Professorships & Chairs
Chairs
Mohammad Rahaman, Tier 2 Canada Research Chair, International Finance and Competitiveness
Winners and Losers of Globalization: Unlocking the Gains From International Competition
The recent rise in anti-globalization discourse in many countries has challenged the belief of many economists that internationalization is, on balance, beneficial for both high- and low-wage countries.
Dr. Mohammad Rahaman, Canada Research Chair in International Finance and Competitiveness, argues that, contrary to this perception, engaging in international trade is a positive-sum game. His research demonstrates that increasing technology and productivity is key in seeing the gains from globalization for firms in high-wage countries like Canada.
More importantly, he argues that the degree to which a country’s capital market is regulated, supervised and well-governed can reduce the detrimental effect of import competition from low-wage countries by easing financing constraints for globally competitive, productive, innovative, and technologically-advanced firms.
Dr. Rahaman is currently investigating how manufacturing and job losses induced by competition from low-wage countries such as China are influencing the way capital is accessed and whether financing is available in high-wage countries like Canada. Rahaman and his research team hope to make significant contribution towards our understanding of how small and medium-sized enterprises in Canada can overcome their financing constraints and contribute to employment growth in the face of increasingly globalized and competitive world economy.
Learn more about Canada Research Chairs at Saint Mary's University
Professorships
Dr. Yigit Aydede, Sobey Professorship in Economics
Dr. Yigit Aydede is an Associate Professor of Economics at the Sobey School of Business. His research interest is economics of population in the area of applied microeconomics. He teaches machine learning, econometrics and data analytics courses both at the undergraduate and graduate levels. His current research projects are related to machine learning applications on health care and chronic disease surveillance systems. Mostly recently, his research team was selected to the Nova Scotia COVID-19 Research Coalition. Their research is trying to understand the role that environmental factors play on local transmission rates. He is also one of the founding members of MLportal (Research Portal on Machine Learning for Social and Health Policy), which is a joint initiative by a group of researchers from Dalhousie and Saint Mary’s universities and collaborators all over the world.
Dr. Dawn Jutla, Scotiabank Professor of Technology Entrepreneurship
Founding Director (2014-17) and Founder of the Master of Technology Entrepreneurship (MTEI) Program at the Sobey School, Dr. Dawn Jutla holds Master and PhD degrees in Computer Science from the Technical University of Nova Scotia - Dalhousie University. Her 1996 PhD work in Computer Science on the topic of multi-view access control has been cited in Xerox and IBM US patents. Dr. Jutla is the 2009 recipient of the World Technology Award for IT Software in the Individual Category. She brings 25 years+ experience in the IT industry and Business, experience in IT Sales and administration, a record of R&D, breadth and depth in business and technology courses, significant international and local business Board governance experience, and a genuine interest in the well-being of her students and their and the School’s contribution to the Atlantic Canada economy. Dawn served for 6 years on the Saint Mary’s Board of Governors, and 2 years as FISMS Department Chair. She currently serves as a Director on the Board of OASIS, and the Board of the IWK Health Centre.
Dr. Natalia Kochetova, Sobey Professorship in Accounting
Dr. Natalia Kochetova, PhD, FCPA, FCMA is a Professor of Accounting and Auditing at the Sobey School of Business, where she also serves as an Academic Director of the PhD Business Administration (Accounting, Finance, Management) Program. She holds a PhD in Accounting from Georgia State University, and a BSc (Honours) in Accounting from the University of South Alabama. Dr. Kochetova is a Canadian CPA; she was awarded an honorable “Fellow” designation in 2014. Dr. Kochetova’s research focuses on judgment and decision-making processes and outcomes by financial statement auditors, internal auditors, and CFOs. Together with her co-authors, she has received several research grants from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada and from the Canadian Academic Accounting Association. Her research has been published in Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory; Accounting, Organizations and Society; Behavioral Research in Accounting; Contemporary Accounting Research; International Journal of Auditing; and The Accounting Review. Dr. Kochetova has served on the Boards of Directors of the Chartered Professional Accountants (CPA) Nova Scotia, CPA Atlantic School of Business, Canadian Academic Accounting Association, Alliance Française-Halifax, and on the Board of Governors of Saint Mary’s University. She is currently a member of Canadian Audit and Assurance Standards Board.
Dr. Ethan Pancer, Sobey Professorship in Marketing
Dr. Ethan Pancer is an Associate Professor of Marketing at the Sobey School of Business. He is an expert in impression formation and how digital innovations and social media shape consumer behavior. Dr. Pancer’s research has appeared in the Journal of Consumer Psychology, Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of Advertising, and the Journal of Interactive Marketingamong others and has been awarded multiple federal (SSHRC) grants for his work. He often speaks at major conferences, advises early stage companies, and has worked with organizations like IBM, Rogers Communications, IDC and Hope Blooms.
Dr. Pancer has designed and taught courses on Marketing Management, Consumer Behavior, and Entrepreneurship. Since joining the Sobey School of Business, he has been recognized with multiple teaching awards including the Stewart Medal, the university’s highest honor for excellence in teaching. Dr. Pancer was named as one of “The 40 Most Outstanding B-School Profs Under 40 in the World” (Poets & Quants 2017) at age 32. He received his BCom, MSc, and PhD in Marketing from the Smith School of Business at Queen's University.
Dr. Vurain Tabvuma, Sobey Professorship in Management
Dr. Vurain Tabvuma was born and raised in Zimbabwe. He got his undergraduate degree from Africa University. In his mid-twenties he headed to the UK where he obtained a Master’s Degree (with Distinction) and a PhD from Brunel University under a fully funded scholarship. He has worked at Bournemouth University and the University of Surrey in the UK as a Lecturer and a Senior Lecturer. He has also served as a Visiting Professor at Ryerson University in Toronto. Dr. Tabvuma’s research focuses on intrinsic motivation, public service motivation, pro-social motivation, job satisfaction, organizational change, adaptation and student success. His research has been published in refereed international journals such as Human Resource Management, Journal of Vocational Behavior, Public Administration Review, Journal of Public Administration: Research and Theory, Economics Letters, Population Research and Policy Review, Labor History and Kyklos. He is the proud father of two lovely boys.
Dr. Michael Zhang, Sobey Professorship in Finance, Information Systems and Management Science
Dr. Michael Zhang is Associate Professor in the Department of Finance, Information Systems and Management Science at the Sobey School of Business. He was Acting Associate Dean in Research and Knowledge Mobilization at the Sobey School of Business from 2019 to 2020. He also holds Adjunct Professor appointments in the Department of Applied Human Sciences at the University of Prince Edward Island and the Department of Industrial Engineering at Dalhousie University. Dr. Zhang’s research is in the area of analytics in healthcare services management and operations management. He is currently Nominated Principal Investigator on Supporting Youth with Mental Health Conditions using Machine Learning and Analytics with a three-year, $273,000 grant from Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. His work has been published in numerous journals, including 11 A* and A publications at the journals ranked at ABDC List. He is supervising one PhD student and five Master’s students on analytics projects in healthcare and supply chain management. Dr. Zhang was president of the Saint Mary’s University faculty union from 2018 to 2019. He received his PhD in Management Science from the Ivey Business School, University of Western Ontario; his Master of Economics (Financial Engineering) from Xiamen University, China, in 1998; and his BSc (Electronic Engineering) from Zhejiang University, China in 1994.
