Kelley research proposes an “early warning system” for troubled banks that also averts panic among borrowers and investors

Posted on June 24, 2025 by George Vlahakis

A shuttered First Republic Bank branch in San Francisco on June 6, 2023., about a month after the FDIC announced its closure and sale to JPMorgan Chase. (Credit: JHVEPhoto)

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Mixtures of high interest rates and major losses led to the sudden collapses of Silicon Valley Bank and First Republic Bank two years ago, and some experts worry that rising inflation and slow economic growth could be a concern for other banks.

While stress tests may assess bank performance under some predicted future shock, new research from the Indiana University Kelley School of Business proposes policies that could resemble more of an early warning system that also could help avert panic among borrowers and investors.

The International Monetary Fund and World Bank regularly conduct forward-looking debt sustainability analysis, aiming to provide the market with an early warning of sovereign debt distress. After the Great Recession, bank supervisors adopted similarly focused stress tests and publicly disclosed whether a bank could sustain that adverse shock.

Deepal Basak

“Our proposed timely disaster alert resembles an early warning system used in practice,” said Deepal Basak, assistant professor of business economics and public policy at the Kelley School. “When designed appropriately, they can be remarkably effective under a reasonably general setup.”

Basak and Zhen Zhou, associate professor of financial economics at Tsinghua University, are co-authors of the accepted paper, “Panics and Warnings,” forthcoming in the Journal of Political Economy, published by the University of Chicago Press.

Their paper studies how to design an information disclosure policy that averts such panic.

“No policy can eliminate panic under adversarial selection, which occurs when economic agents play the worst equilibrium,” Basak said. “The core challenge is that if a creditor or investor believes others might run, he will run too.”

A common assumption in this literature is that the problem is static. Introducing a ‘time dimension’ to the issue, which is natural in many applications, enables the regulator to design dynamic information disclosure policies that can eliminate panic even when the agents play the worst equilibrium.

Basak, who has been at the Kelley School since 2020, researches how strategic decisions create market inefficiencies and how practical solutions can lead to improved conditions, including reduced market panic. He teaches game theory to undergraduates and MBAs at Kelley.

In the paper, he and Zhou studied optimal adversarial information design in a dynamic regime change game. Agents decide when and whether to attack in several scenarios such as creditors deciding when to withdraw funds from a bank, or investors choosing when to move their money elsewhere.

(more…)

Assignment of bankruptcy cases isn’t random, enabling some to game the system

Posted on June 24, 2025 by George Vlahakis

Bankruptcy Courthouse in Dayton, Ohio.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Bankruptcy courts across the United States and abroad claim to assign judges to individual cases randomly to promote fairness in the judicial system, but new research from the Indiana University Kelley School of Business suggests otherwise.

Analyzing U.S. corporate bankruptcy filings between 2010 and 2020, Kristoph Kleiner, associate professor of finance at the Kelley School, found strong evidence that the assignment of cases is not random, but predicted by hedge funds.

“Far from being random, the assignment of judges to bankruptcy cases is predictable,” said Kleiner, also the Daniel C. Smith Fellow in Finance. “Sophisticated lawyers and investors routinely exploit this predictability to increase the likelihood of being assigned a preferable judge. Our results should help policy makers develop a more equitable judicial system.”

Kristoph Kleiner

The findings appear in the paper, “Justice Good As Random?” It is forthcoming at the Journal of Finance and co-authored with Niklas Hüther, assistant professor of finance at the University of Nebraska.

It has been presented at more than 20 conferences in North and South Americas and Europe, including the University of Texas AIM Investment Conference, where it won the Best Paper Award.

They were motivated by claims of forum-shopping within Chapter 11 bankruptcy, as illustrated when Purdue Pharma – facing more than 2,000 lawsuits totaling more than $2.15 trillion – chose to file in White Plains, N.Y.

