Isenberg Welcomes 11 New Faculty Members

The school has hired eleven new scholars from a broad range of disciplines for the 2019-2020 academic year:

Assistant Professor, Department of Finance

Abdi’s research is on understanding liquidity, and the way it interacts with asset prices and financial stability. His recent paper on estimating bid-ask spreads appeared in the Review of Financial Studies. In another work, he explains the short-term decline-reversal cycles in the stock market. He is teaching financial risk management and financial modeling.

Education: PhD, Finance, University of St. Gallen, Switzerland; Visiting Scholar, Stern School of Business, New York University; MS, Financial Engineering, Swiss Finance Institute at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne

Assistant Professor, McCormack Department of Sport Management

Baker applies techniques from machine learning to problems in sport consumer behavior and sport analytics. His recent research has focused on consumer loyalty, decision-making in sport, and brand building via social media. Some of his recent journal articles have explored the simultaneous influence of multiple related brands, sport fan response to identify threat, and comparing spectator motives in esport versus traditional sport. Baker’s primary teaching interest is sport analytics. He is cofounder of startup D5ai, which conducts research on novel approaches in deep learning and artificial intelligence.

Education: PhD, Business Administration, Fox School of Business and Management, Temple University; MS, Sport and Recreation Management, Temple University; BS, Computer Science/Mathematical Sciences, Johns Hopkins University

Assistant Professor, Department of Marketing

Godfrey strives to improve our understanding of consumer experiences, notably how places and things shape interactions between consumers and service providers. He studies the implications of this knowledge for future environmental campaigns driven by governments, nonprofits, and business organizations. His research explores sociocultural aspects of consumer behavior, marketing of services, customer experience, “space and place,” corporate sustainability, and social responsibility. He teaches qualitative research methods, retail management, consumer behavior, and marketing communications. Godfrey has industry experience in business innovation consulting and graphic design. In addition, he has collaborated with organizations dedicated to social entrepreneurship and environmental sustainability.

Education: PhD, Marketing, Eller College of Management, University of Arizona; MA, Communication and Culture, University of Calgary; BA, Advertising, Brigham Young University

Assistant Professor, Department of Operations and Information Management

Lei’s research explores user-generated content, electronic commerce, and emotions in online communication. She teaches introductory courses in information systems. Her dissertation, “The Role of Online Reviews in Consumer Decision Making,” examined what sets helpful reviews apart from unhelpful ones, which kinds of reviews consumers prefer to read, and how online reviews shape consumer purchase decisions.

Education: PhD, Information Technology Management, Georgia Institute of Technology; MS, Information Sciences, University of Pittsburgh; BS, Information Management and Information Systems, Nanjing University

Assistant Professor, Department of Finance

Crossing the boundary between corporate finance and labor economics, Ma studies the relationship between a firm’s activities and labor market outcomes, including wage distributions, occupational composition, and labor mobility. Her paper, “Market Power, Finance Wages and Inequality,” appeared in the Harvard Business Review. She has also written on labor inequality in light of technological change and mergers and acquisitions. Ma teaches corporate finance.

Education: PhD, Economics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; MS, Economics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; MS, Mathematical Finance, University of North Carolina Charlotte; BA, Economics, Xiamen University

Associate Professor, Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management

Onder Neuhofer’s research lens is information technology and economics. Her IT interests include social media, user-generated content, big data analysis, and decision support systems. Her recent research includes the collection of urban tourism data, a marketing benchmark study for European cities, and Airbnb’s impact on tourism demand in Vienna. Her research has appeared in the Journal of Travel Research, Tourism Economics, and the Annals of Tourism Research. She has been associate editor of Event Management Journal since 2008. Onder Neuhofer‘s teaching interests in hospitality and tourism include IT, social media, marketing destination management, and sustainable tourism development. Before joining Isenberg, she was a professor at MODUL University in Vienna.

Education: PhD, Travel and Tourism Management, Clemson University; MS, Information Systems Management, Ferris State University; BA Economics, Marmara University

Assistant Professor, Department of Accounting

Zhang emphasizes archival research in the area of auditing, including audit firms, auditor regulation, corporate governance, and internal audits. Her paper on regulatory enforcement against small audit firms won the 2018 Best Doctoral Student Paper Award presented by the Auditing Section of the American Accounting Association. She teaches courses in the auditing of financial statements. 

Education: PhD, Accounting, Arizona State University; MS, Accounting, City University of New York—Queens College; BBA, Business Administration and Management, Nanchang University; BA, English Literature, Nanchang University 

Lecturer, Department of Operations and Information Management

Employing the Python and R programming languages, Baldwin helps students to improve their statistical and information management abilities while introducing techniques for data extraction and manipulation. From 2003-2018, she taught college preparatory physics, statistics, and data science. Since 2009, she has maintained her own part-time practice, Green Line Analytics, a statistical consulting firm in Northampton, Massachusetts. 

Education: MS, Applied Statistics, Colorado State University; BA, Physics, Mount Holyoke College

Lecturer, Department of Accounting

Triani teaches managerial and financial accounting. Her research interests include the role of gender diversity in corporate governance, earnings management, impression management, and value relevance. A PhD candidate at the University of Ferrara, her focus is on the economics and management of innovation and sustainability,

Education: PhD, Economics and Management of Innovation and Sustainability, University of Ferrara; MS, Business Administration, University of Parma; BS, Economics and Management, University of Parma

Lecturer, Department of Operations and Information Management

Zilch, a CPA, teaches courses in business information and analytics, and power spreadsheets for business analysts. She has taught undergraduate and graduate courses at Springfield College and Fisher College. Her research interests include corporate sustainability incentives, decision making, and international strategic management. Before joining academe, Zilch gained industry experience on Wall Street, where she provided financial analysis for trading and investment banking. 

Education: PhD, International Business, Southern New Hampshire University; MS, Financial Planning, Bentley University; BS, Accounting, Providence College

Lecturer, Business Communications

Zucker teaches business writing. A widely published writer, he has excelled in residencies and received awards from the New York State Summer Writers Institute, the Keller Estate, and the Purdue University Libraries and College of Liberal Arts. His writing has graced ESPN the Magazine, Fast Company, West Branch, Iron Horse Literary Review, and Electric Literature.

Education: MFA, Purdue University; BA, English and History, University of Rochester