Klavdia Ballard Evans, Ph.D.
Evans has produced an excellent paper. “Beyond Taste: How Embodied Experiences Facilitate Unlearning in MBA Classrooms,” which has been accepted for presentation at the 2025 Annual Meeting of the Southern Management. This accomplishment reflects St. Mary’s University and its commitment to both student success and innovative pedagogy.
The project was conducted in collaboration with one of our MBA students, Natalia Ryng, whose research was accepted at this competitive conference. Having a student achieve recognition at this level is already remarkable, but Natalia’s story makes it even more meaningful. She is a student-athlete, an international student and is now preparing to apply for Ph.D. programs. Her journey shows our students that engaging in scholarship is within their reach and highlights how research can open doors well beyond the classroom and beyond graduation.
Her success also brings distinction to St. Mary’s as she applies to top-tier Ph.D. programs; she proudly carries the name of her alma mater, showcasing the supportive academic environment that made this achievement possible.
Finally, the focus of this study — pedagogy in the MBA classroom — directly aligns with the University’s mission and emphasis on teaching excellence. This dual impact, highlighting both student achievement and our commitment to advancing management education, makes it a strong candidate for the Faculty Spotlight.
Ying “Caroline” Chen, Ph.D.
Ying “Caroline” Chen, Assistant Professor of Accounting at the Greehey School of Business, focuses her research on corporate governance, financial transparency, forensic accounting and hospitality finance.
Her scholarship examines how ownership structures and board composition shape financial reporting quality, how crises such as the 2008 Financial Crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic affect hotel firm valuations and how innovative tools like Benford’s Law can detect earnings manipulation. Chen’s work stands at the intersection of accounting, economics and data analytics, offering both theoretical insights and practical tools for regulators, auditors and financial analysts.
Chen’s contributions have been widely recognized. She is the 2023–2024 recipient of the 1923 Commemorative Award for Outstanding Research and has published seven peer-reviewed articles in competitive accounting and economics journals. Her research not only informs policy and governance frameworks but also enriches the classroom, where she integrates real fraud cases and forensic techniques to enhance student learning.
Looking ahead, her projects will explore the links between blockholder ownership and stock price crash risk, as well as comparative crisis analysis. Through her work, Chen addresses a critical need for accountability and transparency in global financial markets.
Notable Achievements
- Research Excellence
- 2023–2024 recipient of the 1923 Commemorative Award for Outstanding Research from the Greehey School of Business.
- Scholarly Productivity
- Seven peer-reviewed publications in highly selective ABDC-B journals (2021–2025), with acceptance rates as low as 15%.
- Grant Support
- Awarded a $5,000 Faculty Research Grant from St. Mary’s University Internal Research Program.
Notable Achievements
Selected Publications
- Chen, Y., Capener, D. and Valenzuela, E. (2023). “Valuation Effects of Earnings Management on Hotel Firm Value.” American Journal of Economics and Sociology, 82(3), 167-185. Generated new evidence on how managerial reporting decisions impact market valuations in the hospitality sector.
- Valenzuela, E. and Chen, Y. (2023). “The Impact of Director Blockholders on Abnormal Accruals and Inventory.” Journal of Corporate Accounting & Finance, 34(4), 193-207. – Provides empirical evidence informing governance practices and regulatory frameworks.
- Chen, Y., Valenzuela, E. and Capener, D. (2024). “How Hotel Firm Value Fluctuates with Alternative Leveraging Strategies.” American Journal of Economics and Sociology, 83(1), 177-197. Unites accounting valuations with economic signaling theory in hospitality finance.
- Chen, Y. and Capener, D. (2025). “When Economic Prowess Is a Liability—Unpredictable Black Swan Events Such as the Financial Crisis and COVID‐19 Pandemic Disrupt Hotel Value Dynamics.” American Journal of Economics and Sociology, 84(3), 521-534. Integrates accounting methods with crisis management theory.