The assignment process was criticized after a plan sought by the company’s owners, the Sackler family, was approved that would have exempted them from civil lawsuits in exchange for $4.5 billion in payments.

“The Purdue Pharma example showed that firms can often choose the district/office they file in, which allows them to gain access to their set of preferred judges,” Kleiner said.

“Our research shows the problem is even worse — companies can influence which judge they want assigned to their bankruptcy case by exploiting the predictability of assignments based on recent cases. We don’t want companies to be able to game the system and gain an unfair advantage.”

Judges can decide whether to convert a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization filing to a Chapter 7 liquidation. While secured creditors prefer liquidation, unsecured creditors and equity holders generally recover more under reorganization.

Exploiting this distinction, Kleiner and Hüther found that relative to secured hedge funds, unsecured hedge fund creditors and equity holders are significantly less likely to be assigned a judge with a tendency to convert Chapter 11 cases.

(more…)

Decision whether to acquire or partner depends on if firm is tech-oriented or market-driven

Posted on June 24, 2025 by George Vlahakis

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – As companies seek to expand, they often look to outside options such as acquisitions or alliances. Whether they choose to “make” or “buy” that growth differs greatly among largely tech-oriented firms and those that are marketing-driven, according to research from the Indiana University Kelley School of Business.

A study of more than 6,000 relationship decisions made by about 1,000 publicly listed U.S. firms from 2009 to 2016 found that firms spending millions more on research and development relative to marketing mostly sought growth through alliances as opposed to acquisitions.

Firms with a stronger emphasis on marketing to find new customers and increase revenues most often grew through acquisitions.

Girish Mallapragada

“It’s a little counter-intuitive, because most firms try to acquire others, thinking it is a faster way to grow, in general. But research also shows that acquisitions destroy value, because it is difficult to integrate companies,” said Girish Mallapragada, professor of marketing, Weimer Faculty Fellow, and lead author of a forthcoming article in the Journal of Marketing Research.

“The challenge we found lies in how companies safeguard or protect their assets. R&D is easier to protect because it comes with patents — they are codified in law … You don’t have to worry about your partner stealing your intellectual property,” he added. “Because your asset is very well defined and it costs a lot to acquire, the more cost-effective approach for tech firms would be to form an alliance.”

On the other hand, marketing assets, such as brands, are much harder to protect, despite the presence of trademarks and copyrights which are difficult to enforce.

“Just ask Gucci,” said Mallapragada, referring to the popular fashion brand whose trademarked designs have been readily copied, and the fakes resold.

“If the relationship involves a marketing asset, it’s going to be expensive to create rules and procedures with a partner who is not bound by law to do this. Therefore, you acquire them,” he added. “The heart of the argument is we have two types of assets – one is easy to govern, and the other is difficult to govern. If it’s easy to govern, form an alliance; difficult to govern, acquire.”

The paper, “To Acquire or to Ally? The Impact of Strategic Emphasis on Governance Mode Choice,” cites several examples, including Coca-Cola Company, known for its marketing, and its 2007 decision to acquire the Glacéau energy drink brand, and pharmaceutical company Merck’s decisions to form alliances with other firms.

Another growth option not explored in the paper is growth through direct and organic expansion. The decision whether to grow through partnerships or acquisition often is based on an economic value called transaction cost.

Other authors of the paper are Raghu Bommaraju, associate professor of marketing at the Indian School of Business; Alok Kumar, the Steve & Jennifer David Chair and a professor of marketing at the University of Nebraska’s College of Business; and Kiran Pedada, associate professor of marketing at the University of Manitoba’s Asper School of Business.

Their research uniquely explains why a company’s strategic emphasis affects a firm’s structure, in addition to financial performance.

(more…)

Relationship strength influences how people ask for repayment, research finds

Posted on June 24, 2025 by George Vlahakis

People prefer to request debt repayment in person from close friends. (Credit: Eyecrave Productions)

Editor’s note: This article was written by Katrina Nickell.

