NEW FACULTY

DAMIEN CANNAVAN

Damien Cannavan is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Accounting. He completed his PhD studies at the University of Queensland in Australia. He has a master's degree from Duke University and bachelor degrees in accounting and finance, and law. He has teaching and research experience from prior positions at universities in both the United States and Australia. 

Damien also has professional experience in the financial, government and banking sectors. He has consulted to industry for many years and his research has been cited in regulatory and legal settings. His research covers a broad range of areas across accounting, tax, finance and corporate governance.  Damien is married with three young children.

TREVOR CHAPMAN

Trevor will serve as an Instructional Assistant Professor in the Business Education program teaching BE 330 in the Fall.  Trevor Chapman is currently the Principal at Normal Community High School in McLean County Unit 5 School District in Normal.  Prior to this appointment, he served as the Principal and Associate Principal at Evans Jr. High School and was a business teacher at Normal West High School, all here in Normal.  As a high school business teacher, Trevor taught Personal Investment & Finance, Introduction to Business, Computer Applications, Cooperative Work Training, Consumer Education and Business Management. 

Trevor holds a M.S. in Ed in Education Administration, a M.S. in Curriculum & Instruction and a B.S. in Business Teacher Education, all from Illinois State University.  He is currently completing his dissertation for a Doctor of Education degree from the College of Education, also from Illinois State. As a proud alumnus of Illinois State, he is excited to teach in the department that helped prepare him to become a public school teacher.  Previously, Trevor taught courses in secondary education in the College of Education. Trevor’s wife, Rita, is Family & Consumer Science teacher at Normal Community and together, they have two children.   

AARON CHARLTON

Dr. Aaron Charlton joins the Department of Marketing as an Assistant Professor. He earned his Ph.D. at the University of Oregon where he taught Marketing Principles, Marketing Management and Digital Marketing. 

He conducts research on brand strategy, examining how different styles of brand communications are received by the public. Specifically, he has studied brand relationship authenticity, brand use of narrative voice (1st vs 3rd), and brand political advocacy. He will be teaching the Integrated Marketing Communications Capstone course and Marketing Research.

Prior to entering academia, Dr. Charlton served in the U.S. Army as an Infantry Captain with deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. He also worked for seven years in online demand generation as an analyst and manager.

AVIMANYU DATTA

Avi Datta is the new Director of the George R. and Martha Means Center for Entrepreneurial Studies. He brings his unique background in Technology and Innovation to his leadership approach for the Center.  His research centers around entrepreneurial activities for sourcing and commercializing innovations. He has over fifty scholarly contributions spread across journals, conferences and book chapters. Currently, he is an associate Professor. He joined ISU in 2011 after finishing his doctoral studies at Washington State University. In 2018 he and his wife (Priyanka) each became a U.S. citizen.

TAMRA CONNOR

Tamra Connor is the Associate Dean for Accreditation and Operations in the College of Business at Illinois State University.  Prior to joining the Dean’s Office, Dr. Connor served as a co-Program Coordinator for the Business Education, undergraduate and graduate programs, and as an Associate Professor of Business Education at ISU.  She taught fifteen different courses within the BE major, including teaching methodologies, personal finance, communications, and business education foundations.  Before joining the faculty at ISU, she was the instructional design specialist and a clinical assistant professor at the University of Oklahoma-College of Pharmacy.  Tamra earned her degrees from Oklahoma State University, including a Ph.D. in Education, a Master of Science in Business Education/College of Business, and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration.

Her research interests are varied; however, revolve around teaching.  Published topics include the impact of problem-solving on learning, leadership, preparedness to teach diverse topics, communication in education, social media in education, innovative instructional strategies, performance-based assessment, professional development, and psychological contract breaches.  She has been published in multiple journals, including: Business Teacher Education Journal, Journal for Research in Business Education, International Journal for Business Education, Journal for Global Business Education, Pharmaceutical Care & Health Systems, American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, Currents in Pharmacy Teaching and Learning, Innovations in Pharmacy, National Association of Business Education Yearbooks, Wisconsin Business Education Journal, and the Texas Business and Technology Educators Association Journal. 

Dr. Connor is the founding editor of the International Journal for Business Education and shares the editing duties with a colleague from Austria.  She is a frequent speaker at local, national, and international conferences in the areas of personal finance, teaching methodologies, assessment of teaching, and performance-based assessments. 

NICHOLAS FINNESSEY

Nicholas joined the Academic Advisement Center as the new Business Administration advisor. He completed his BA in Psychology and MS in Student Affairs Administration at Binghamton University (State University of New York). At Binghamton, he was a research assistant for the Marriage and Family Studies Lab and the Department of Student Affairs Administration.

In the Fall, he will be starting his PhD in Higher Education and will be teaching a section of IDS 128: Thriving In College, Career And Beyond.

ADITYA GUPTA

Aditya joins the Department of Marketing as an Assistant Professor in the Integrated Marketing Communication Sequence. He earned his Ph.D. in Marketing at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where he also taught courses in principles of marketing, marketing communication strategy, consumer behavior, and digital marketing. Prior to this, he earned his undergraduate degree in Economics and his M.B.A in Marketing from India. He also worked at Procter & Gamble in key account management and direct-to-consumer marketing before making the move to academia.

He researches consumer behavior and focuses on questions of meaningful happiness, well-being, and gift-giving. He has published in the Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services and has presented his work at major marketing conferences conducted by the American Marketing Association, the Association for Consumer Research, and the Macromarketing Society. For his work during the doctoral program he received the UNL Department of Marketing awards for excellence in research, teaching, and service. He is an avid reader and movie-goer who also loves musical theatre and is always ready to try out a new coffee shop.

CHEE NG

Chee Ng joins the FIL Department as a visiting professor of finance for the 2019-20 academic year. He teaches courses in Business Finance, Intermediate Business Finance, and Foundations of Strategic Business Decision-Making.

His research interest includes portfolio management, derivatives, investment banking, and global finance. His research was published in The Journal of Finance, Accounting Horizons, Journal of Financial Education, and International Research Journal of Applied Finance.

His work had been presented at domestic and international conferences such as the Financial Management Association. Chee has taught undergraduate and graduate courses at Farleigh Dickinson University, Rowan, Temple, Rutgers, Mississippi State, Jackson State, and Arizona State where he earned his PhD in Finance. He also passed the CFA Level II exam in June 2018.

TERRY NOEL

Terry Noel is the Associate Dean for Academic Programs and Curriculum in the College of Business at Illinois State University. He previously served as the Associate Director of the George R. and Martha Means Center for Entrepreneurial Studies and as the Assistant Chair of the Department of Quantitative Methods. He has taught courses in management, small business, and entrepreneurship since arriving at Illinois State University. Terry has also delivered numerous workshops and classes in the Center for Teaching and Learning Technology.

He has been published in the Academy of Management Journal, the Journal of Small Business Management, Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies, the Journal of Business Ethics, the Journal of Management Education, the Journal of Entrepreneurship, and the Journal of Entrepreneurship Education. He is author of the book Empty Nest Egg: Why You Must Start Your Own Business NOW and The Vigil, both available on amazon.com. Terry also conducts workshops on the use of improvisational theater techniques in teaching and management.