- Valenzuela, E. and Chen, Y. (2025). “Analyzing the Impact of Director Blockholders Using Benford’s Law.” Global Journal of Accounting and Finance, 9(1), 1-19. Offers practical fraud detection tools for auditors and financial analysts.
Selected Publications
Ajaya Swain, Ph.D.
Swain advanced his research agenda in emerging technologies and thought leadership with multiple high-profile conference presentations. At the 2025 Western Decision Sciences Institute (WDSI) Conference, he presented his work on predicting voting propensity in U.S. presidential elections.
He also delivered two papers at the 2025 European Decision Sciences Institute (EDSI) Conference in Gothenburg, Sweden — one on acceptance of in-vehicle coupons, an interdisciplinary project supported by a Summer Research Grant and another applying SWIN Net large language models to estimate cardiac health in patients. His scholarship further extends into higher education, with a paper on the strategic management of student mental health accepted for presentation at the 2025 Decision Sciences Institute (DSI) Annual Conference.
Additionally, he was invited to present on the adoption of AI in managing projects at the same conference. In collaboration with students, Swain emphasized applied and interdisciplinary research. He mentored 34 students who presented on diverse topics such as AI in supply chain sourcing, predictive models for student wellness, fraud detection in insurance, innovations in accounting, athlete performance, academic success and financial literacy — earning first prize for a poster in the latter category. He also coauthored a research paper with an Accounting and Data Analytics student, which was accepted for presentation at the 2025 DSI Conference.
Beyond the University, he mentored high school students on leveraging large language models in sports management to enhance athlete performance through improved nutrition, demonstrating his commitment to integrating advanced technologies into both research and education.
Solomon Wang, Ph.D.
During his first year at St Mary’s University, Wang published 5 A-Journal papers per AACSB standard. His strength in research relies on active attention to industrial development and the needs of society. As shown in his record, his most recent papers are in the areas of financial technology and corporate social behaviors (ESG, CSR, Green finance, etc.), which have drawn a great deal of social attention in the past decade.
He also conducts research to promote the financial health and financial literacy of American households. This pipeline is consistent with the Marianist mission in education and community well-being. As a certified fraud examiner, he also studies topics aimed at deterring insider trading and financial fraud. This line of research aligns with the Marianist mission of justice and ethical stewardship, reinforcing the importance of integrity and transparency in financial markets.
Beyond his current research, he engages in collaborative projects with students. In Fall 2024, he met four GSB students to explore potential research opportunities. The areas covered include the Pandemic and Household Financial Stress, High-Interest Loans of Military Borrowers and Mergers and Acquisitions in the Fintech Industry.
Among them, the research titled “Mobile Payment and Pawn Loans” will be presented by his student, Abdullah Mohammad, at the University Research Expo in Spring 2025. In another collaboration, a GSB student named Max Masabo was awarded the University Student Summer Research Grant 2025. Their joint project is titled “Fintech Apps and American Household Distress.”
Publications at St Mary’s
- “Value-added Tax and Corporate Cash Holding: Evidence from a Quasi-natural Experiment” with Chen Ling. (2025) Accounting and Finance (A Journal, Corresponding Author).
- “Geographical Proximity and Information Advantage, Evidence from the Chinese SEO Market” with Yujia Wang, Congyi Ju, Qingbin Meng.International Review of Finance (2025) (A journal).
- “ESG Performance and Seasoned Equity Offering: Evidence from China” with Xuan Song, Yujia Wang. International Review of Financial Analysis (2025) (A Journal).
- “Machine Learning and Corporate Financial Distress” with Qingbin Meng, Xinxing Zheng, Pacific Basin Finance Journal (2024) (A Journal, Corresponding Author).
- “How Could Digitization Detect and Prevent Corporate Fraud” with Zhan Xu, Juncheng Ye. International Review of Financial Analysis (2024) (A Journal, Corresponding Author).