INDIANAPOLIS – Asking to be repaid can be an awkward conversation — especially depending on who owes you. New research from the Indiana University Kelley School of Business in Indianapolis reveals that the way people request money back is influenced by the closeness of their relationship with the borrower.

According to research conducted by Alexander Park, assistant professor at the Kelley School, people prefer to request debt repayment in person from close friends, as face-to-face communication allows for a more personal resolution. However, when dealing with acquaintances or distant social connections, individuals tend to prefer low-contact methods, such as digital payment apps like Venmo or Zelle, to avoid the discomfort of in-person requests.

Alexander Park

“This research documents that when navigating uncomfortable interactions, people selectively maneuver based on the needs of the social relationship at hand,” Park wrote. “This work is also one of the rare examples that studies finances and social relationships outside of the realm of romantic relationships.”

Park’s paper, “Fighting Fiscal Awkwardness: How Relationship Strength ChangesConsumers’ Approach to Resolving Peer Debt,” is published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology.

Park collaborated with Cynthia Cryder, from the Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis, and Rachel Gershon, from the Haas School of Business at the University of California Berkeley. The group conducted nine studies, which included scenario-based experiments and a nationally representative survey. In doing so, it provided insight on how and why people tailor their repayment requests based on the strength of their relationship with the borrower.

In addition to exploring emotional responses to conversations over money, the study surveyed subjects’ perceived discomfort when discussing various sensitive topics with peers. Some topics include relationship problems, politics, and death. Discussion around money issues was the second most uncomfortable topic.

Across all subjects, respondents expressed a higher level of discomfort when discussing sensitive topics with distant acquaintances compared to close friends. This reinforces the idea that relationship closeness may shape how we handle uncomfortable conversations.

“We believe studying financial indebtedness within social relationships is important because both money and social connections play a fundamental role in our daily lives,” Park said.

People anticipate discomfort when requesting money from distant connections, which drives them away from morepersonal requests, according to the research. Instead, distant connections are more likely to opt into digital apps like Venmo or Zelle.

On the contrary, people worry that close friends may view a digital request as cold or impersonal — leading them to favor more direct and personal interactions.

“As technology advances, so does the way people communicate. So, the development of financial payment apps like Venmo and Zelle may help individuals address financial indebtedness without the discomfort of in-person interactions.” Park said. (more…)

Kelley faculty rank among the best in rankings of research in management, marketing and information systems

Posted on June 24, 2025 by George Vlahakis

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business and its faculty have again been recognized for its research excellence – in marketing, information systems and management and entrepreneurship – by new, objective measures of research activity.

Rebecca Slotegraaf

In May, Kelley faculty in the Department of Management and Entrepreneurship learned they have maintained their No. 4 ranking in the TAMUGA Research Productivity Rankings. Their peers in the Department of Operations and Decision Technologies also learned they were ranked No. 2 worldwide for research productivity in the latest Association for Information Systems (AIS) Research Rankings.

Earlier this month, the American Marketing Association reported that the Kelley School’s Department of Marketing rose to No. 6 worldwide and No. 4 among public schools in its University Research Productivity rankings in the Premier AMA Journals (between 2015 and 2024), up from No. 11 a year earlier and 17th two years ago.

No other business school in Indiana is ranked in the top 15 and no other Big Ten school was ranked higher than Kelley in the TAMUGA and AIS rankings. In the AMA rankings, Kelley was second in the Big Ten and far ahead of the only other Indiana-based school ranked, the University of Notre Dame (which was 21st).

“It is gratifying to see the work of our professors valued with these rankings coming from within their own academies,” said Rebecca Slotegraaf, the Kelley School’s associate dean for research and a professor of marketing. “The TAMUGA and AIS rankings reinforce the value of the cutting-edge research that happens here every day. Kelley professors contribute to knowledge that American businesses need to thrive, and these rankings demonstrate the quality and importance of their research.”

