Joanna P. KimbellView profile
Assistant Clinical Professor
Joanna P. Kimbell serves as Clinical Assistant Professor of Business Law and Management at West Texas A&M University's Paul and Virginia Engler College of Business, holding the Patterson Professorship of Business Law since 2025. She teaches Business Law, Law & Economics, Conflict Resolution & Negotiation, and Strategic Management across 2-3 course sections per semester, with Spring 2026 schedules including three Business Law sections. Her academic foundation includes: J.D. and M.B.A. in Business Law and Management from Baylor University (2008) B.S. in Economics from Butler University (2000), where she earned Outstanding Economics Senior honors Dr. Kimbell's research centers on fraud examination, internal controls, and business strategy, examining legal-business intersections through real-world case studies. Her publications analyze cybersecurity provider policies (Cloudflare/Kiwi Farms), employment law challenges (background checks, pay equity), and anti-corruption frameworks (FCPA/COSO). She bridges theoretical legal principles with corporate practice through her dual attorney and auditor certifications. Her recent scholarly output reveals evolving focus areas: early work concentrated on SEC rulemaking and legal pedagogy (2016-2017), expanding to technology-law intersections (employee tracking, Section 230) by 2020, and currently addressing contemporary issues like online content moderation and hiring equity. This progression demonstrates consistent engagement with emerging legal-business dilemmas while maintaining core expertise in fraud and controls. Dr. Kimbell actively mentors undergraduate students, advising 20-30 per term since 2016 with documented capstone projects like Pedro Lameiras Dos Santos' ethical leadership study. She serves on multiple university committees including Faculty Development (2024-2027) and Strategic Planning (2017-2027), while contributing professional service through journal reviewing and Texas Library Coalition representation. Though not leading a formal research laboratory, she integrates students into scholarly work through co-authored publications and case competition mentorship. Her creative practice as fiction author Maryanne M. Wells (including the 'Undead Bar Association' series) complements academic work by exploring legal-historical narratives through mythological lenses.