For Professors Beata Jones and Stephen Lusch, being recognized on the Top 50 Undergraduate Business Professors list is a global honor made even more special because student nominations play a factor in the review process.
December 11, 2022
By Nicholas Ferrandino
The announcement of Poets&Quants Top 50 Undergraduate Business School Professors of 2022 includes two standout TCU Neeley faculty –Beata Jones and Stephen Lusch. Poets&Quants, a publication known for its extensive coverage of business schools, announced the best undergrad professors based on more than 500 nominations, placing two TCU Neeley leaders on the prestigious list.
The Poets&Quants recognition takes the nomination a step beyond an application submission by requiring nominations from student, alumni or other faculty. This additional resource ensures input from those working alongside, and directly impacted by, professors is included in the consideration process.
While Jones and Lusch have different backgrounds and expertise, both place a high priority on students. The recognitions they’ve received and their own words showcase their student focus.
Beata Jones
Beata Jones is a professor of business information systems professional practice and an honors faculty fellow at the John V. Roach Honors College. She has been making a difference at TCU since 1995.
Among her numerous accolades, Jones is also a board member of the National Collegiate Honors Council, a member of the Journal of the European Honor’s Council’s editorial board, and the founding director of the Neeley Fellows honors program at TCU.
Jones’ fields of expertise are business education, talent development, behavioral information systems, global digital innovation, and how their continued evolution affects both the industry and her students.
“I enjoy sharing my passion for information technology in hopes of inspiring some students into a field that needs a lot of new talent to keep us competitive as a nation,” said Jones.
One of her current research projects focuses on business honors education and what can be done to improve that field of education, as there is not an official platform for business honors students and faculty to expand their networks and seek professional development.
“I plan to take several steps to help fill this void in the coming year, as I am active in several international organizations that can facilitate the development of a business honors community,” said Jones.
Read the Poets&Quants profile on Beata Jones.
Stephen Lusch
Stephen Lusch is an associate professor of accounting, who specializes in the study of state and federal tax policy. He is currently in his sixth year of teaching at TCU Neeley and his research has appeared in multiple high-profile business journals, including the Journal of Accounting and Economics and the Accounting Review.
One role Lusch takes the most pride in at TCU is serving as a faculty partner with Frog Camp, TCU’s extended orientation program for incoming students.
“[Frog Camp] is such an amazing opportunity” Lusch said, “Because it allows me to get to know these students on a much more personal level than I would get in the classroom.”
Lusch’s current research spans the areas of tax, auditing, and financial accounting, including topics such as evaluating the influence of the IRS on company behavior, tax-related critical audit matters, long-term trends in the persistence of earnings, and the 2014 Luxembourg tax leaks. All these topics grant insight into the ever-evolving business environment; and each new insight is another lesson he can bring back to the classroom.
“Even though a small minority of my students will actually go on to be tax accountants, every student in my class will make decisions in their career and their personal life that have important tax consequences that must be considered,” said Lusch