TAMUGA Rankings for Management and Entrepreneurship

Erik Gonzalez-Mulé

The TAMUGA Research Productivity Rankings, created through a collaboration between the Texas A&M University Mays Business School and University of Georgia Terry College of Business, aggregates publications by management faculty in U.S. business schools in 10 top-tier journals. The rankings reflect publications in a given calendar year. Thus, the 2024 rankings reflect publications that came out “in print” from January to December of 2024.

Only peer-reviewed articles are counted—the counts exclude editorials, calls for papers, and introductions to special or thematic issues, for example. Only papers by management faculty are counted. Any publications by Kelley faculty in other disciplines, such as those in marketing and accounting, were not counted.

By these measures, 17 published papers in 2024 that were authored or co-authored by 31 Kelley management professors were counted.

“Entrepreneurship faculty are extremely productive and at the very top of the field in producing cutting-edge, rigorous, and impactful research,” said Erik Gonzalez-Mulé, the department’s chair and Randall L. Tobias Chair in Leadership. “It is an incredible honor to be ranked so highly compared to such an impressive group of peers. That we retained this high ranking showcases the Kelley School and IU’s dedication to our research mission and the high level of support our faculty enjoy.”

Association for Information Systems Research Rankings

Kyle Cattani

The Association for Information Systems Research Rankings are based on the top three information systems journals — MIS Quarterly, Information Systems Research and Journal of Management Information Systems — over the last three years.

Two Kelley professors were highlighted in the AIS rankings for their individual research efforts.

Alan Dennis, Distinguished Professor of Information Systems and the John T. Chambers Chair of Internet Systems, was recognized as the third most productive IS scholar worldwide, and Sagar Samtani, associate professor of operations and decision technologies and Weimer Faculty Fellow, was eighth worldwide.

“I am proud of the incredible work and dedication of our Department of Operations and Decision Technologies,” said Kyle Cattani, the department’s chair, professor of operations management and the Ming Mei Chair. “This recognition underscores our commitment to advancing impactful, rigorous scholarship that shapes the future of information systems, and highlights how the Kelley School and IU has created an environment for a productive range of research.”

American Marketing Association Research Rankings

Lopo Rego

The American Marketing Association rankings are produced annually by the organization’s special interest group for marketing doctoral students, DocSIG, and track publications over a 10-year period.

“Our marketing faculty stand out as remarkably productive, leading the discipline in developing groundbreaking, rigorous, and impactful research,” stated Lopo Rego, the department chair and PetSmart Inc. Distinguished Professor in Marketing Chair. “Achieving such a high ranking among a cohort of outstanding peers is a profound honor. It underscores the unwavering commitment of both the Kelley School and IU to our research culture and the excellent support our faculty receive.”

Tabulating only across the four premier marketing journals (Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Marketing Science (INFORMS journal), and Journal of Consumer Research, the marketing department was ranked 12th worldwide, and fourth among public schools. For comparison, it was. ranked 14th overall and 5th among public schools based on the 2023 rankings.

The two new rankings follow news in April that Kelley was ranked ninth in the University of Texas at Dallas’ rankings of top research schools, and second among public institutions. The school also was ranked 10^th worldwide. That annual ranking is based on research contributions by a school’s faculty over a five-year period.

Kelley is home to 15 research institutes, centers and labs at IU Bloomington and IU Indianapolis, including the Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovationand the Data Science and AI Lab.

Indiana University Kelley School of Business: Building tomorrow’s AI innovators

Posted on May 19, 2025 by George Vlahakis

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — AI is everywhere, but most people still struggle to understand how it works or how it adds value. Many AI projects don’t move past the proof-of-concept stage because they lack clear goals, proper integration, or usable data. For example, a retailer might build a customer prediction model, but without the marketing team truly understanding how it works, it sits unused.

