The University of Arkansas at Little Rock College of Business announced the recent appointments of two department chairs, Drs. Robert B. Mitchell and Mark Funk.

Mitchell is chair of the newly created Department of Business Information Systems. He served as chair of the Department of Management for 16 years and was formerly associate dean for undergraduate studies and interim dean of the College of Business.

He is the 2002 recipient of The John Robert Gregg Award in Business Education, given to those demonstrating dedication and outstanding contributions to the profession of business education. His research focus pertains to issues in organizational communication and information technology, management, and strategy.

Mitchell serves on the executive boards of the National Business Education Association, as well as the Association for Research in Business Education—Delta Pi Epsilon, for which he also served as executive director for 24 years. He earned his doctorate in business administration from Louisiana Tech University.

Funk was reappointed chair of the Department of Economics and Finance in July. He served as chair from 2007 to 2011 and has been interim chair of the Department of Marketing and Advertising and coordinator of the international business program since 2012.

Funk’s research focuses on innovation and economic growth, covering such topics as university patenting, the effects of business cycles on innovation spending, and the effects of international trade on transmission and diffusion of new technologies. Funk is conducting interdisciplinary work with UALR colleagues on projects exploring literacy among inmates in Arkansas prisons.

He teaches principles of economics courses and international economics at the undergraduate level and Economics and Global Business in the MBA program. Funk was awarded the Teacher of the UALR Executive MBA in 2005 and 2007 and the MBA Teacher of the Year at St. Louis University in 2002.

Funk earned a bachelor of arts degree in history and a bachelor of arts degree in economics at Trinity University. He earned his Ph.D. in economics at the University of California–Davis. Prior to coming to UALR, Funk taught at St. Louis University.