Inaugural Smith Research Chairs Announced

Kingston, ON — October 18, 2016— Smith School of Business has announced the recipients of the inaugural Smith Chairs, awarded to recognize excellence in research at Smith. The first faculty recipients are focused on strategy and organizational behaviour, analytics, and accounting and auditing.

Dean David Saunders formally named professors Tina Dacin, Yuri Levin and Steve Salterio as the first Smith Chairs during a ceremony at Queen’s Homecoming on October 15.

The Stephen J.R. Smith Chairs were established to recognize and financially support high quality research at Smith School of Business. These prestigious positions are named for Stephen J.R. Smith and will be funded by the endowment income from a $50-million gift made by the Queen’s alumnus in 2015 – the largest gift ever made to a Canadian business school.

“Funding that supports outstanding research is an important tool to attract and retain the best faculty globally,” said David Saunders, Dean of the Smith School of Business. “Stephen Smith’s generous gift enables us to recognize our top faculty and continue to recruit the best in the world.”

Additional Smith Chairs, including external appointments, will be named in the future as the endowment fund grows. Two-thirds of Stephen Smith’s $50-million gift was allocated to support faculty research and teaching and one-third to fund student scholarships.

The new Chairs, by area, are:

• Tina Dacin, Stephen J.R. Smith Chair of Strategy and Organizational Behaviour
• Yuri Levin, Stephen J.R. Smith Chair of Analytics
• Steven Salterio, Stephen J.R. Smith Chair of Accounting and Auditing.

More details on the Smith Chairs can be found below.

The Smith Chairs

Tina Dacin is the Stephen J.R. Smith Chair of Strategy and Organizational Behaviour. She is also the Director of Smith’s Centre for Social Impact. Her research interests include cultural heritage and traditions, social innovation and entrepreneurship, and strategic alliances. She teaches leadership, social innovation, change and strategy in Smith’s undergraduate, graduate and executive education programs.

Yuri Levin is the Stephen J.R. Smith Chair of Analytics. He is also the inaugural Director of Queen’s Master of Management Analytics program, and the inaugural Director of Smith’s Scotiabank Centre for Customer Analytics. Yuri has developed innovative approaches and published widely in the general area of revenue management and dynamic pricing. He teaches analytical decision-making, strategic analytics, and pricing analytics in Queen’s MBA, Master of Management Analytics, and executive education programs.

Steve Salterio is the Stephen J.R. Smith Chair of Accounting and Auditing. He is also the Director of the CPA Centre for Governance at Smith. His research investigates auditor-client negotiation, auditor decision-making, corporate governance and performance measurement. He teaches in Smith’s undergraduate and graduate programs.