Jindal School Now – January 2026

Dr. Suresh Sethi Honored for Long-time Service to Jindal School

A recent celebration at the Naveen Jindal School of Management honored the 80th birthday — and distinguished career — of long-time faculty member Dr. Suresh Sethi, Eugene McDermott Distinguished Chair and a professor in the Operations and Supply Chain Management (OM) Academic Area. The event was held during one of three academic conferences organized last year in his honor.

Sethi, director of the Center for Intelligent Supply Networks, joined the Jindal School in 1997 at the request of Dr. Hasan Pirkul, Caruth Chair and dean, to build the OM area and establish the PhD program in Management Science, Operations Management Concentration. The OM area is now considered one of the world’s foremost programs in the field.

To Slang or Not To Slang? That Is the Question for Marketing Pros

New research by Dr. Ying Xie, senior author of the article “The Slang Paradox: Connecting or Disconnecting with Consumers?” and professor of marketing in the Naveen Jindal School of Management, found that the effectiveness of using slang in marketing messages depends on a brand’s personality and the audience for the message. The paper was published in the October issue of Journal of Marketing Research.

“We looked at slang as a linguistic element as well as its social function,” Xie said. “Slang identifies your social affiliation. It’s an identity that tells you who is in the group versus who is not in the group. For someone with whom you don’t have this relationship, slang might be considered inappropriate. We think that’s valuable insight in a marketing context.”

Virtual Reality Research: From Retail Aisles to Real Estate Showings

Virtual reality (VR) is moving far beyond gaming and entertainment, increasingly proving itself as a serious research tool. Two recent studies from the Naveen Jindal School of Management highlight the breadth of VR’s potential: one explores how it can reveal hidden costs of mistakes in retail supply chains, and the other demonstrates how VR tours accelerate home sales. Together, they illustrate VR’s growing role in shaping industries as diverse as operations management and real estate.

The two studies reveal a common thread: VR enhances decision-making by reducing uncertainty, whether for frontline retail workers choosing products under pressure or prospective homebuyers evaluating a property. In both cases, the technology’s strength lies not in replacing human roles but in supplying clearer, more actionable information.

Jindal School Marketing Sophomore Jane Burkhardt Takes Helm at The Mercury

You might not think to look for a newspaper editor in the Naveen Jindal School of Management, but Jane Burkhardt, a marketing sophomore, took over as editor- in-chief of The Mercury, The University of Texas at Dallas’ official student-run newspaper, in fall 2025.

Established in 1980, it had been silent for the past year.

“While The Mercury has experienced a challenging year, I am optimistic about the future of the paper’s presence on campus,” she said. “I am looking forward to engaging with professors, staff, students and organizations to gain a better understanding of what the community wants to see addressed. Ultimately, building these relationships will allow me to serve the UT Dallas community and once again enable our publication to be trusted as the official student-run newspaper on campus.”

Internships Help Shape Jindal School Students’ Career Futures

Many students at the Naveen Jindal School of Management spent at least part of this past summer completing internships related to their majors. In doing so, they gained real-world, professional experience and had the opportunity to apply their academic learnings within corporate settings.

Wan-Yu Wang, a senior pursuing a double major in Global Business and Marketing, spent the summer in Tokyo interning for Titan Consulting K.K., a recruitment firm specializing in mid- to executive-level search consulting solutions for companies in the pharmaceutical, medical device and green energy sectors.

Internships are so valuable that they are a requirement for graduation at the undergraduate level. At the graduate level, most degree programs also require an internship. Since 2018, more than 7,300 Jindal School students have completed more than 9,600 internships at 4,688 unique companies. The Career Management Center at the Jindal School guides students through these internship experiences and serves as the framework and touchstone for their execution.

“In today’s uncertain job market, you can either send 1,000 résumés and still not be guaranteed a job or internship, or you can access the CMC’s personalized career coaching, workshops, networking opportunities and a variety of job search resources,” said Tom Kim, assistant dean, career management at the Jindal School. “Our students’ success is our top priority, and we are committed to empowering them to achieve their career goals. The internships we help our students coordinate are a powerful way to accomplish that — but just as critical is the network they build along the way. Through the CMC, students connect with alumni, industry professionals and recruiters who often become the key to unlocking future opportunities.”

Students in Jindal School’s PPHM Gain Real-World Healthcare System Experience

Students from the Professional Program in Healthcare Management (PPHM) in the Naveen Jindal School of Management took a trip to St. Louis in spring 2025 for a site visit to Mercy Health System. One of the students said the visit was a powerful reminder of the patient side of healthcare administration.

“I remember a nurse sharing how much it meant that the CEO regularly walked through the ER to check in with staff,” said Clarisse (Nhu-Quynh) Dizon, who graduated from The University of Texas at Dallas in May with a double degree Bachelor of Science in Healthcare Management and Biology and is currently an MBA student at the Jindal School. “When we asked the CEO about it, he told us, ‘The ER is the heart of the hospital,’ which made a lasting impression on me because it showed how leadership must be rooted in compassion and visibility.”

Jindal School Executive MBA Alumnus To Lead Private Equity at Grant Thornton

A graduate of the Naveen Jindal School of Management’s Executive MBA program has taken on a role that highlights his career success and the school’s growing alumni influence.

Marc Chase, EMBA’99, has been named leader of Grant Thornton’s Private Equity practice. He will lead strategy, growth and operations in a highly competitive segment of finance.

Chase said the new role is both an honor and an energizing challenge.

“I’m excited to bring clarity and discipline to a space where speed and precision matter most,” he said. “Private equity calls for equal parts vision and execution, and I look forward to helping our clients find value through sharper diligence, stronger operations and smart growth.”

Global Business Alumnus Uses Jindal School as Launchpad for International Service

Fueled by the global experiences he built in the Naveen Jindal School of Management, Vladyslav (Vlad) Wallace, BS’20, now represents the United States on the world stage.

Right on the heels of a formative experience with the U.S. State Department’s National Security Language Initiative (NSLI) program in Chisinau, Moldova, Wallace arrived at The University of Texas at Dallas with a newly budding interest in international service. The BS in Global Business degree at the Jindal School gave him the structure, mentorship and exposure he needed to turn that interest into a concrete career path.

“I had originally entered UT Dallas as a biology major, but I quickly realized that JSOM was a much better fit for my evolving goals,” he said. “It allowed me to explore a wide range of international careers at the intersection of commerce, policy and diplomacy.”

Jindal School Alumnus Builds AI-Powered HR Framework To Predict Workforce Needs

A new platform and methodology that connects existing human resources information systems with artificial intelligence has been developed by a Naveen Jindal School of Management alumnus. It is poised to propel the field into the predictive analytics era — while creating opportunities for fellow Jindal School graduates to navigate today’s challenging job market.

Sameer Ranjan, MSBA’20, founder of Cognitive Sprints AI Labs, has launched CSAILabs PeopleStrat, a consulting framework that builds on traditional HR systems by applying AI-driven predictive analytics and behavioral insights to workforce data. The platform helps companies align employee skills with the jobs they will need to fill in the future. Over the next year, he said he plans to hire up to 100 recent Jindal School graduates from the MS in Business Analytics and Artificial Intelligence (STEM) program, focusing on those still seeking employment.

“Most individuals who haven’t landed jobs either have a skills gap or a luck gap,” he said. “I thought if I could extend their luck by giving them a chance to learn while on the job and at the same time expose them to multiple companies — where they wouldn’t have to worry about failure but just learn and deliver — they might create a chance for themselves to get hired with some real projects and gain paid experience.”