Nine Carson Faculty Recognized for Promotion/Tenure

Washington State University recently recognized nine Carson College of Business faculty who received promotion and/or tenure:

Jesus Bravo has been promoted to associate professor (career track) in the Department of Management, Information Systems, and Entrepreneurship.
Joe Compeau has been promoted to full professor (career track) in the Department of Management, Information Systems, and Entrepreneurship.
Chris Cooney has been promoted to associate professor (career track) in the Department of Management, Information Systems, and Entrepreneurship.
Xinghua Gao has been granted tenure and promoted to associate professor in the Department of Accounting.
Alex Kier has been granted tenure and promoted to associate professor in the Department of Management, Information Systems, and Entrepreneurship.
Ron Moser has been promoted to associate professor (career track) in the Department of Management, Information Systems, and Entrepreneurship.
Jenni Sandstrom has been promoted to associate professor (career track) in the School of Hospitality Business Management.
Soobin Seo has been granted tenure and promoted to associate professor in the School of Hospitality Business Management.
Ben Warnick has been granted tenure and promoted to associate professor in the Department of Management, Information Systems, and Entrepreneurship.

“Congratulations to Jesus, Joe, Chris, Xinghua, Alex, Ron, Jenni, Soobin, and Ben! These colleagues represent excellence across all Carson College of Business locations,” says Chip Hunter, Carson College dean. “I encourage you to read more about their individual experiences below:”

Dr. Jesus Bravo is a member of the Department of Management, Information Systems, and Entrepreneurship at WSU Tri-Cities. He teaches many undergraduate classes including international business, negotiations, human resource management, and diversity management, to name a few. He also teaches Managerial Leadership and Productivity for the WSU online MBA program. Jesus has published his research in journals including the Journal of Applied Psychology, Personnel Psychology, the Journal of Career Assessment and Career Development International. His research interests include employee careers, mentoring relationships, fairness perceptions in the workplace, and organizational change. Jesus is also the faculty coordinator for the CUBS Mentorship program on the WSU Tri-Cities campus. The CUBS’s mission is to motivate, empower, and encourage WSU Tri-Cities business students through mentoring and social networking opportunities. Prior to joining academia, Jesus worked in the travel industry, the hotel industry, the catering industry, and in the financial sector. He came to WSU from the University of Illinois at Chicago, where he earned both his bachelor’s and doctoral degrees in business administration with a concentration in human resource management and organizational behavior. Jesus, his wife, Sylvia, and his sons Angelo and Sonny have lived in the Tri-Cities since 2011.

Joe Compeau has been a faculty member in the Department of Management, Information Systems, and Entrepreneurship at WSU Pullman since 2015. Prior to joining WSU, he worked at the Ivey Business School, Queen’s University, University of Calgary, and Carleton University. He teaches Introduction to Business as well as Introduction to Information Systems and Systems Analysis and Design. He has worked as a private consultant, mostly to the small and mid-size market and with start-ups, focusing on the strategic use of information systems and the training and adoption of new technologies. A first-generation college student, Joe holds an MBA from the Ivey Business School and a bachelor’s in American history from Western University. In his spare time, Joe enjoys riding his motorcycle around the Palouse.

Chris Cooney is a member of the Department of Management, Information Systems, and Entrepreneurship at WSU Pullman, where he teaches Entrepreneurial Marketing and Introduction to Business. His teaching goal is to help students gain foundational business skills, applied experience, professional connections, and confidence required for long-term career success. Chris received the WSU Muriel Oaks Academic Technology Award and an Exceptional Professor Award from ASWSU. He has served as a faculty advisor to students in the Harold Frank Entrepreneurial Scholars and Boeing Scholars programs and mentored student teams participating in the WSU Business Plan Competition. In his role as an international Adobe Education Leader, Chris has coproduced eight Creative Jam educational events involving over 1,200 WSU students. Beyond WSU, Chris is an education innovation consultant to other universities and organizations, including Google and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Before joining academia, Chris served as a senior director in higher education administration and in various management roles in the communication industry. He earned his MBA from the University of Idaho College of Business and Economics and his bachelor’s from Western Michigan University. Chris, his wife, Rebecca, and their four children are thrilled to be a part of the Carson family.

Dr. Xinghua Gao is a member of the Department of Accounting at WSU Pullman. He teaches Accounting Systems and Auditing and a graduate seminar course in cost/managerial accounting. His research focuses on how internal control over financial reporting affects firm value, managerial allocation of corporate resources and financing choices, financing costs, and how accounting information affects the decisions of other stakeholders such as auditors, executives, and employees. He has been published in Contemporary Accounting Research, Review of Accounting Studies, the Strategic Management Journal, Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory, the Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance, the Journal of Management Accounting Research, and Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting. Xinghua earned his doctorate in business administration, his MBA, and a master’s in accounting from Wayne State University. He loves music and enjoys hiking.

