Walton College at UA appoints 3 new department chairs

Brent Williams, interim dean of the University of Arkansas’ Sam M. Walton College of Business, recently appointed three new department chairs.

Jonathan Shipman, associate professor and program director for the master of accountancy program, is now chair of the William Dillard Department of Accounting. Shipman has worked for Walton College for nearly nine years. His primary research focuses on auditing.

He holds a Ph.D. in accounting from the University of Tennessee. Shipman’s predecessor was Gary Peters, now a senior associate dean for Walton College.

Shaila Miranda, formerly a professor at the University of Oklahoma, is the new chair of the Department of Information Systems. Miranda taught at the OU for 20 years. Her primary research focus is on public discourse, digital activism and innovation. Miranda earned her Ph.D. in management information systems/ computer science from the University of Georgia.

Miranda follows Rajiv Sabherwal, who was the department chair for 12 years and is refocusing on teaching.

Finance professor Alexey Malakhov is the interim finance department chair. Malakhov has worked at Walton College since 2006. His most recent research centers on hedge and mutual funds. He earned a Ph.D. in managerial economics and strategy from Northwestern University and a Ph.D. in applied mathematics from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Malakhov’s predecessor was Pu Liu, who served as department chair for more than 15 years and is stepping back into the classroom.