New Faculty 2015 | Cal State LA

Shilpa Balan (CIS)

Shilpa Balan has earned her PhD degree in Management Information Systems from University of Mississippi. She also has two Masters degrees, one in Management Information Systems from Boise State University and another in Computer Applications from University of Mumbai, India, and a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from University of Mumbai. Shilpa’s research interests are in Data Science, Group Support Systems, Health Informatics and the integration of Information Technology to pedagogic practices.

Sergio Canavati (MGMT)

Before joining Cal State L.A., Sergio taught multiple graduate and undergraduate courses in the departments of management, economics, and entrepreneurship and innovation at the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC). His research interests include the financialization of the business enterprise, entrepreneurial cognition, corporate governance, product platforms, and corporate social responsibility. He will receive his Ph.D. degree in Economics with a focus on Entrepreneurship and Innovation from UMKC in 2015.

Nicole Hanson (MKT)

Originally from San Jose, California, Nicole Hanson joins the College of Business & Economics as an Assistant Professor of Marketing. She received her PhD in Marketing from Texas A&M University. Her primary research interests are in the areas of innovation, emerging markets, and food marketing. Before entering academia, she worked for Cisco Systems, The Clorox Company, and 24 Hour Fitness in various marketing research related positions.

Silvia Martin (MKT)

With a PhD from Cardiff University, UK, Silvia Martin joins the College of Business & Economics as an Assistant Professor of International Business and Marketing. Her research interests lie in International Marketing, International Business, Marketing Management and Strategy. Her research has been published in a number of journals including the Journal of International Marketing and the Journal of Business Research. Silvia has extensive international teaching experience teaching graduate and undergraduate courses in U.K., France, and Mexico.

Duncan M. Pelly (MGMT)

Duncan received his Ph.D. in management with a focus on entrepreneurship from EM Lyon Business School. He served in the United States Army for four and a half years, attaining the rank of Captain, before beginning his doctoral studies. His current interests include entrepreneurial opportunity, adhocracies, autoethnography, entrepreneurial leadership, and philosophical foundations of entrepreneurship.

Stacey Sharpe (MKT)

Stacey Sharpe earned a Ph.D. in marketing from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Her research focuses on the firm’s use of marketing activities to achieve strategic objectives with specific interest in the areas of marketing accountability, the marketing-finance interface, brand crisis response, and social media marketing. Stacey has held a range of marketing research roles at leading consumer and lifestyle data providers Mintel International Group Limited and the NPD Group as well as the Tribune Broadcasting and The Weather Channel.

Chou-Yu Tsai (MGMT)

Chou-Yu (Joey) Tsai joins the College of Business & Economics as an Assistant Professor of Management. His primary research interest is leadership and human fundamental cognitive process. His work has been published in Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, and Management and Organizational Review. Joey has worked as a managerial consultant at the Center for Industrial & Commercial Psychology Studies, National Taiwan University.

Xiaohan Zhang (ECON)

Xiaohan Zhang received her Ph.D. from University of California, Davis in 2015. Her research focuses on healthcare, the formation of health capital, and the health-productivity nexus. Her current project studies the impact of childhood health stressors on long-run labor market outcomes. She is an applied micro economist interested in examining the causal effects of different social programs on target variables.