Or a hospital might try forecasting admissions with poor data, leading to inaccurate results. To succeed with AI, businesses need clear use cases, quality data, and cross-team collaboration – in other words, it’s about solving real problems effectively.

Enter Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business. From the POV of this institution with over 100 years of excellence, AI is a transformative force across industries and academic disciplines and AI literacy will soon be a prerequisite for a successful career. That’s why its forward-thinking faculty is continuously integrating generative AI into the curriculum. Like they’ve done since their founding in 1920, they aim to train students to be fluent in rapidly evolving technologies and to ensure their competitiveness in the job markets of today and tomorrow.

“At Kelley, we wanted to design a curriculum that not only will allow our students to be involved in different parts of the AI production chain but also to consider issues related to value generation for stakeholders,” says Alex Barsi Lopes, clinical professor and associate faculty chair of Kelley Executive Education Programs. “That is why we combine courses covering machine learning and generative AI with courses that look at AI from a business perspective, such as ‘AI and Automation for Business.’”

Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business’s faculty integrate generative AI into the curriculum, ensuring students gain fluency in these evolving tools to stay competitive in future markets.

The school’s Online MS in IT Management (MSITM) and Online MS in Business Analytics (MSBA) are at the forefront of this shift. Both programs now include two new AI-focused courses: “Business Applications of Machine Learning” and “Deep Learning and Generative AI for Business.” These courses are hands-on and taught by faculty deeply involved in the global AI community – and they’re always happy to share the latest insights from industry.

“Our instructor for the Machine Learning course has been in the IS field for more than two decades, with many years dedicated to the field of analytics,” Lopes says. “Meanwhile, our instructor for the ‘Generative AI’ course is a very accomplished AI researcher, with a focus on applications of AI in a variety of contexts. Plus, he is returning from a ‘loan’ to TSMC where he served as the director for the AI for Business Intelligence Research Center.”

Recruiting instructors from the most consequential organisations in the field is crucial – as is ensuring the content up to date. Kelley faculty keep pace with the latest developments by engaging directly with businesses across the globe.

“For example, in May, I gave a talk to IS executives in Indianapolis before heading to Korea to visit companies that are leading in innovation in their fields, such as pharma, AI, manufacturing, etc.,” Lopes says.

He recently returned from India, where he connected with organisations like SAP, Deloitte, and Infosys. Meanwhile, David Darcy, clinical associate professor, who teaches Machine Learning, is preparing to visit tech firms in Ireland. Insights from these trips are brought back into the classroom.

Sometimes, there’s no need to go far to uncover new AI breakthroughs. Kelley’s cutting-edge Jellison Studios allowsfaculty to continuously update course materials as AI tools evolve. This ensures students aren’t learning outdated theory — they’re working with the latest tools, techniques, and case studies. “There is no end in innovation, so our course content should reflect that,” Lopes says.

At Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business, faculty experts are dedicated to teaching AI courses.

As for the platforms students will use? It varies by course, but Python is a staple across most technical classes. Kelley incorporates open-source tools like Hugging Face and works closely with Microsoft through a Copilot partnership central to the Agentic AI curriculum. For intelligent automation content, Kelley collaborates with UiPath. No matter the tool, the goal is to help students stay at the edge of what’s current.

That practical mindset carries through to the learning format itself. Students work with business-relevant datasets, apply techniques in real-time, and take on projects that mirror the kinds of challenges they’ll face in their careers. “For instance, in our AI and Automation for Business course, students will have an opportunity to use Design Thinking techniques to identify opportunities for new AI services and products, in addition to using intelligent automation tools to deal with real problems,” Lopes says.

This hands-on approach is being extended across Kelley’s portfolio. Plans are underway to embed AI into other programmes, including the upcoming Online MS in Marketing, which is awaiting final approval. There’s also ongoing work to introduce more AI-driven content into the Online MS in Finance. While some institutions are still cautiously approaching AI, Kelley is actively building the future and preparing students to lead in it.

