2022-23 Saunders Faculty and Staff Go Above and Beyond

The hard work and dedication of the Saunders College of Business faculty is what gives us an edge over the rest and contribute to what many consider a small college feel at a large technology university. We would like to recognize some of our faculty’s recent accomplishments and congratulate them on a job well done!

May 2023

13 Saunders faculty and staff members celebrate anniversaries at Rochester Institute of Technology

• Five Years
  • Duygu Akdevelioglu, Ph.D., assistant professor of marketing
  • Matt Cornwell, associate director of student services 
  • John Curran, lecturer of finance and accounting 
  • Melody Klein, academic advisor 
  • Keith Weber, senior lecturer of management information systems
• 10 Years 
  • Kirstin Pedersen, senior staff specialist
  • Muhammet Kesgin, Ph.D., associate professor of hospitality and tourism management 
  • Shawn Sturgeon, Ph.D., director of accreditation and assessment
  • Von Murphy, financial analyst
• 15 Years 
  • Mike Palanski, Ph.D., professor of management
  • Bill Dresnack, JD, professor of accounting
• 25 Years
  • Richard DeMartino, Ph.D., professor of management
  • Rose Thomas, academic advisor

Melissa Masline, assistant director of student services, received the outstanding staff award. This award is given annually to a staff member who demonstrates enthusiasm for their job, sets an example for others, proactively identifies challenges and suggests improvements, and is supportive of RIT and Saunders clubs, events, and activities.

Sandra Rothenberg, Ph.D., department chair of public policy, was recognized as a featured faculty member for research productivity over time by RIT Faculty Scholarship Report Saunders College of Business. 

Sorim Chung, Ph.D., assistant professor of marketing, has been promoted to associate professor!

Emi Moriuchi, Ph.D., associate professor of marketing, has received the endowed professorship of McClure Professorship in Marketing.

Neo Bui, Ph.D., associate professor, Clyde Eirikur Hull, Ph.D., professor of management, Manlu Liu, Ph.D., professor of marketing and Qian Song, Ph.D., associate professor of management have been selected for Summer Research Grants with help from students.

Ali Tosyali, Ph.D., assistant professor of management information systems, was awarded a special grant through RIT’s SRS Boot Camp for research on “Designing Explainable Artificial Intelligence Artifacts: A Computational Design Science Approach to Mental Health Screening.”

Fifteen Saunders professors received certificates for exemplary teaching performance:

Faculty Certificates “Outstanding Teaching Effectiveness” 

• Hao Zhang, Ph.D., professor of finance 
• James Huang, Ph.D., associate professor of finance 
• Archana Jain, Ph.D., associate professor of finance
• Emi Moriuchi, Ph.D., associate professor of marketing
• Ezekiel Leo, Ph.D., assistant professor of management

Faculty Certificates “Exceptional Student Impact” 

• Lorraine Hems, senior lecturer of hospitality  
• Andy Lawrence, lecturer of management 
• Philip Gelsomino, CPA, senior lecturer of finance 
• Michael Caceci, lecturer of marketing 
• Rick Mislan, Ph.D., professor of information systems of cybersecurity

Faculty Certificates “Exemplary Adjunct Teaching” 

• Laura Segave, adjunct faculty of marketing 
• Chris Zoellick, adjunct faculty 
• Anthony Testa, director of commercialization training programs for the Simone Center for Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship
• Tim Hungerford, adjunct faculty 
• Dave Ballard, director of technical services

Rose Thomas, academic advisor, was the Class Address Speaker at the 4th Annual Black Graduation. 13 Saunders students graduated.

Sorim Chung, Ph.D., assistant professor of marketing, has been awarded the 2023-24 Ronald D. Dodge Memorial Faculty Grant for her research project: Assistive Technology for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing (DHH). This grant is awarded to faculty members annually for financial assistance supporting research and development efforts.

