Two Brock professors are being recognized on a list of the 99 most productive business and management education researchers in the world.

Ernest Biktimirov, Professor of Finance, and Darlene Bay, Professor of Accounting, both with the Goodman School of Business, are among four Canadians featured in a report produced by researchers at several U.S. business schools and published in Decision Sciences Journal of Innovative Education in July.

The list of the field’s most productive researchers was created after 7,209 authors were identified who published at least one paper in 17 carefully-selected business and management education journals.

Each of the authors was ranked based on productivity according to the number of published articles — adjusted by the number of co-authors — and the journal quality. Topics included accounting, economics, finance, information systems, management, marketing and operations/supply chain management.

The paper was created to provide a searchable list of authors and topics for business professors and administrators, while also helping to identify research opportunities and potential collaborators.

“I think it’s a great accomplishment for Goodman,” Biktimirov said of having two Brock professors named among only four Canadians on the list. “It’s very strong validation of the quality of education we offer at the Goodman School of Business.”

Biktimirov was ranked second among Canadians on the list, and third among the finance researchers worldwide that were included.

“It was a great honour to be recognized,” he said, adding his passion for teaching and love of research motivates him to stay productive in his field.

“I’m always looking for new, innovative ways to teach finance,” he said. “I’m always trying to make finance easier to understand and more exciting. When I succeed in that, it gives me a great sense of satisfaction.”

Biktimirov is hopeful his teaching and research will help inspire others to pursue finance professionally.

Bay, who has been teaching accounting at Brock since 2004, was surprised by the designation but honoured to be included among authors whose work she has been reading for years.

Her ongoing motivation is due in part to being raised in an environment that “requires one to do a good job,” she said. “I shudder to think what my grandmother would say if she ever heard of me not doing the very best I can at my job. It is very important to me to feel that I am ‘earning’ my paycheque.”

But more than that, Bay said being an accounting professor is a big part of who she is. The career choice was initially based on her love of teaching and interaction with students. It was through working with others that she learned to not only enjoy research, but to also integrate her love of teaching.

“That is the genesis for many of the research projects (I have taken on) and for projects in other areas of accounting research,” she said. “I love it when I can do research with our graduate students — that is the best.”

The paper, Key Authors in Business and Management Education Research: Productivity, Topics, and Future Directions, was co-authored by several professors from U.S. business schools, including J. B. Arbaugh, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, College of Business; Carlos J. Asarta, University of Delaware, Lerner College of Business; Alvin Hwang, Pace University, Lubin School of Business; Charles J. Fornaciari, LaSalle University, School of Business; Regina F. Bento, University of Baltimore, Merrick School of Business; and Kathy Lund Dean, Gustavas Adolphus College.

Biktimirov recently spoked about the designation during an appearance on Conversations with Goodman, a podcast series produced by the Goodman Marketing, Communications and Alumni Relations team that features guests from the Goodman community.