Graduate Advisement

Trinka Peer Pape is the Director of Graduate Programs for the College of Business and Analytics, since July 2026. Dr. Pape began her SIU career in Graduate Medical Education in the SIU Family Medicine Residency Program in July 2013. She then joined the Registrar's Office as Coordinator of Articulation & Evaluation from June 2019 until July 2026. She brings more than 13 years of higher education expertise to the College of Business and Analytics. She is a dual-degree alum of SIUC, having earned her Master of Arts in the Administration of Justice in December 2000, and her Ph.D. in Educational Administration and Higher Education in May 2026. Her current research interests include college student success and support, as well as best practices for student retention. She resides in Creal Springs, Illinois, with her husband on their family farm, and loves spending time with her children and grandchildren, and attending Saluki Football games.

Xiaoxin Wang Beardsley, Director of M.B.A. Programs, finance program coordinator and Hamilton Family Faculty Fellow, joined SIU in 2003. She teaches Portfolio Theory and Management (FIN 433) and International Finance (FIN 464/BA582).

Beardsley said she chose to pursue a career in higher education for several reasons, “I love to see how research in the financial markets enhances people's understanding on investment, helps them to develop a successful career path and secure personal financial freedom.” She especially enjoys SIU because of her esteemed colleagues in the College of Business and Analytics.

A native of northeastern China, Beardsley was born and raised in the city of Anshan in Liaoning Province. She earned a BS in Finance from Tsinghua University in Beijing, a MA in Economics from the University of Nebraska - Lincoln and a PhD in Finance from the Pennsylvania State University....read Beardsley's full profile>>

Nwamaka Anaza's areas of expertise focus on studying employees in service roles with particular interest directed to sales professionals, public, and non-profit employees. She also specializes in consumer behavior and has taken up a recent interest in financial technologies. She received her Ph.D. from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana in 2010.

Anaza chose a career in higher education as a result of her passion for enlightening minds and creating a positive change in the lives of students. According to Anaza, “SIU offers a world-class business program where students receive nothing short of an excellent education and practical training. The college also houses some of the best faculty and staff members in the academy. These individuals are collegial, inclusive, willing to help, but most importantly, make their students a priority.”

Before joining the SIU faculty, Anaza taught as an assistant professor of marketing at Francis Marion University in Florence, SC and as a visiting professor of marketing at Wuhan University in China. She was also a visiting scholar at the University of Applied Sciences Hochschule Ludwigshafen am Rhein Ludwigshafen, Germany and an instructor of relationship selling and a research fellow at Purdue University.

Anaza currently teaches Principles of Marketing, Professional Selling, Sales Management, and Promotions Strategy & Management.

Economics

Ph.D. 2001, University of Washington
Fields: Macroeconomic Theory, Economic Growth, International Economics

Selected Publications

• "Microfinance and Missing Markets," Canadian Journal of Economics, (with Shahe Emran and Joseph Stiglitz)
• "On Cross-country Differences in the Contribution of Nontraded Goods to Real Exchange Rate Fluctuations,” Open Economies Review, (with Erick Kitenge)
• "Unconditional Convergence of Labor Productivity in the Service Sector,” Journal of Macroeconomics, Vol. 59, pp. 217-229, 2019, (with Bisrat Kinfemichael)

Read Dr. Morshed's full profile >>

Professor Mykytyn's research focuses on using information systems to achieve and sustain a competitive advantage; the relationship between information systems and the law, with special emphasis on intellectual property (patents, copyrights, and trademarks) as they relate to information systems and electronic commerce; use of group support systems to improve and support decision making with special interests involving virtual teams.

For more than 20 years, computer software has been patentable. Prime examples of business method patents, for example, would be Amazon.com's one-click ordering system and Priceline.com's reverse auction system. Businesses that invest the time and money to patent software, including business method software, must do so for a reason. Read Dr. Mykytyn's full profile >>

Jim Nelson, Ph.D., joined SIU in 2005 after more than ten years of industry experience and more than fifteen years of teaching and research experience. He earned a bachelor of science in computer science from California Polytechnic State University and worked as an “operating system pathologist” at IBM Santa Teresa Labs and then as a project manager at a California software startup. He went back to school at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and earned a master's degree and a Ph.D. in information systems.

As director of the Pontikes Center for Advanced Analytics and Artificial Intelligence he coordinates the development and implementation of analytics courses in the online M.B.A., residential M.B.A. and undergraduate business programs. He serves as the point of contact for the Pontikes Center Board of Advisors consisting of executives responsible for analytics efforts in major companies across the Midwest.  He has coined the term “hunch mining” to address the area of cognitive analytics. ...read Nelson's full profile >>

May Xiaoyan Bao earned her Ph.D. in accounting from the University of Nebraska. She also is a Saluki. She obtained her Master of Accountancy from SIUC. Her research focuses on issues in accounting quality, fair value accounting, and taxation. Her work has been published in scholarly journals in the areas of financial accounting and taxation. She holds Certified Public Accountant (CPA) credential.

Prior to becoming a professor, she had worked in both finance and accounting areas in various industry settings including banking, commercial real estate, higher education, insurance and investments.

Ed O'Donnell didn't know what to expect when he came to the Southern Illinois University College of Business and Analytics, but he was quickly impressed with the students he encountered, "When presented with a new problem, our students' first reaction is to attack the challenge and try to conquer the problem rather than resist an unfamiliar challenge and complain that nobody had shown them how to deal with this kind of problem." This exemplifies O'Donnell's ability to recognize the qualities in his students.

O'Donnell joined the School of Accountancy faculty at the SIU College of Business and Analytics in the Fall of 2009. He teaches courses in financial statement auditing, information systems assurance, auditor risk assessment, and experimental accounting research methods. O'Donnell's area of expertise also includes enterprise risk management, accounting information systems, and information technology governance. Read Dr. O'Donnell's full profile >>

Professor Mark A. Peterson chose SIU for “its geographical location and its people,” he said. “Our students, many of whom are from the region, share the same values that my family and I have.”

Peterson joined the SIU faculty in 1997. He researches investments, in general, and market microstructure in particular. Market microstructure deals with the subject of trading in financial assets. Current research projects include an analysis of how short selling regulation affects trading of stocks and the benefits of using investment bankers in raising equity capital.

From 1996 to 1999, Peterson was a visiting economist at the Office of Economic Analysis, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Read Dr. Peterson's full profile >>