Dixie L. Leavitt School of Business New Faculty Members

Professor Lewis is a southern Utah native who fell in love with Cedar City and SUU. He graduated from SUU, earned his CPA license soon thereafter and worked in public accounting specializing in tax, governmental audit, and non-profits before returning to SUU. Professor Lewis is joining the Leavitt School of Business as a lecturer of Accounting. When he’s not teaching, you can find him doing almost any physical or outdoor activities, spending time with his daughters, and volunteering with some of the non-profits in the area.

Shahanaz Akter is joining the Leavitt School of Business as a lecturer of Finance. Professor Akter holds an MBA and an MS in Information Technology from Emporia State University. She also completed her undergraduate studies in Finance at the University of Dhaka in Bangladesh. Her family includes her husband and son.

Dr. Bernard Tawiah is an astute academic and finance professional with impressive experience in research and policy analysis. Bernard is a member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and a member of the British Accounting and Finance Association (BAFA). He is also the Executive Director of Apex Human Consult, contributing to human capital development in Ghana. He holds a PhD of Finance from Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand. He is joining the Leavitt School of Business as an Assistant Professor of Finance.

Professor Basu is an incoming assistant professor in the Department of Economics. Her research broadly explores the effects of adverse health events on economic outcomes within families and across generations, with a focus on maternal and child health and the well-being of the aging population. She received her PhD degree from Clemson University in 2021 and was previously a faculty member at Grinnell College, IA and a postdoctoral researcher at UW-Madison.

Professor Cho is an Economist with a research interest in labor economics and gender economics. She holds a PhD from the University of Connecticut in Economics. When she is not teaching or doing research, she spends most of her time at the gym, weightlifting or playing all kinds of sports.

Dr. Xinglong Ju is an incoming Assistant Professor of Business Analytics. Dr. Ju received his Ph.D. degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington, where he was a Ph.D. student researcher at the Center on Stochastic Modeling, Optimization, & Statistics. Before joining the MESA Department of SUU, Xinglong was a lecturer in the MIS department at University of Oklahoma. Prior to that, Xinglong was a post-doc researcher at Cornell University, focusing on machine learning for natural hazards. He also worked as a post-doc researcher in the Medical Artificial Intelligence and Automation Laboratory at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.

Professor Hayes has almost 30 years of small business marketing experience - almost exclusively in business-to-business marketing - and is looking forward to sharing his experience and knowledge to help students at SUU prepare themselves for successful careers. He holds an MBA from the University of Redlands and is an incoming Lecturer of Marketing. He enjoys reading, sports, and outdoor activities - especially when he can do them jointly with his wife, Terri.

Dr. Zhuang is an incoming Assistant Professor of Operations Management. He holds a PhD from Pennsylvania State University in Business Administration–Supply Chain and Information Systems. Archie studies pharmaceutical supply chains and is interested in teaching operations and supply chain management. In his spare time, he loves traveling, hiking, and playing board games.

Professor Krueger has 15 years of program and project management in IT, social services, manufacturing, nonprofits, and education. She holds an MBA from the University of New Mexico and has been teaching for over 10 years. She joins the Leavitt School of Business as a Lecturer of Management.