Kelley professor named co-editor of new journal focused on AI security and privacy

Posted on April 28, 2025 by George Vlahakis

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – As artificial intelligence applications continue to evolve and become more integral as a tool for individuals, governments, and businesses to make decisions more quickly and efficiently, the potential for its misuse and the need for its security and privacy also grow.

Sagar Samtani, associate professor of information systems and Weimer Faculty Fellow at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business, has been named a founding co-editor-in-chief of a new academic journal that will address those issues, ACM Transactions on Artificial Intelligence Security and Privacy.

Sagar Samtani

ACM Transactions journals are supported by the Association for Computing Machinery, which has more than 110,000 members worldwide, and are “excellent journals for publishing computational and computer science research,” said Samtani, who also leads Kelley’s Data Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab, an interdisciplinary research group that develops practical data science and AI-enabled analytics methods and systems for societally relevant applications.

“We could not have brought this opportunity to Kelley without strong support from the school and its information systems faculty,” he said. “The Kelley School has truly provided a spectacular arena to pursue a range of targeted scholarly efforts around a systematic and emerging area of AI security and privacy. I am looking forward to a hopefully successful journal experience and continued momentum in this important and emerging area.”

Having Kelley faculty helping to frame the conversation on issues through their roles as journal editors, particularly in an emergent area such as AI security and privacy, is another example of the school’s role in preparing its constituents for perpetual change brought on by technological advancement, said Pat Hopkins, dean of the Kelley School and the Conrad Prebys Professor.

“Sagar’s pioneering and impactful work strengthens Kelley’s reputation as a leader in addressing critical national needs in these rapidly evolving fields, and this appointment is a testament to the importance of his scholarly contributions,” Hopkins said.

Dean Patrick Hopkins

“Artificial intelligence, in its myriad variations and complex forms, has been a top priority for us at Kelley. Our stellar faculty across disciplines have been monitoring the latest developments and continuously collaborating on best practices as systems evolve,” he added. “Kelley is therefore the perfect ecosystem for Sagar’s work, and we look forward to the many ways his work continues to shape international discourse around AI, to safeguard systems against misuse, and to ensure that critical advances benefit society as a whole.”

Working with students and faculty collaborators from across the IU Bloomington campus, Samtani focuses his research on building AI techniques to address issues in cybersecurity, mental health analytics and business intelligence.

“Through the Data Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab and journal related activities, Kelley will be well-positioned to help our nation to meet the needs of the ever-growing market need for professionals who understand AI and cybersecurity,” Samtani said. “The breadth and depth of research in these areas at Kelley, combined with the National Science Foundation support we have received, well positions us for the future and our students.”

Samtani also was among those convened by the National Science Foundation and NSA National Centers of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity Program for a series of workshops to develop educational programs for AI for cybersecurity (AICyber) and the security of AI (SecureAI).

Samtani, who joined the Kelley School in 2020, developed one of the nation’s first courses related to AI for cybersecurity. has been a principal investigator or a co-PI for more than a dozen sponsored research awards totaling more than $8 million since earning his doctorate in 2018 from the University of Arizona.

In 2022, he received the Association for Information Systems’ AIS Early Career Award, which also recognizes individuals in the early stages of their careers who have already made outstanding research, teaching, or service contributions to information systems. He was the first Kelley faculty member to receive the award from AIS, which also has recognized him as a Distinguished Member. Last year, he was the Kelley School’s first recipient of a prestigious CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation.

The new journal’s other co-editors-in-chief include Patrick McDaniel, the Tsun-Ming Shih Professor of Computer Sciences at the University of Wisconsin and a leading voice in the AI security community, and Murat Kantarcioglu, professor of data and decision sciences and faculty fellow of the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative at Virginia Tech University. The journal is expected to be open for submissions in summer 2025.

