Business School Introduces New Faculty

New Faculty

Aroon Manoharan (started January 2022)

Associate Professor of Public Service
Director, National Center for Public Performance

Professor Manoharan’s research interests include e-government, performance measurement, strategic planning, public communication, administrative capacity, and comparative public administration. His research employs an international comparative focus, and he has been involved in e-government projects in Kigali (Rwanda), Prague (Czech Republic), Sofia (Bulgaria), Cape Town (South Africa), and India.

Manohoran is the director of the National Center for Public Performance, a research and public service center that is based at the Sawyer Business School. He has directed the Digital Governance in Municipalities Worldwide Surveys and the US States and Municipalities E-Governance Surveys. He was the previous chair of the ASPA Section on Public Performance and Management. He received his PhD from the School of Public Affairs and Administration at Rutgers University-Newark and his MPA from Kansas State University.

Arkapravo (Arka) Sarkar (started July 2022)

Assistant Professor of Marketing

Professor Sarkar’s research interests lie in the areas of multichannel retailing, digital marketing, sustainable brands, and sustainability in retailing. A quantitative marketing researcher, he uses proprietary retailer data and cutting-edge research methods like quasi-experiments, field experiments, causal inference techniques, and applied econometrics to answer the impact of real-world marketing phenomena on customer behavior.

Sarkar has worked in the industry for more than 10 years, an experience he leverages in his teaching. He has experience in software programming and services and has performed various critical customer-facing roles across banking, financial services, retail, and transportation for Fortune 500 organizations in the US. Professor Sarkar’s teaching interests include business research methods, marketing analytics, CRM & data mining, and marketing strategy.

New Positions and Appointments

Pelin Bicen, Associate Professor of Marketing

Appointed to Associate Dean of Undergraduate Programs

Professor Bicen was chair of the Marketing Department from 2019-2022 and is co-chairing the current undergraduate curriculum revision task force. In her new role, she works with the dean and program heads to enhance enrollment, retention, and student success at undergraduate level.

Jodi Detjen, Associate Professor of Practice in Management

Appointed to Associate Dean of Innovative Education and Programs

In this new role, Professor Detjen, executive director of the MBA program, will work to enhance and systemize the most important features of the Business School’s educational approach. She will also reshape the credential ecosystem based on existing academic portfolios to help increase enrollments and generate new revenues, and collaborate closely with the Center for Continuing & Professional Education to expand corporate and external education/training opportunities.

George Moker, Assistant Professor of Practice in Marketing

Appointed to Assistant Dean of Student Transition

Moker, MBA ’03, an assistant professor of practice, marketing, will support the Business School’s efforts to improve three kinds of student transitions: from high school to college (first-year experience); from freshman to sophomore; and from outside Suffolk to Suffolk (transfer students).

Carlos Rufín, Professor of Strategy and Internal Business and Affiliated Professor of Public Service

Appointed to Chair of Public Service and Healthcare Administration

Professor Rufín is the chair of this newly merged department. He will maintain his faculty title in International Business and has an affiliated faculty appointment in Public Service.

Jane Zhu, Director of Faculty Excellence; Director of International Engagement

Appointed to Chair of Marketing

Professor Zhu was the co-director of the Center of Innovation and Change Leadership at Suffolk University from 2019-2022. With 15 years of experience at Suffolk University, she will now serve as the chair of the Marketing Department.