Two business professors receive Fulbright Scholar awards
Virginia Tech Pamplin College of Business professors Larry French and Mahmood A. Khan have received Fulbright Scholar Awards to teach and conduct research abroad next year. Both faculty members teach in the MBA program at the university’s Northern Virginia Center in metro Washington, D.C.
French, associate professor of management, of Washington Grove, Md., will teach MBA courses in small business management and entrepreneurship in the summer of 2006 in Lisbon, Portugal, at Instituto Superior de Ciéncias do Trabalho e da Empresa, University Institute for Labor and Business Studies.
French, whose research focuses on child labor in developing areas and nontraditional forms of work organization, will participate in research projects at the institute and initiate a study on the labor practices of family businesses. His studies of child labor in Brazil’s shoe manufacturing industry show that most of the child workers are employed by their parents in family businesses that are subcontractors to the shoe manufacturers.
French has published his research in such journals as Industrial and Labor Relations Review and Business Ethics Quarterly, and as part of a recent book, Rising Above Sweatshops. He received a master's in management from MIT’s Sloan School of Management and a Ph.D. from Cornell University’s New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations.
Khan, professor of hospitality and tourism management, of Great Falls, Va., will spend the summer of 2006 in Chennai, India, where he will teach MBA courses at the Indian Institute of Technology and work with faculty and doctoral students on research topics of mutual interest. He also will travel to other Indian cities to lecture on franchising, marketing, and international service management.
Khan has authored six books, including an internationally popular book, Restaurant Franchising, and Encyclopedia of Hospitality and Tourism. He is working on two books on management skills development and services management. He has served as editor of several journals and on editorial boards of journals and is on the board of trustees of the International Institute of Hospitality Management in Switzerland.
A recipient of many national and international awards, Khan has given keynote speeches and seminars in many countries and has consulted and developed training programs for international businesses.
About 800 U.S. faculty members and professionals go abroad each year to lecture and do research as award recipients of the Fulbright Scholar Program. The Fulbright Program, the U.S. government's flagship international educational program, is designed to "increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries."
It has provided more than 250,000 participants, chosen for their academic merit and leadership potential, with the opportunity to study and teach in each other's countries, exchange ideas, and develop joint solutions to address shared concerns. The program was established in 1946 under legislation introduced by former Sen. J. William Fulbright of Arkansas.
Virginia Tech’s nationally ranked Pamplin College of Business offers undergraduate and graduate programs in accounting and information systems, business information technology, economics, finance, hospitality and tourism management, management, and marketing. The college emphasizes the development of leadership skills and ethical values and the integration of technology in the academic curriculum, and prepares students for global business challenges through faculty-led study abroad programs. A member of the college’s marketing faculty directs the interdisciplinary Sloan Foundation Forest Industries Center at Virginia Tech. The college’s other research centers focus on business leadership, electronic commerce, and organizational performance. The college is committed to serving business and society through the expertise of its faculty, alumni, and students.