Three teams in dt ogilvie, Ph.D., professor of management, earned a Top 100 ranking in the worldwide simulation with 1,186 teams participating.

Clyde Eirikur Hull, Ph.D., professor of management, published research on “Innovativeness, digital entrepreneurship, and female entrepreneurs” in the Journal of the International Council of Small Business.

Zhi Tang, Ph.D., professor of management, Clyde Eirikur Hull, Ph.D., professor of management, and Ezekiel Leo, Ph.D., assistant professor of management published the paper “When consumers lose power: An examination of the stakeholder dynamics in the pharmaceutical industry” in Business Ethics, the Environment and Responsibility. 

Clyde Eirikur Hull, Ph.D., professor of management, arranged a lecture with Pooja Kapoor, managing director of corporate strategy at Google, for his technology strategy class.

April 2023

Malarvizhi Hirudayaraj, Ph.D., associate professor of management, has been selected as the new AdvanceRIT director. AdvanceRIT is a program that concentrates on increasing representation and advancing the careers of women on campus.

March 2023

Joy Olabisi, Ph.D., associate professor of management, and Zhi Tang, Ph.D., professor of management, published the paper “Stakeholder Transformation Process: The Journey of an Indigenous Community” in the Journal of Business Ethics. This paper was accepted into the Honor Roll of Responsible Research and Business Management, a publication that features rigorous, scholarly articles that create a positive impact on society.

Clyde Eirikur Hull, Ph.D., professor of management, won the Eisenhart Award for Outstanding Teaching, the most prestigious teaching award offered by RIT. The award recognizes faculty who excel not only in teaching but in demonstrating faculty leadership, thorough knowledge of their discipline, and enhancing the student experience.

February 2023

Edwin N. Torres, Ph.D., professor of hospitality and service innovation, published the textbook “Customer Service Marketing: Managing the Customer Experience,” which provides an overview of customer service principles and discusses theories about consumer behavior and loyalty in organizational settings.

Mike Palanski, Ph.D., professor of management, hosted an interactive session with the Greater Rochester Chamber about the benefits of leaders prioritizing themselves as human beings for efficient leadership development.

Rick Mislan, Ph.D., professor of information systems of cybersecurity, collaborated with students and cartoonist Leigh Rubin for the “The Sketchy Cybersecurity Newsletter,” composed by Saunders students in the Cyber: Risk and Resilience course. February’s issue concentrates on the seasonal prevalence of romance scams.

dt ogilvie, Ph.D., professor of management, was featured on “A Guest at the Table” column on NewsRadio WHAM 1180.

Clyde Eirikur Hull, Ph.D., professor of management, co-edited “Handbook of Digital Entrepreneurship,” which chronicles digital entrepreneurship research.

Rick Lagiewski, Ph.D., principal lecturer of management, and Malar Hirudayaraj, Ph.D., associate professor of management, have received professional development grants from the Office of Faculty Affairs and Faculty Career Development at RIT.

Bill Dresnack, JD, professor of accounting, has published the paper “Building a Stronger Pipeline: Stacking Pre-CPA Accounting Licenses on the Way to CPA” in CPA Journal.

Gijs Overgoor, Ph.D., assistant professor of marketing, has received a $26,000 Amazon Research Award for his proposal on using video summarization to generate effective, short video ads.

January 2023

Rich DeJordy, Ph.D., professor of management, joined Saunders as the new department chair of management after fulfilling a similar role at the Craig School of Business at California State University, Fresno.

Rick Mislan, Ph.D., professor of information systems and cybersecurity, has received this year’s “Service After Service Award” given annually at the RIT Veteran’s Day breakfast to a veteran who has demonstrated a steadfast commitment to service following their military service. Mislan served in the U.S. Army as an Electronic Warfare Officer from 1991 to 2000 through an RIT ROTC Commission.

