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UConn Today
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The School of Business is welcoming three new faculty members this Fall, who bring expertise in accounting, entrepreneurship, and real-estate research.
“Hiring new business faculty is always exciting, because the nature of our field is to stay on the cutting-edge of innovation and its application in the real world,’’ said Interim Dean Bob Day. “Looking at these three new hires and their current research programs I see innovation throughout: I see new taxation policies and new means of studying their implications; I see AI and autonomous-vehicle policy; I see research on manufactured homes and the impact of solar panels on real estate investment, among other topics.’’
“These are three scholars in the conversation of what is relevant to business and society today, with great promise to engage our students on these topics in the classroom. These perspectives both enhance and complement our existing expertise, so I am really excited about this incoming group,’’ he said.
The new faculty are:
Accounting
Austin Blake joins the Accounting Department as an assistant professor. He will be based in Storrs and teach tax accounting to undergraduate students.
“I was excited to work here because of UConn as a whole, and especially because the accounting department is collegial, friendly, and research active,’’ he said.
Blake earned a Ph.D. at Arizona State University, and both his bachelor’s degree in accounting, summa cum laude, and his MBA from the University of Maine. His research interests include the economic implications of federal, state, and local tax policies and regulatory requirements.
A CPA, he has worked as a staff accountant in the tax practice at Baker Newman Noyes in Portland, Maine. In 2025, he received a Deloitte Foundation Doctoral Fellowship, a prestigious award given to only 10 top accounting Ph.D. candidates across the country.
In the classroom, Blake is excited to share the love of his profession. “I hope to emphasize that taxes are important in students’ lives and professions, no matter what specific career path they pursue. It is important to know how taxes impact the business world,’’ he said.
With most of his family residing in Maine, Blake said that he is happy he will be able to see them without taking a cross-country flight.
Management
Jue “Kate’’ Wang joins the Boucher Management & Entrepreneurship Department as an assistant professor in-residence, based in Storrs. She previously taught at Pennsylvania State University in State College, Penn. Wang earned a Ph.D. in management and organization at the University of Southern California. Her research interests include organizational theory, entrepreneurial non-market strategies, and technological innovation.
Wang will be teaching undergraduates this year, and one of her courses, titled “The Entrepreneurial Journey’’ will have 180 students. That doesn’t concern her at all.
“I’d say my style is to have a lot of fun. With an entrepreneurship class the emphasis is on thinking. We have papers but no exams. As long as the students follow instructions, they’ll do well,’’ she said. “I hope to get students even more inspired to create something new.’’
Wang said she came to UConn because she was excited to work at a university that is so dedicated to entrepreneurship. A fan of human-AI collaboration, she will use simulated business cases to enhance some of her courses.
Wang said she’s excited to explore the campus and surrounding community, but first she has to get some of the mundane chores, like registering her car, out of the way.
Finance/Real Estate
Xiangxin Liu joins the Real Estate faculty as a postdoctoral research associate. He is no stranger to UConn, having earned a Ph.D. in finance here in 2024. Liu also earned a master’s in economics from the University of California Irvine and a bachelors in mathematics and economics from the University of California San Diego.
His first research project will address accessory dwelling units (ADUs)–small, self-contained secondary housing spaces on a residential lot–and housing liquidity. The focus of the research will be on the impact in Los Angeles County. “This is a popular topic that’s on the forefront of many people’s minds,’’ he said.
He also has a proposal to examine solar panels and their value to different occupants, from homeowners to renters.
Liu has previously worked as a Research Fellow with UConn’s Eversource Energy Center, addressing real estate and renewable energy issues. Prior to that he worked on data analysis on investor ownership of single-family homes. His interests span real estate, spatial economics and corporate finance. He has worked closely with professors Jeff Cohen, Chinmoy Ghosh, and John Knopf in the past.
The UConn Dairy Bar is Liu’s favorite on-campus location. Although he tries to limit visits, he does occasionally try the newest Flavor of the Month.
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