Several UCA business faculty and students presented papers at the International Academy of Business Disciplines (IABD) 2022 Virtual Conference on April 7-8.
The following UCA faculty served as Track/Session Chairs:
- Dr. Xuechen Gao, Assistant Professor of Finance (Finance Track Chair)
- Dr. Alexander Chen, Professor of Management (Finance Session Chair)
- Dr. Samira Shirzaei Nichols, Assistant Professor of CISA (Analytics Track/Session Chair)
- Dr. Vance Lewis, Assistant Professor of Management (Organizational Behavior & Theory Track/Session Chair)
On Thursday, April 7, the following faculty and students presented papers:
- “Covid-19, Vaccine and E-payment Adoption Behavior of Germans” – Dr. Alexander Chen, Dr. Jim Downey (Professor of CISA), and Niklas Iking (COB undergraduate student)
- “Firms Characteristics, Platforms, and Its Industry on Usage of E-Payment Systems among Merchants in Shanghai, China” – Dr. Alexander Chen, Dr. Xuechen Gao, Dr. Jim Downey
- “Spiritualities and Urbanization on Perceptions of Ethics among College Students in China” – Dr. Alexander Chen, Kelsey Hagan (COB graduate student), Dr. Michael Rubach (Professor of Management), and Naikao Wang (COB graduate student)
On Friday, April 8, the following faculty and students presented their papers:
- “Covid-19, Vaccine and Brazilian E-Payment Adoption Behavior” – Dr. Alexander Chen, Dr. David McCalman (Associate Professor of Management), Matheus Tupinambe August de Brito (COB undergraduate student)
- “Covid-19, Vaccine and Mexican E-Payment Adoption Behavior” – Dr. Alexander Chen, Adrian Juarez Castellanos (undergrad student), Tracy Suter (Chair of Marketing and Management, Associate Professor of Marketing)

The Dean of the UCA College of Business, Dr. Michael Hargis, has been selected to receive the 2022 Outstanding Dean Award by
Congratulations to Dr. Jeremy Horpedahl, Associate Professor of economics at the University of Central Arkansas and ACRE Scholar, for receiving the Public Choice’s Duncan Black Prize for the best article contributed by a “senior” scholar or scholars. His award-winning article, “Bootleggers, Baptists and ballots: coalitions in Arkansas’ alcohol-legalization elections,” can be found in Public Choice 188 (1–2) (July 2021), 203–219.
The UCA Internships and Cooperative Education department recently announced the 2021-2022 Intern of the Year, Daisy Martinez Carranza. Daisy is a senior Marketing major, minoring in Studio Art. She has maintained a 4.0 GPA throughout her four years at UCA and serves on many UCA student organizations.
Joshua Adesina

FBLA is a national vocational student organization for students in high schools and middle schools who are interested in business or business education careers. Students from across District V will enjoy competitive events, interest sessions, as well as officer elections. District V covers 