Five New Professors Join BYU Marriott

PROVO, Utah – Dec 03, 2018 – The Brigham Young University Marriott School of Business welcomes five new faculty members, all of whom began teaching with the commencement of the Fall 2018 semester. The new additions are Jason Kotter and Darren Aiello in the Department of Finance, John Howell and Clark Pixton in the Department of Marketing and Global Supply Chain, and David Matkin in the Romney Institute of Public Service and Ethics. These five professors bring a plethora of professional, academic, and research experience, which will continue to further the unique mission of BYU Marriott and the university as a whole.

Department of Finance

Jason Kotter—Assistant professor

Jason Kotter received a bachelor’s degree in economics from BYU, a master’s degree in economics from the University of Michigan, and a PhD in finance from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan. Prior to graduate study, Kotter worked as a senior research assistant in the international finance division of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. He then taught advanced corporate finance at the Smeal College of Business at Pennsylvania State University for four years before returning to Provo.

“I am thrilled to join the finance department at BYU Marriott,” Kotter says. “The department is on a positive trajectory and is increasingly respected by academics at top business schools throughout the world. I want to contribute to this growth by doing high-quality research that is published in the top journals in finance and economics, by representing BYU Marriott while presenting my work at quality conferences and seminars, and by creating an engaging classroom environment where my students are challenged and grow.”

Darren Aiello—Assistant professor

Prior to joining BYU Marriott, Darren Aiello spent eight years in the professional world working in various analytical and managerial roles. He received bachelor’s degrees in business administration and economics from Pepperdine University before earning an MBA in finance and a PhD in finance from the Anderson School of Management at UCLA. Now at BYU, Aiello is enjoying the opportunity he has to work alongside fellow BYU Marriott faculty members.

“The finance department at BYU Marriott is a special place,” Aiello says. “We are able to emphasize high academic standards in regards to research quality while maintaining an emphasis on the importance of quality teaching. The fact that this is accomplished within a gospel-centered environment is incredible. The collegiality and network effects of this particular group of faculty, as well as their research quality, are the biggest reasons I am here.”

Department of Marketing and Global Supply Chain

John Howell—Assistant professor

John Howell worked as a consultant to Sawtooth Software and a pricing analyst and software engineer for Novell, Inc., before receiving his PhD from The Ohio State University. He has conducted a significant amount of research in his field and has recently published papers in top-tier, peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Law and Economics. While Howell enjoys many things about BYU Marriott, his favorite part is working with the students.

“I have been continually impressed with the maturity and capability of our students,” Howell says. “They are some of the most accomplished students I have interacted with and are hungry to make the world a better place. The unique mission of BYU seems to bring out the best in people as we try to be a force for good in the world around us.”

Clark Pixton—Assistant professor

Clark Pixton received a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from BYU and later obtained a PhD in operations research from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Prior to joining BYU Marriott, he consulted for the pharmacy startup PillPack—a company that was recently acquired by Amazon. Pixton enjoys teaching and has experience educating students in analytics and operations. He also specializes in supply chain research and analytics.

“While at BYU Marriott, I hope to create high-quality opportunities for students to increase their analytics literacy through research, class experience, and industry collaboration,” Pixton says. “A key part of this is to build the reputation of BYU Marriott for producing excellent analytics research. I'll be focusing my research on supply chains, where analytics is predicted to have a transformative effect over the next few years.”

Romney Institute of Public Service and Ethics

David Matkin—Associate professor

David Matkin obtained an MPA from BYU Marriott before earning a PhD in public administration from the University of Kansas. Matkin taught for six years at Florida State University’s Askew School of Public Administration and Policy and five years at the University at Albany’s Rockefeller College of Public Affairs & Policy. He now returns to BYU Marriott as the newest faculty member for the Romney Institute of Public Service and Ethics.

“I am thrilled with the commitment to excellence that I continue to experience among my faculty colleagues and the staff, and throughout the university,” Matkin says. “I want to make a major contribution toward building the Romney Institute’s scholarly reputation and strengthening the financial management skills of the BYU MPA students.”

The BYU Marriott School of Business prepares men and women of faith, character, and professional ability for positions of leadership throughout the world. Named for benefactors J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott, the school is located at Brigham Young University, the largest privately owned, church-sponsored university in the United States. BYU Marriott has four graduate and ten undergraduate programs with an enrollment of approximately 3,300 students.