New Faculty and Staff Join the College of Business

New Faculty and Staff Join the College of Business

With the start of the new academic year, the college welcomed two new administrators who will serve as department chairs, along with several new faculty and staff members. Dr. Trent Buskirk is the chair of the applied statistics and operations research department and will also be directing the Center for Business Analytics. Dr. Mo Zolfagharian is the new chair of the marketing department. Here are brief summaries of the experience they bring to their leadership positions.

TrentBuskirkDr. Trent Buskirk

  • Earned a Ph.D. from Arizona State University
  • Formerly a Professor of Data Science and Methodology and Director of the Center for Survey Research at the University of Massachusetts – Boston. Prior to that, he taught at St. Louis University School of Public Health.
  • Industry experiences working for companies such as the Nielson Company and the Marketing Systems Group. He’s published 12 book chapters, 28 peer-reviewed journals, and over a dozen conference proceedings.
  • Was elected Fellow of the American Statistical Association, the highest honor given to only one-third of one percent of ASA members each year by the world’s largest statistical professional organization

mohammadalizolfagharianDr. Mo Zolfagharian

  • Earned Ph.D. in marketing from the University of North Texas.
  • Formerly an associate professor of marketing at the University of Texas at Rio Grande Valley (formerly University of Texas-Pan American). Prior to that, he was the founding chair of the Department of Marketing at the University of Texas-Pan American.
  • Worked as a marketing manager for various firms for ten years. 
  • Areas of research interest include service, consumer and culture, using quantitative and/or qualitative approaches and has published 25 journal articles, four book chapters, and numerous conference proceedings.

Besides two new chairs, here is background information about the new faculty and staff based on their departments.

Department of Applied Statistics and Operations Research

dianeconwayMs. Diane Conway returns to the College of Business as a full-time mathematics and statistics instructor after serving in full-time and adjunct positions.

  • Taught statistics full-time at BGSU for 12 years and part-time for more than two years
  • Earning a Doctor of Education: Leadership Studies from BGSU, expected Spring 2019 and earned a master’s in applied statistics from BGSU.
  • Formerly worked at MaritzCX as a decision analyst and is a real estate consultant.

DougDevineMr. Doug Devine, instructor of business math and statistics courses

  • Earned doctorate of chiropractic from Palmer College of Chiropractic in Iowa, a master’s in industrial Engineering (operations research emphasis) from University of Wisconsin and an undergraduate degree from BGSU in statistics
  • Professional experience includes working in credit risk positions for several companies in San Diego
  • Taught undergraduate mathematics, statistics, and computer science at National University

YanranChenPhotoDr. Yanran Chen, instructor

  • Earned Ph.D. from BGSU, a master’s in mathematics from Ohio University and a bachelor’s in mathematics from Shanghai University.
  • Previously taught at Benedictine College and at Ohio University
  • Assisted the BGSU Center for Business Analytics as a graduate assistant

Department of Economics

MinjieHuangDr. Minjie Huang, Instructor

  • Earned Ph.D. in economics from Binghamton University
  • Research interests are in agent-based computational economics, applied microeconomic modeling, industrial organization, and behavioral economics
  • Previous teaching experience includes Ithaca College and Binghamton University

GolnazMotieDr. Golnaz Baradaran Motie, Instructor

  • Completing her Ph.D. from West Virginia University
  • Research interests are applied macroeconomics and international economics, especially foreign investment and its effects on real GDP
  • Earned masters degrees in economics from West Virginia and the University of Warwick, UK.  Her undergraduate degree in economics is from the University of Tehran
  • Work experience includes being an economic analyst for banks in Iran and a market researcher for companies in the UK
  • Received a Doctoral Student Research Paper Award and an Outstanding Merit Fellowship, both from West Virginia University

Department of Marketing

RyanHolleyx007Mr. Ryan Holley joins the College of Business as a full-time instructor after serving as an adjunct in the College since 2012 and will be teaching business communications and the Applied Business Experience.

  • Earned MBA and undergraduate business degree from BGSU
  • Professional experience includes more than 10 years as the operations manager for Holley Properties Management Company as well as being an active member of several local business organizations and regional apartment association.
  • A Certified Apartment Manager (CAM)

DavidDeweyMr. David Dewey, instructor of marketing

  • Earned his MBA from the University of Toledo and a marketing undergraduate degree from The Ohio State University.
  • Over 42 years of experience in the marketing and health care fields, previously worked at ProMedica Physicians, St. Luke’s Hospital, and Schindler Elevator Corporation
  • Was a lecturer of healthcare administration at the University of Toledo and is a healthcare, business and marketing consultant with Strategic Business Resources

Department of Management

amysheldrickAmy Sheldrick, administrative assistant

  • Formerly from the College of Health and Human Services where she served as a senior secretary 

Graduate and Executive Programs in Business

StephanieCrooksStephanie Crooks, administrative assistant

  • Previous role was a senior human resources assistant in the Career Center/Student Employment at BGSU

Updated: 09/11/2018 02:45PM