Welcoming our new faculty

Faculty excellence in teaching, research and service is a tradition at UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School. This fall we welcomed nine talented full-time faculty members and two post-doctoral research associates. Please click on their names to read more about them.

Dr. Lori Boyer investigates topics of impression management after an organizational crisis, ethnic diversity, interviewing, Facebook and the workplace, and historically Black colleges’ and universities’ internet presence. She teaches courses in management and corporate communication. She received her PhD and MA in mass communications from the University of Florida.

Dr. Daniela De la Parra focuses on the determinants of corporate information, with an emphasis on qualitative properties of disclosures, and their implications for capital markets. In her research she is particularly interested in applications of machine learning to accounting research. She teaches financial accounting. She was a professional chess player for 12 years. She received her PhD from Rice University.

Professor Tiesha Douglas teaches business writing, business presentations and inclusive leadership at UNC Kenan-Flagler. She has over 12 years of professional experience in the higher education and non-profit sectors, and brings a wealth of knowledge and insights toward awareness and competence of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). She is the founder of LEAD Culture Consulting, which assists in DEI education. She received her master’s degree in public policy and administration from Mississippi State University.

Dr. John Gallemore studies how firms’ economic and financial reporting behavior are shaped by corporate tax policy and enforcement. He teaches strategic cost analysis and performance evaluation. A triple Tar Heel, he joins the faculty from the University of Chicago, where he was named one of Poets & Quants “Best 40 Under 40” business school professors. He earned his PhD in accounting, his MBA in finance and his BSBA from UNC Kenan-Flagler.

Dr. Jenna Haugen teaches business and managerial communication at UNC Kenan-Flagler. Her courses address the art of communication in a multitude of contexts from the elevator to the boardroom. She has written about experiential education, identity management, best practices for teaching and learning, and community partnerships. She is passionate about developing leaders who are capable of contributing to their communities. She received her PhD in communication studies from the University of Kansas.

Dr. Edem Klobodu is interested in the role and nature of marketing to the underprivileged. He studies mobile money loans: their impact, design and rollout with low-income populations, which historically lacked access to formal finance. His past research focused on development topics such as income inequality and urbanization. He teaches courses in international marketing. Dr. Klobodu received his PhD in marketing from the University of Texas at San Antonio.

Dr. Lindsay Larson is a postdoctoral research associate of organizational behavior. Her research focuses on leading and working in teams in the digital age. Dr. Larson is interested in the dynamics and functioning of the people in technologically advanced teams. She examines teams in unique and important contexts, from teams of astronauts, to teams of humans and intelligent technology teammates, to cross-disciplinary innovation teams. Her teaching interests include teams and leadership. She earned her PhD in media, technology and society from Northwestern University.

Dr. Barbara Nobles Crawford is professor of the practice of organizational behavior and director of executive and leadership coaching for working professionals in the MBA programs.  She has extensive corporate, entrepreneurial, higher education, healthcare, retail, technology, government and leadership experience as a consultant and business leader in multinational corporations throughout the U.S., Latin America and Europe. She is an executive coach, organization and leadership development consultant, and CEO of Nobles Crawford & Partners. She received her PhD from Brandeis University.

Dr. Franklin Qian focuses his research and teaching in the areas of urban and labor economics, real estate finance and corporate finance. He is examining IPOs and expectations in the housing market, consequences of San Francisco’s rent control expansion, and the effects of firm entry on communities, neighborhoods and their residents. He received his PhD in economics from Stanford University.

Dr. Laura Sonday studies the meaning of work and how it can change over time. She analyzes it at multiple levels: what work means to an individual, a group and society at large. She has taught courses in management and global business. She started her professional career at an economic development nonprofit that specialized in alleviating poverty in developing countries, and worked several years as a strategist for Google in San Francisco and Santiago, Chile. She received her PhD from the University of Michigan.

Dr. Lillian Yuqian Xu’s research investigates financial services and digital platforms. Her methodology includes applied probability, stochastic models, econometrics and machine learning. Her teaching interests are operations management, risk analysis and data analytics. She received her PhD with honors from the NYU Stern School of Business, where she received the Herman E. Krooss Dissertation Award.