Duygu Akdevelioglu, Ph.D., assistant professor of marketing, has published the paper “The Philosophical and Methodological Choices of Ethnographic Researchers in Online Communities” in International Journal of Market Research.

Emi Moriuchi, Ph.D., associate professor of marketing, has received a Fulbright Specialist Program award from the U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. Moriuchi will complete a project at Malmö Institute for Studies of Migration, Diversity, and Welfare in Sweden that establishes partnerships benefiting participants, institutions, and communities worldwide through educational and training activities within business administration.

Archana Jain, Ph.D., associate professor of finance, has accepted the position of department chair of finance and accounting within Saunders.

Raj Murthy, Ph.D., professor of marketing, has published three articles in the past year: “How Do External Networks and Strategic Targeting Impact Open Innovation in the Global Auto Industry?” in IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management; “Better Angry than Afraid: The Case of Post Data Breach Emotions on Customer Engagement” in IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management; and “Profiling Food Festivals by Type, Name and Descriptive Content: A Population Level Study” in British Food Journal. The articles broadly focus on open innovation strategies, customer engagement and emotion, and food festival and tourism branding, respectively.

December 2022

Sorim Chung, Ph.D., assistant professor of marketing, is first author of a research article titled “Digital Claustrophobia: Affective Responses to Digital Design Decisions,” which has been accepted for publication in Computers in Human Behavior Reports. The research is the first to introduce the concept of “digital claustrophobia” in the context of online consumer product satisfaction.

Jesse M. Redlo, adjunct faculty member, spoke at TEDxNazarethCollege about “Fostering Mental Health in the Workplace.”

Olivia Rotondo '23 (MBA) was a featured speaker for St. John Fisher University's Meet the Media, an interactive panel discussion about the relationship between public relations, journalism, and social media hosted by Fisher's Public Relations, Integrated Marketing, and Advertising (PRIMA) group.

Ali Tosyali, Ph.D., assistant professor of management information systems, and Gijs Overgoor, Ph.D., professor of marketing, co-authored a study about detecting fake Amazon reviews in an article titled "Detecting Fake Review Buyers Using Network Structure: Direct Evidence from Amazon." It received media coverage from local news outlet RochesterFirst.

Edwin N. Torres, Ph.D., professor of hospitality, joined Saunders this past academic year as the chair and associate professor for the department of international hospitality and service innovation. He has already launched a social media marketing campaign, developed a summer camp for prospective students, and created a new minor titled "hospitality as real estate" throughout his short time at Saunders.

November 2022

Rick Mislan, Ph.D., professor of information systems of cybersecurity, collaborated with students and cartoonist Leigh Rubin for the “The Sketchy Cybersecurity Newsletter,” composed by Saunders students in the Cyber: Risk and Resilience course. November’s issue concentrates on man-in-the-middle (MITM) attacks.

Mike Palanski, Ph.D., professor of management, joined John Skomski on his podcast Think.Live.Repeat and shared his insight about the benefits of leadership integrity.

Sorim Chung, Ph.D., professor of marketing, published a research article titled “Interface-Driven Customer Experience: Redefining User Interface (UI) Design for Automotive Infotainment System” in the IEEE Consumer Electronics Magazine. The article discusses potential safety issues of in-car touchscreen infotainment systems.

Rick Mislan, Ph.D., professor of marketing, senior lecturer within the department of management information systems, marketing, and analytics, is also the co-founder of Inviza Health, a wearable, self-charging health tracker technology company in Rochester, New York. The organization recently expanded its offices to Fairport, New York.

dt ogilvie, Ph.D., professor of management, was interviewed by DiversityInc for their story “Black Women’s Historic Struggle for Labor Rights Continues” about the challenges Black women have faced and continue to face in the workplace including inequality, lower wages, and discrimination.

Rick Lagiewski, Ph.D., principal lecturer of management, and Victor Perotti, Ph.D., professor of marketing, co-authored "Customer experiences and situational vulnerability: An exploration of hotel services during a disaster," published in the International Journal of Hospitality Management. The paper focuses on the growing role of hotels in supporting vulnerable individuals during hurricanes and other disasters.

