging through a supportive learning community where students at different academic levels collaborate on real-world client projects. Twice a month, Pamplin students share video updates on strategy, content creation, and campaign development, while high school students respond with written or audio questions. This exchange encourages critical thinking and deeper engagement and is a powerful example of how mentorship and hands-on learning can prepare students for professional success.

Congratulations to Pamplin’s Outstanding Master’s Student: Sally Steppling

Pamplin’s Outstanding Master’s Student for 2024-25 is Sally Steppling.  Sally is a current MSBA-BA student and holds a B.S. in marketing from Pamplin. She has held leadership roles in PRISM, and is a member of the Pamplin capstone team working to identify KPIs for the strategic plan implementation process. Please join us in congratulating Sally on this well-earned recognition.

Day for Data Symposium Date Announced

The fourth-annual Day for Data Symposium will be held on Monday, November 3, 2025 at the Moss Arts Center! This premier event continues to expand its scope each year, bringing together voices from multiple sectors to explore how emerging technologies in AI and analytics are shaping our collective future. Please save the date and plan to attend! Event website