Kelley School Professor Clark Barwick honored by IU President Whitten with the highest university-wide teaching award

Posted on April 22, 2025 by George Vlahakis

Indiana University President Pamela S. Whitten presents the President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching to Clark Barwick.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Clark Barwick, teaching professor of communications at the Indiana University Kelley School of Business, recently received IU’s highest university-wide teaching award.

IU President Pamela Whitten presented Barwick with the President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching. He was one of eight IU faculty members from four campuses to be recognized for their teaching and service.

“I’ve taught at IU for more than two decades, and for me, this award represents all of the meaningful relationships I have developed with IU students over the years,” said Barwick, a native of Atlanta, whose mother also was an educator.

Clark Barwick

“I love helping students progress towards their academic and career goals, and nothing is more gratifying than witnessing their personal successes. I have been honored to work with so many amazing Kelley students, who invariably go on to impact the world,” he added.

In Communications, Professional and Computing Skills, a unit of the school that Barwick co-directs, he and his colleagues teach five pre-I-CORE Kelley courses – “Business Presentations,” “Business Writing,” and three Compass courses – to thousands of Kelley students each year. It is considered one of the top communication and professional skills programs in the country.

“We continually hear from employers how well-prepared our students are for success when they arrive for work at their internships and jobs,” Barwick said, adding that “this award also recognizes my teaching CPS community. I am continually inspired by their dedication, both to their students and to the craft of teaching. My colleagues will do anything to help their students succeed. Just ask our undergraduates.”

“Professor Barwick is a dedicated educator and thoughtful leader whose work has significantly enriched the experience of students at both the Kelley School of Business and the Hutton Honors College,” said Dan Li, executive associate dean for faculty and academic affairs and the L. Leslie Waters Chair in International Business at Kelley.

“Through his innovative teaching and considerate mentorship, he empowers students to develop the skills, confidence, and perspective they need to thrive in academic and professional settings,” she added.

Barwick has advised more than a dozen Kelley Honors capstone thesis projects and has served as faculty advisor for many Kelley student organizations. He is an academic fellow in Kelley’s Institute for Environmental and Social Sustainability and was a member of Kelley’s inaugural Equal Justice Initiative Leadership Collaborative. He is co-author of the book, “Strategic Business Writing,” published by IU Press in 2021.

Barwick, left with Dan Li, executive associate dean for faculty and academic affairs at the Kelley School.

Barwick’s impact felt beyond Kelley (more…)

IU Kelley School of Business ranks in the top 10 worldwide in terms of research productivity and impact for third straight year

Posted on April 16, 2025 by George Vlahakis

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – For the third straight year, Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business is among the top 10 business schools worldwide in terms of productivity and impact, according to the leading measure of published research contributions.

The Kelley School was ranked ninth in the University of Texas at Dallas’ rankings of top research schools in North America, and second among public institutions. The school also was ranked 10^th worldwide.

The annual ranking is based on research contributions by a school’s faculty over a five-year period. With 257 total articles published by the school’s faculty based at IU Bloomington between 2020 to 2024, Kelley’s faculty research output was second-most in the Big Ten.

Over the last half decade, the Kelley School has climbed UT-Dallas Top 100 Business School Research Rankings of schools worldwide — rising from 26th in the 2019 ranking to where it is ranked today.

No other business school in Indiana is ranked in the top 25.

Dean Patrick Hopkins

“One of our missions as a school is to produce a better understanding of the problems organizations face today — and beyond,” said Pat Hopkins, dean of the Kelley School and Conrad Prebys Professor.

“It is widely known that Kelley’s programs consistently are among the best, and as these rankings demonstrate, it is clear that Kelley is a place where faculty engage in cutting-edge research that provides students with advanced insights and empowers businesses to adapt and thrive in a rapidly changing world.”

Research output also has grown. Six years ago, Kelley faculty had published just 159 papers between 2014 and 2018 – nearly 100 less than in the last four years. The top 100 universities collectively contributed more than 6,000 research papers from 2020 to 2024, nearly doubling the output since the rankings began.

