Isenberg Graduate Faculty Advance Research with Real-World Insights

Isenberg School of Management students pursuing MBA, master of finance, MS in accounting, MS in business analytics, MS in management, MS in sport management, and MBA/MS dual degrees—whether they’re studying online or in person at UMass Amherst—learn from faculty who regularly earn national and global recognition for their scholarly work. Their research reaches leading journals, national media, and the graduate students who learn from them.

“The work of faculty teaching in Isenberg’s graduate programs reflects the value we place on these programs and the high standards we maintain for our master’s-level courses,” said Anne Massey, PhD, Isenberg dean and Thomas O’Brien Chair. “These instructors are not only highly regarded in their fields, but also deeply committed to preparing students for the future of business.”

Top 2% Scientists

Multiple Isenberg faculty teaching graduate-level courses were included on the 2025 edition of the Top 2% Scientists list, an annual report identifying researchers worldwide who are among the most-cited scientists in their respective fields. 

One of those is Hospitality and Tourism Management (HTM) Professor Albert Assaf, PhD, Hadelman Family Faculty Fellow and graduate faculty director, who teaches both in-person and online classes, including Statistics for Business and Economic and Financial Analysis. Assaf’s research focuses on applied econometrics, efficiency and productivity analysis, and performance measurement in hospitality and tourism. (Read about his work studying the impacts of tourism in crisis-stricken countries, here.)

Two of Assaf’s colleagues in Isenberg’s HTM department—Department Chair and Professor Melissa Baker, PhD, and Associate Professor Irem Onder, PhD—were also included on the Top 2% Scientists list. Baker, the Jaime ’76 and Cindy Pereira Faculty Fellow, teaches online graduate courses in Leadership and Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management. Her instruction is informed by her scholarship, which examines hospitality and customer experience management through qualitative and quantitative methods, addressing service failure and recovery, customer-employee interactions, employee well-being, and emerging workplace issues such as customer incivility, quiet quitting, and the evolving role of technology in service settings.

Onder studies the intersection of hospitality, tourism, AI, and digital transformation and shares her knowledge through online and in-person master’s-level courses on Generative AI.

Marketing Professor Matt Thomson, PhD, the Charles D. Schewe Faculty Fellow, was also recognized on the Top 2% Scientists list for his work studying branding, relationships, and experiences—expertise he shares in courses on Marketing Strategy. His recent work examining how consumers respond when companies use their own nicknames in advertising was published in the  Journal of Marketing and reported on by The Wall Street Journal.

Top Journal Publications

In management, Assistant Professor Feng Qiu, PhD—who teaches Leadership and Organizational Behavior to Isenberg graduate students—is  coauthor of two recent studies examining how workplace power dynamics influence supervisor behavior. Published in the Academy of Management Journal and the Journal of Applied Psychology, the research explores informal leadership, supervisor jealousy, impostor feelings, hierarchy, and authority. 

Emily Heaphy, PhD, professor of management and John F. Kennedy Faculty Fellow, studies how professionals in elite consulting firms sustain successful careers without burning out, with recent findings published in Organization Science. She shares her expertise with master’s-level students in Human Resource Management.

Operations and Information Management Assistant Professor Zhanfei Lei, PhD, studies user-generated content and online reviews. Her 2025 MIS Quarterly article shows how review exposure, ranking algorithms, and consumer review-seeking behavior influence purchasing decisions. Her graduate students in courses on Database Management for Analytics benefit from her deep understanding of data usage.

Professional Expertise

Isenberg faculty also bring deep professional expertise to graduate programs. Lynda Schwartz ’86, director of Isenberg’s new Graduate Certificate in Forensic Accounting, developed the school’s first forensic accounting colloquium in 2015 and still teaches Introduction to Forensic Accounting and Fraud Examination and Investigation—both online. A 26-year veteran of EY, Schwartz—recently named the 2026 Educator of the Year by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners—helped found the firm’s Fraud & Dispute Services practice in New England and now consults on anti-fraud and compliance issues.