Dr. Alexander S. Kier (Alex) is a member of the Management, Information Systems, and Entrepreneurship Department at WSU Vancouver. His research on entrepreneurial cognition and decision-making focuses on entrepreneurial imagination, new venture ideation, escalation of commitment in entrepreneurial action, and entrepreneurship public policy. His work has been published in the Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Perspectives, Business Horizons, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, the Journal of Business Venturing, and the Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal. His research has been featured in several media outlets including Forbes, Money Inc., U.S. News & World Report, and HR People and Strategy. In 2021, he was awarded the Emerging Scholar Award from the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management. Alex currently teaches courses on new venture creation and small business strategy and planning. Prior to academia, he worked as a certified public accountant and certified fraud examiner at PricewaterhouseCoopers and Grant Thornton. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting from the University of Arizona Eller College of Management and a doctorate in entrepreneurship and strategic management from the Indiana University Kelley School of Business. Alex and his wife, Elana, reside in Vancouver with their two children. In his spare time, Alex is an avid golfer.

Ron Moser is a member of the Department of Management, Information Systems, and Entrepreneurship at WSU Pullman, where he teaches management, leadership, and HR courses in the undergraduate and executive MBA programs. He guides the Carson College of Business HR/Management Board of Advisors and the student Society for Human Resource Management Club. His private consulting practice serves health care, higher education foundations, and manufacturing. Ron has held several senior management roles while serving at Micron Technology, T-Mobile-USA, University of Phoenix, Office Max, FMC Airport Systems, and Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories in addition to working in co-ownership roles with several entrepreneurial startup organizations. He is the recipient of several organizational and teaching awards and carries professional certifications in leadership, management, executive coaching, and theory of constraints. He completed his graduate work at the University of Phoenix and the University of Texas at Dallas. He and his wife, Heidi, were recently honored by the WSU Alumni Association as “Adopted Cougs” and have found a family and a home at WSU and the Carson College of Business. Together, they have raised six children and enjoy two grandchildren.

Dr. Jenni Sandstrom is a member of the School of Hospitality Business Management at WSU Vancouver. She teaches Introduction to Business for all Vancouver business majors and several upper-division hospitality classes across WSU campuses. She works to bring her 25 years of hotel experience and relationships with industry professionals into the classroom and into her research. Her research focuses on general manager leadership, company culture, and hospitality education. Jenni’s research has appeared in the International Journal of Hospitality Management, Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, the Journal of Sustainable Tourism, and the Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research. Jenni’s service commitment has involved work at the university, college, and department levels. Most recently, she accepted an appointment as the associate academic director for the Carson College at WSU Vancouver. Jenni earned her doctorate from WSU, an MBA from the University of Portland, and a bachelor’s in speech communication from the University of Washington. She and her husband, John, became empty nesters in 2021, so they rescued a puppy.

Dr. Soobin Seo is a member of School of Hospitality Business Management at WSU Everett. She teaches marketing, cost controls, and service operation management to undergraduates. Her research areas include brand marketing, brand crises, and consumer behaviors. Her recent research mainly concerns food and technology such as service robots, virtual reality, and smart systems. Her research has appeared in the International Journal of Hospitality Management, Tourism Management, and the International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management. Prior to joining WSU, she was on faculty at The Ohio State University and worked in marketing at foodservice companies. She earned her doctorate from Purdue University, a master’s from the University of Missouri-Columbia, and a bachelor’s from Seoul National University in South Korea. She and her husband, Jihwan, and their two children love golfing, camping, and hiking and are excited to be a part of the Carson family.

Dr. Benjamin (Ben) Warnick is a member of the Department of Management, Information Systems, and Entrepreneurship at WSU Vancouver. After earning his doctorate in entrepreneurship and strategic management from the Indiana University Kelley School of Business, Ben joined WSU Pullman as an assistant professor of entrepreneurship, where he spent four years before joining the WSU Vancouver campus in 2020. At WSU, he has taught capstone courses in entrepreneurship and strategic management, in addition to a foundational course covering business ethics, teams, and innovation. Ben’s research focuses on the psychology of entrepreneurs, including their motivation, passion, creativity, and emotional expression. Beyond consideration of entrepreneurship as a vehicle for individual and social value creation, he highlights the pitfalls entrepreneurs often encounter and how to successfully navigate them. His research spans various entrepreneurial phenomena, including funding pitches, entrepreneurial failure, family business succession, cannabis use in new venture ideation, social entrepreneurship, and hobby-based entrepreneurship. His research has been published in the Journal of Business Venturing, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, and the Journal of Management Studies. He has twice received best paper recognition by the Academy of Management Entrepreneurship Division and has been featured in media outlets including U.S. News & World Report, Fast Company, and Entrepreneur. He currently serves as an editorial board member of the Journal of Business Venturing.