CARNEGIE R1 TOP-TIER RESEARCH STATUS BOLSTERS BUSINESS COLLEGE

By Ellen Austin

When the University of Memphis achieved the Carnegie R1 designation as a top-tier research institution, the entire campus celebrated this prestigious recognition, as its ripple effects permeated the entire University, including the Fogelman College of Business & Economics.

Achieving this milestone places UofM in the same R1 classification held by institutions such as Harvard, Yale and Princeton. It also anchors Memphis as one of two flagship public research universities in Tennessee — UofM in the west and University of Tennessee, Knoxville, in the east.

The Carnegie R1 status reflects several benchmarks: a high level of externallyfunded research grants and contracts produced throughout the University, research expenditures, the number of post-doc and non-faculty researchers employed and number of degrees awarded in four doctoral areas. In the professional discipline category, Fogelman College graduates approximately 13 doctoral students every two years.

Dr. Huigang Liang, Professor, Department of Business Information and Technology, FedEx Chair of Excellence

Big Thinking

Dr. Jasbir Dhaliwal, executive vice president for research and innovation, appreciates the quality of research generated by FCBE. “I thank the business faculty who bring external funding for their own ideas, securing contracts from Fortune 500 companies, federal grants and international agencies,” stated Dhaliwal. “I encourage faculty to use the Carnegie R1 designation as inspiration to ‘Think Big.’ We have the talent and the capacity to generate cutting-edge ideas that benefit the local community, country and society globally.”

Contributors among FCBE faculty whom Dhaliwal applauds are Dr. Huigang Liang, who holds the FedEx Chair of Excellence in Business Information and Technology (BIT), and Dr. Mark Gillenson, BIT university research professor and associate director of the Systems Testing Excellence Program (STEP), who worked with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in software testing to inform building customized training programs.

Laws of Attraction

Interim dean of FCBE and associate professor of Marketing Dr. Gregory W. Boller predicts a far-reaching and long-lasting impact of the Carnegie R1 designation within the University as a whole, and Fogelman College in particular. He noted that the R1 designation increases the value of a degree and serves as an impressive recruiting tool. “Attaining the highest-level classification as a research institution creates an ‘attraction magnet’ that not only draws the best-in-the-world faculty and doctoral students, but also attracts significant business research contracts and further enhances our already outstanding collaboration with public and private sectors,” said Boller. “Donors also have greater confidence in an established source of intellectual capital.”

To gain Carnegie R1 status, the college must originate research, which means UofM students are learning directly from visionary researchers who are creating knowledge. In these instances, the professors imparting new information are, themselves, the primary source.

“Discoveries and new knowledge are being generated at Memphis, across the entire campus, not solely in STEM departments,” affirms Boller.

As UofM continues to position itself to invest in research infrastructure, Dhaliwal and Boller anticipate the University will capitalize on its R1 status to build upon its current upward trajectory of research funding and innovation.

Dr. Mark Gillenson, University Research Professor, Department of Business Information and Technology, Associate Director of STEP