Weatherhead School of Management welcomes three new faculty members to the school this semester.
Frank Barrett, Yufan Dong and Scot Lowry join Weatherhead’s faculty across three departments: organizational behavior, accountancy and design and innovation.
Get to know the new faculty members, as they answer questions on what courses they’ll be teaching this semester, how they like to spend their time outside of the classroom and what they are most proud of in their careers so far:
Frank Barrett, professor of organizational behavior and faculty director of the Master of Science in Positive Organization Development program
Prior to joining Weatherhead as a full-time faculty member, Frank Barrett was a professor of management at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, where he taught naval officers and marines who were earning their MBA and graduate degrees in information sciences.
What led you to Weatherhead?
I graduated from the Weatherhead Department of Organizational Behavior in the early 90’s and all my teaching and research have been inspired by the value-based education I received here.
I have admired the MPOD program since its inception. It is a gem. Several of the leaders in the field of organizational change are here in one department. It’s an elite department and I’m so fortunate to be able to come here and work with them.
What courses will you be teaching this semester?
I’m teaching an MBA course on organizational change and Appreciative Inquiry. And I’m teaching an MPOD class on mastery learning.
What are you most excited about for this semester at Weatherhead?
I’m very eager to meet the new MPOD students. I remember the line from the musical “The King and I,” “When you become a teacher, by your students you’ll be taught.”
What are you most proud of in your career so far?
I’m most proud of my book “Yes to the Mess: Surprising Leadership Lessons from Jazz.” It’s a deep dive into the metaphor of jazz improvisation and implications for group dynamics and leadership.
How do you like to spend your time outside of teaching?
I’m a jazz pianist and look forward to finding jam sessions in the area.
Yufan Dong, assistant professor of accountancy
Yufan Dong recently completed her PhD in business administration at Temple University before joining Weatherhead. Prior to that, she was an auditor with Deloitte in San Francisco, California.
What led you to Weatherhead?
The close-knit and supportive culture at Weatherhead really stood out to me. On top of that, Weatherhead is really committed to top-notch research and supporting faculty in their research.
What courses will you be teaching this semester?
In fall 2023, I will be teaching ACCT 100. This is a course designed to introduce students to the world and language of accounting. Students will start to develop the skill to critically think about financial statements and company financial performance and how those factor into important decisions.
What are you most excited about for this semester at Weatherhead?
I’m excited to immerse myself in the culture of Weatherhead, continue with my current research, and embark on new research topics with new collaborators.
What are you most proud of in your career so far?
Research: My paper entitled, “Open Source Software Litigation and Risk Factor Disclosure,” which is coauthored with Jayanthi Krishnan, and won the 2022 AAA Mid-Atlantic Region Best Paper Award.
Teaching: I successfully recommended a student for Stanford Law School’s Law Scholars Institute. This particular student is very interested in criminal law and comes from a disadvantaged background.
How do you like to spend your time outside of teaching?
Outside of work, I really enjoy playing board games, cooking, hiking, traveling, rock climbing, and spending time with family and friends.
Scot Lowry, Richard L. Osborne Professor of Entrepreneurship and professor of design and innovation
Scot Lowry graduated from Weatherhead’s MBA program in 2001. He is the managing partner of Promise ONE Companies, an investment firm he started with a partner in 2005 after learning about acquisition entrepreneurship from Richard L. Osborne while he was an MBA student.
What led you to Weatherhead?
I was attracted to the accelerated MBA program in 2000 when I was moving to Cleveland from Colorado and seeking to transition from commercial construction management and real estate development into investments. I had about 10 years of general management experience, so I qualified for the one-year accelerated MBA.
What courses will you be teaching this semester?
DESN 419 - Entrepreneurship and the Good Life. This course focuses on: 1. Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition (ETA) journey from employee to business owner, with emphasis on the “sponsored searches.” 2. Mindset, wealth and fulfillment creation strategies, and leadership styles of ETA entrepreneurs. 3. Introduction to the Promise Partners ETA Incubator (founded by a Weatherhead professor) and the strategies used by the group that have helped over 65 people acquire 85+ companies using ETA (including 44 Weatherhead Alumni) post graduation.
ETA is an alternative to startups for aspiring entrepreneurs. ETA is a strategy to become a business owner, where the entrepreneur seeks the support of investors to find, acquire, operate, grow and potentially sell a small company, typically $5-$15 million in revenue at time of acquisition. The entrepreneur attracts investors, runs the search process and typically leads the acquired company as CEO.
What are you most excited about for this semester at Weatherhead?
Weatherhead has been a center of excellence for “ETA” for over 30 years, but nobody knows. I’m excited the new co-deans are investing in sharing all the great work and outcomes that were started by Richard Osborne. The second annual ETA event will happen Oct. 25. Dively is offering a non-degree ETA weekend course taught by Ried Tileston, Weatherhead DBA student this winter, and G.J. King (another experienced ETA entrepreneur and educator like Reid) is offering another three credit hour course this spring.
We have also dramatically expanded the relationship with Promise Partners, the nonprofit ETA incubator, that has helped 44 Weatherhead alumni go from employee to business owner using various ETA strategies. I’m excited to share all this with the Weatherhead community and NEO community at large. It’s a fantastic legacy and exciting opportunity for the school and students.
What are you most proud of in your career so far?
My role in helping nine others go from employee to business owner, including several Weatherhead alumni.
I’m also proud of my 20+ years involvement with Promise Partners as a volunteer board member and mentor where I’ve had the opportunity to support dozens of others in their pursuit of business ownership. All of this in an attempt to model what Richard Osborne did for me.
What is one fun fact your students might not know about you?
I lived in 17 houses by the time I was 17-years old across multiple states as a military brat. This experience made me very resilient and adaptable, setting me up to become an entrepreneur.