Carnegie Mellon University
November 04, 2014

Professors Boatwright and Peña Earn Faculty Chairs at Carnegie Mellon

By Mark Burd / 412-268-3486                           

Javier PenaPeter BoatwrightPITTSBURGH—In recognition of their outstanding research contributions, two Carnegie Mellon University Tepper School of Business professors have been honored with faculty chairs. Peter Boatwright (right) has received the Carnegie Bosch Professorship in Marketing established by the Carnegie Bosch Institute, and Javier Peña (far right) has received the Bajaj Family Chair in Operations Research established by the Kamalnayan Jamnalal Bajaj Foundation.

"Peter Boatwright and Javier Peña have not only made significant research contributions in their fields, but they are also recognized as outstanding educators and highly involved faculty members," said Tepper School Dean Robert Dammon.

Since joining the Tepper School faculty in 1997, Boatwright has been instrumental in creating and teaching popular business courses on topics that include new product management, pricing strategy and integrated product development.

Boatwright, co-director of Carnegie Mellon's Integrated Innovation Institute, has co-authored two books on the innovation of new products and services: "The Design of Things to Come: How Ordinary People Create Extraordinary Products" and "Built to Love: Creating Products that Captivate Customers."

Boatwright routinely collaborates with colleagues at the College of Engineering, the School of Design and the Department of Statistics to advance research fostering a better understanding of consumer preferences, decision-making and behavior. He holds a courtesy faculty appointment in the Mechanical Engineering Department.

"One of the tenets of this university is a respect for the power of cross-campus collaboration, and Peter's long-standing involvement with colleagues across the Carnegie Mellon campus is a great example of his commitment to leveraging the interdisciplinary insights on behalf of our students, alumni and corporate partners," Dammon said.

Boatwright earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics at Wheaton College, a master's degree in statistics from the University of Wisconsin, and an MBA and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business.

Peña, who joined the faculty in 1999 after completing a postdoctoral fellowship at the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute in Berkeley, Calif., teaches a variety of analytical subjects, including popular master's degree courses in data mining and financial optimization.

His research has been supported by grants from the National Science Foundation, including a prestigious CAREER Award. He was a recipient of the Caterpillar Research Chair in 2001 and an IBM faculty research award in 2010.

"Javier's research demonstrates a mindset of knowledge discovery, appreciation for collaboration both with his students and his colleagues, as well as a willingness to stretch beyond the walls of his discipline," Dammon said. "In addition to being an outstanding researcher, Javier is also an outstanding educator. Our MBA students recognized Javier in 2005 when he received the George Leland Bach Teaching Award for Excellence in the Classroom."

Peña earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics in 1991, a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering in 1991 and a master's degree in mathematics in 1993 from the Universidad de los Andes in Columbia. He earned his Ph.D. in applied mathematics from Cornell University in 1998.

Professors Boatwright and Peña were honored at a school reception on Oct. 27.

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