Joy Olabisi, Ph.D., professor of management, has been awarded a $10,000 grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation for her project, “Exploring how immigrant entrepreneurs survive and thrive in a post-Covid environment.”

October 2022

Clyde Eirikur Hull, Ph.D., professor of management, received a $1 million grant from The State Department to conduct research via the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Plan of Action on Science, Technology and Innovation project. The project concentrates on circular economy; extracting economic value from different types of waste as a step to mitigate climate change and empower local entrepreneurship in southeast Asian countries.

Molly McGowan, Ph.D., professor of management, held a roundtable discussion based on her dissertation research titled “Leadership in the Tech Driven Workplace: A Discussion on the Need & Development of Soft Skills of Employees” at the ILA Global Conference.

Rick Mislan, Ph.D, professor of marketing, worked with students in the Saunders Cyber: Risk and Resilience course to create a monthly newsletter in collaboration with chief RIT cartoonist Leigh Rubin. “The Sketchy Cybersecurity Newsletter” kicked off in October to celebrate Cybersecurity Awareness month.

Ali Tosyali, Ph.D., assistant professor of management information systems, assistant professor of management information systems, and Gijs Overgoor, assistant professor of marketing, co-authored "Detecting Fake Review Buyers Using Network Structure: Direct Evidence from Amazon." The paper discusses the problem of reputation platforms that have sellers manipulate their ratings. Their paper was featured in the UCLA Anderson Review.

Melissa Masline has been promoted to the assistant director of student services at Saunders College of Business.

Matt Cornwell has been promoted to the associate director of student services at Saunders College of Business.

September 2022

James Santa, Ph.D, adjunct professor of marketing, a management information systems professor, has become the director of curriculum at Common Mission Project.

Jesse Redlo, Ed.D., adjunct professor of marketing, professor of management information systems and marketing principles, will be giving a TED Talk at the upcoming TEDxNazarethCollege event. The theme of the event is centered around how disciplines and professions will likely be different in 2030, with Professor Redlo’s presentation entitled: “Fostering Mental Health in the Workplace.”

Rich DeJordy, Ph.D., professor of management, will be joining the Saunders College of Business as the new department chair of management in January 2023! He is extraordinarily experienced within his field in both industry and academia, having served as a faculty member at Craig School of Business at California State University, D’Amore-McKim School of Business at Northeastern University, and published in top journals.

July 2022

Ettore Spadafora, Ph.D., assistant professor of management, and Ezekiel Leo, Ph.D., assistant professor of management, co-authored Board independence and firm internationalization: a meta-analysis with colleagues from across the globe. The paper argues and demonstrates differences across the board, and national institution-level structures account for the inconsistencies observed in the literature for BI-internationalization.

Ali Tosyali, Ph.D., assistant professor of management information systems, assistant professor of management information systems, and Gijs Overgoor, Ph.D, assistant professor of marketing, co-authored Detecting Fake Review Buyers Using Network Structure: Direct Evidence from Amazon. The paper discusses the problem of reputation platforms that have sellers manipulate their ratings. Their paper was featured in the Wall Street Journal.

Bill Dresnack, Ph.D., professor of finance, has been announced as the incoming MBA director. He brings a wealth of professional and administrative experience to this role.

June 2022

Mike Palanski, Ph.D., professor of management, published The Me1st Method. The book is a leader's guide to finding, facing, and embracing your next big challenge.

Raj Murthy, Ph.D., professor of marketing, and Torrence Sparkman, Ph.D., associate professor of management, have been recognized for their engagement as Inaugural Faculty Fellows. Professor Murthy has been realized as a fellow in business and Professor Sparkman has been accepted as a strategic priority fellow in diversity, equity, and inclusion.

View last year's staff accomplishments!