Area of Study
Management with a focus on Organizational Behavior.
Do you have any advice for people considering the Ph.D. program?
Make sure to do your homework. This is a decision that will influence the rest of your life. Speak to as many faculty and Ph.D. students from as many universities as possible. Find a university where you like the students and faculty and where they are already conducting research that you are interested in.
How or why did you choose your area of focus?
My decision to pursue a career in research and teaching stems from my experiences as a business practitioner. During these experiences, I frequently wondered why I saw such variance in management quality across supervisors and organizations. As a restaurant manager and owner, I learned the skills to motivate employees that work at all levels of a restaurant, and that our business would excel only when everyone from entry-level dish machine operators to Michelin Star awarded chefs worked together as a high-functioning team. While comparatively at large corporations I regularly experienced managers that lacked the ability to manage and motivate employees even though these managers attended some of the best business schools in the country. Having these professional experiences motivates my deep commitment to conducting research that is not only novel and interesting to academics, but also interesting and easily transferable to business practitioners.