MSRI Faculty
A defining characteristic of Butler’s online Master of Risk and Insurance is our experienced faculty, who bring years of real-world experience to the topics they are teaching both on-campus and online.
Victor Puleo is the Davey Chair of Risk Management and Insurance in the Lacy School of Business at Butler University. He earned a doctorate in Risk Management and Insurance at Florida State University. Victor has articles published in the Journal of Insurance Issues, Risk Management and Insurance Review, Managerial Finance, and Best’s Review.
Victor is a Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC) and Certified Financial Planner™ Certificant. He is an Educational Consultant (1994) and National Faculty Member (2008) for the Society of Certified Insurance Counselors. Victor is a member of the Board of Directors and Chair of The National Alliance Research Academy.
Prior to being named the Davey Chair of Risk Management and Insurance, Victor was an Associate Professor of the nationally ranked Insurance and Risk Management program at the University of Central Arkansas (UCA). Students from UCA were the first in the country to be conferred the University Associate Certified Insurance Counselor (UACIC) designation. The UACIC designation was created to give college students pursuing an Insurance and Risk Management undergraduate degree the opportunity to attain a new level of professionalism through advanced practical education while in college. This designation is a program of the National Alliance Research Academy.
Tom Faulconer is a lecturer of Business and of Risk Management and Insurance at Butler University and has served as a Personal Financial Counselor for active military personnel through Zeiders Enterprises, a large military contractor. He is also the owner of Transitions Financial LLC, a financial planning and advisory company primarily helping those who are in job transition, divorce, or moving into retirement.
Tom is a 1985 graduate of Butler University and a 1988 graduate of the Indiana University School of Law at Indianapolis.
He began his career at Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance as Advanced Sales Counsel, was promoted to Manager of Agent Training, Director of Agent Development, and was named Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer in 2010. Among other notable achievements during Tom’s tenure as SVP and CMO was the creation of the “Stop Knocking on Wood” branding campaign as well as securing the rights to the classic television commercials Farm Bureau ran during Indiana University and Purdue University basketball games featuring the singing janitor (IU) and the tuba player (PU).
While at Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance, in addition to continuing his legal work and education, Tom earned several professional designations including the Certified Financial Planner®, Chartered Life Underwriter, Chartered Financial Consultant, Chartered Advisor for Senior Living, and the Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriter. He also earned Series 6, 7, 63 and 26 securities registrations, served as the Office of Supervisory Jurisdiction in Indiana for EquiTrust Marketing Services (Broker-dealer), and introduced variable products to the company’s field force.
After leaving Farm Bureau, Tom formed a joint venture insurance agency and registered investment advisory firm with his former employer.
Tom is the author of two books—In The Eyes of the Law and Surviving and Thriving in the Job Search.
Tom Hanson primarily teaches courses in corporate finance, investments, and valuation. He is also the faculty advisor for the Financial Management Association (FMA). He received his doctorate from Kent State University, an MBA from the University of St. Thomas, a master’s degree in Applied Statistics from North Dakota State University, and a bachelor’s degree in Math and Economics from St. Olaf College. He is also a CFA charter holder.
Tom previously taught at Minnesota State University Moorhead and Cleveland State University. His research interests include market microstructure, high frequency trading, and quantitative methodology. He often publishes cross-disciplinary, co-authored work, including the book Quantitative Research Methods in Translation and Interpreting Studies (Routledge) with Dr. Christopher Mellinger.
Mauricio Melgarejo has a doctorate in Management with a specialization in Accounting from Purdue University, and an MBA from INCAE Business School. Before joining Butler, Mauricio worked as an Assistant Professor at INCAE Business School in Nicaragua and Costa Rica. He also did several consulting business jobs in Latin America. At Butler, Mauricio teaches Accounting Information Systems and Managerial Accounting in the undergraduate program and the MPAcc, MBA, and MSRI programs. His empirical research focuses on the impact of accounting information on capital markets in emerging economies with a focus on Latin America. He is also interested in applied analysis in accounting. His research has been published in the Journal of World Business, Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Journal of Business Research, Investment Analysts Journal, and the Journal of Accounting in Emerging Economies. In 2018, Mauricio received the LSB Dean Research Award for outstanding contributions to the advancement of Excellence in Research. Mauricio enjoys traveling around the world with his family and watching international soccer games.
Professor Wottring has spent his entire professional career in the insurance industry. He spent 33 years at Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance holding several positions including Agent, Agency Development Specialist, Agency Manager, District Sales Director, and Manager of Life Insurance training. Three particular highlights of his Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance career include being a two-time Agency Governor, elected into the Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance “Hall of Fame,” and having both his boys in the insurance business. He has earned several professional financial designations including Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC) from The American College as well as the Chartered Advisor for Senior Living (CASL), and the Charted Leadership Fellow (CLF). Professor Wottring’s daughter is a Butler graduate.
Along with teaching in the Risk Management and Insurance program at Butler University, Professor Wottring is the owner of “The Wottring Agency”- Allstate Insurance in Fishers.
Professor Wottring is a graduate of Grace College where he earned his Bachelor of Science as well as his MBA.
He and his wife Stephanie reside in Noblesville. They have 3 children and two grandchildren.