Kelley is home to 15 research institutes, centers and labs at IU Bloomington and IU Indianapolis, including the Center for the Business of Life Sciences, the Institute for Corporate Governance & Ethics, the Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, the Data Science and AI Lab and the Institute for Environmental and Social Sustainability.

These intellectual hubs build momentum for change across important local, national, and global avenues, and are fostered through cutting-edge, cross-disciplinary research and collaborations among faculty, students, and businesses.

Rebecca Slotegraaf

The Naveen Jindal School of Management at the UT-Dallas rankings are believed to be the most comprehensive and objective measure of research activity at business schools. It has tracked the publications of business school faculty worldwide since 1990 in 24 leading academic journals, all of which are peer-reviewed. It then ranks the schools based on the number of articles published in those journals by their faculty members over a five-year period.

The UT-Dallas ranking is designed to be useful to both business school administrators and faculty members in measuring their research activities in the journals included in the study. They see their rankings as another tool for business school faculty members and administrators to use in bench-marking themselves against their peers.

“These rankings underscore the research impact and thought leadership of our faculty, who are driven to create knowledge that generates new insights for both our students and decision-makers striving to remain competitive,” said Rebecca Slotegraaf, the Kelley School’s associate dean for research and a professor of marketing.

IU Kelley School of Business mourns the death of John Rau, its eighth dean

Posted on April 11, 2025 by George Vlahakis

John Rau in 2024

Pat Hopkins, dean of the Indiana University Kelley School of Business and Conrad Prebys Professor, today notified members of the Kelley Community that John Rau, “our esteemed colleague” and former dean, has passed away:

“John was not only a remarkable leader but also a cherished member of the Kelley family. His vast contributions to both our school and to the broader business community have left an enduring mark.

“John served as the eighth dean of what we now know as the Kelley School of Business, from 1993 to 1997. During his remarkable tenure, he introduced several initiatives that continue to shape who we are as a school today.

“Among them, he established our distinctive academies, which have developed into the workshops that provide invaluable experiential learning opportunities for our students. John also oversaw the approval of our graduate building and the establishment of direct admissions to our Undergraduate Program.

“During his tenure, in 1994, our school was designated a federally funded Center for International Business Education and Research, one of 28 in the nation. The same year, the Global Program Office was established to lead our push into greater internationalization of our activities.

Former dean John Rau sitting behind his desk

In this photo taken in 1994, John Rau makes a point with a visitor to his office. (Patrick Bennett Photography)

“Our graduate programs expanded with the introduction of two new degrees, the Master of Professional Accountancy and the Master of Business Administration in Accounting. John’s vision and leadership have thus had a lasting impact on our educational approach and the success of our graduates.

“Beyond his stint as dean, John led an illustrious career in the business world. He served as president and CEO of Miami Corporation, Chicago Title Corporation, and LaSalle and Exchange National Banks. At 35, he was recognized as the youngest of the top 100 bank presidents in the country.

“His nearly 40 years of executive and managerial experience were marked by his roles as an 11-time corporate director and his leadership in numerous business, civic, and philanthropic organizations.

Most recently, we were honored to welcome John back to campus as the Poling Chair of Business and Government for the 2024-25 academic year. In this role, he generously continued to share his wealth of knowledge and experience with our students, engaging them in meaningful discussions on public policy, enterprise competitiveness, business, and finance.

“His presence on campus was a testament to his enduring commitment to education and to Kelley, as well as to his passion for fostering the next generation of business leaders.

“John’s legacy at Kelley is one of innovation, dedication, and excellence. As we mourn his loss, we also celebrate the profound impact he has had on our school and the countless lives he has touched through his initiatives and teachings. Our thoughts are with his family during this very difficult time.”

Just as today, Dean John Rau presided over and celebrated nationally ranked degree programs at Kelley. (Indiana University Archives)

Social media