Management professors Pfarrer, Rodell, and Mitchell named to endowed chairs

Appointments of three faculty members recognizes department’s reputational excellence
(L-R) Jessica Rodell

The University System of Georgia Board of Regents recently approved the appointment of three management professors to endowed chairs and professorships at the Terry College of Business.

“The Department of Management has earned its reputation as one of the premier management faculties in the country, and the appointments of Mike Pfarrer, Jessica Rodell and Marie Mitchell to these endowed chairs recognize their outstanding service and the entire department’s excellence,” said Benjamin C. Ayers, dean of the Terry College of Business.

Management professor Mike Pfarrer, who serves as the college’s associate dean for research and graduate programs, became the newest to be named to the C. Herman and Mary Virginia Terry Distinguished Chair of Business Administration.

Pfarrer studies the public perception of firms and how that perception impacts their operation and value. His work has implications for crisis communications and how companies manage reputation, as well as the broader impact of corporate social responsibility and social entrepreneurship. He is recognized as an expert in the techniques and use of content analysis in organizational research.

He serves on the editorial boards of the Academy of Management Journal and the Academy of Management Review, where he also was an associate editor.

Pfarrer has received accolades for his work as a teacher, receiving Terry’s Professional MBA Program Outstanding Professor award in 2018 and 2019. He has taught classes at the bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral levels.

Pfarrer joined the Terry College faculty in 2009, following two years at the University of Denver and over a decade working as an investment consultant in the U.S. and Europe. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Notre Dame, an MBA from the University of North Alabama and Ph.D. from the University of Maryland.

Pfarrer’s faculty chair is one of several endowed by benefactors C. Herman and Mary Virginia Terry. In 1991, the College of Business Administration was renamed in their honor, following what was at the time the largest private gift in University of Georgia history.

Management professor Jessica Rodell was appointed to the William Harry Willson Distinguished Chair of Business.

Rodell’s research focuses on employee volunteering, organizational justice and meaningful work experiences. She is the recipient of many awards, including a Scholarly Achievement Award from the Academy of Management and the Michael F. Adams Early Career Scholar Award from the University of Georgia.

Rodell recently served as an associate editor of the Academy of Management Journal and serves on the editorial board of AMJ and the Journal of Applied Psychology.

In addition to teaching courses at the undergraduate, master’s and doctoral levels, she has worked with companies to help establish and study employee volunteer programs. She has also facilitated leadership training through Terry College’s executive education program.

Rodell joined UGA in 2010 after earning her doctorate from the University of Florida. She received her MBA from the University of Florida and her bachelor’s degree from Furman University.

The Willson Distinguished Chair of Business was established in 2006 by Jane S. Willson of Albany, Ga., who gave $2.5 million to endow a faculty chair in memory of her late husband, Harry Willson.

Before she passed away in 2015, Jane Willson was awarded an honorary degree from the University of Georgia in 2006 to recognize her philanthropy and longtime support, including serving as a trustee of the UGA Foundation and the UGA Research Foundation.

Rodell is the second faculty member to be awarded the Willson Chair, succeeding Jason Colquitt, who held it from 2011 to 2020. Rodell previously held the Terry Dean’s Advisory Council Distinguished Professorship from 2019-2020.

The regents also approved the appointment of management professor Marie Mitchell to the I.W. Cousins Professorship of Business Ethics.

Mitchell studies behavioral ethics in the workplace and what’s known as dark side work behavior, such as abusive supervision. She serves on the editorial boards of the Academy of Management Journal, the Journal of Applied Psychology and Personnel Psychology, and she previously served as an associate editor of Personnel Psychology.

In addition to her research, she teaches courses at the undergraduate, master’s and doctoral levels in organizational behavior, leadership and human resources. She also serves as a member of the Terry College Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Board.

Mitchell joined the Terry College faculty in 2009 from the University of Nebraska. She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Central Florida and has received many honors as a teacher and scholar, including the college’s Teaching Excellence Award in 2018 and multiple Outstanding Reviewer Awards from the Academy of Management Journal.

The Cousins Professorship was endowed by the Cousins Foundation Inc. and named in memory of Isaac Williams Cousins Sr. He co-founded Cousins Properties and served as the company’s first CEO. Created in 1992, the professorship is meant to enrich the college’s program in ethics and focus student attention on the impact of competitive market forces, governmental rulings and personal values on the level of ethics in the business community.

Mitchell is the third faculty member to hold the Cousins Professorship, succeeding legal studies professor Marisa Pagnattaro and marketing professor Warren French.