PhD Corner
# of PhD Students
61
# of PhD Faculty
78
Our PhD Students Come From 13 Countries
Canada
China
Colombia
India
Iran
Korea
Macao
Nigeria
Taiwan
U.S.A.
92%
of graduating PhD students recommend the program to others
100%
of graduating PhD students are employed within six months of graduation
Student Spotlight
Recent PhD Graduate Placements
at Peer or Aspirant Universities
Oscar (Hengxuan) Chi (2021)
Hospitality Business Management
University of Florida
Natalie Liberman (2021)
Management
Indiana University
Sadegh Kazemi (2020)
Operations and Management Science
University of Houston
Susan He (2019)
Finance
Washington State University-Vancouver
Yunshil Cha (2019)
Accounting
University of New Hampshire
Mike Kennedy (2019)
Management Information Systems
University of British Columbia
Aishajiang Aizezikali (2018)
Operations and Management Science
Ivey Business School
Scott Connors (2018)
Marketing
University of Western Ontario
Shinhye Kim (2018)
Marketing
University of Missouri
L. Emily Hickman (2017)
Accounting
University of New Mexico
Current PhD Student Achievements
Kamal Ahmmad, marketing, received the Alice O. Rice Graduate Fellowship from the Thomas S. Foley Institute of Public Policy and Public Service, providing research funds for his work on product labeling, advertising, and warning information in the context of public policy and regulation.
Demi Deng, hospitality business management, received first place in the 2021 WSU Academic Showcase and GPSA Research Exposition for the business, communication, and political science category.
Kelvin Chiang, hospitality business management, was awarded a Seattle Times-Blethen Family Student Access Fund Scholarship. Chiang’s research focus is senior living.
Gurdeep Singh Raina, management, was named an “outstanding reviewer” for the strategic management division at the 2021 Academy of Management annual meeting.
Julia Stachofsky, management information systems, has received the Alice O. Rice Graduate Fellowship from the College of Arts and Sciences and the Thomas S. Foley Institute of Public Policy and Public Service.
Current PhD Students with Accepted Publications
Hui-Heng Cheng (finance) recently published two papers:
Wang, J. L., Huang, H. C., Chen, Y. C., & Cheng, M. H. H. (Forthcoming) “The Financial Impacts and Intergenerational Equity of the Pension Reform in Taiwan,” NTU Management Review.
Wang, J. L., Huang, H. C., Yang, S. S., Chen, Y. C., & Cheng, M. H. H. (2017) “Pension Reform and Building a Sustainable Pension System in Taiwan,” Taiwan Economic Forecast and Policy, 48(1), 1-39.
Gregory Denton (hospitality) and coauthors Oscar Hengxuan Chi and Professor Dogan Gursoy recently published “An examination of critical determinants of carbon offsetting behavior: The role of gender” in Journal of Sustainable Tourism, (2021) 25, pp. 1-23.
Chi, Denton, and Gursoy also have a forthcoming article, “Interactive effects of message framing and information content on carbon offsetting behaviors,” in Tourism Management.


Yafang Li (MIS) and Xuemei Huang (MIS) recently published:
Jing Fan, Mingxing Shao, Yafang Li, Xuemei Huang, (2018) “Understanding Users’ Attitude Toward Mobile Payment Use: A Comparative Study Between China and the USA,” Industrial Management & Data Systems, Vol. 118 Issue: 3, pp. 524-540.
Nasir Haghighi (marketing) is the coauthor of a forthcoming publication in International Journal of Research in Marketing, “Too Much of a Good Thing? The Unforeseen Cost of Tags in Online Retailing.”
Jiyoon (Jennifer) Han (hospitality) is the coauthor of a forthcoming journal article with Professor Chun-Chu (Bamboo) Chen and Yao-Chin Wang, (2022), “A Hotel Stay for a Respite from Work? Examining Recovery Experience, Rumination and Well-Being among Hotel and Bed-and-Breakfast Guests,” International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management.
Jessica Murray (hospitality) is the coauthor of a forthcoming journal article with Professor Dogan Gursoy, Yuksel Ekinci, and Ali Selcuk, (2022) “Effectiveness of Message Framing in Changing COVID-19 Vaccination Intentions: Moderating Role of Travel Desire,” Tourism Management, Vol. 90, June 2022, 104468.
Murray is the coauthor of a journal article with Professor Robert Harrington, Michael Ottenbacher, Laura Schmidt, Burkhard von Freyberg, (2021) “Experience Perceptions, Memorability, and Life Satisfaction: A Test and Theory Extension in the Context of Oktoberfest,” in International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management.
Murray and coauthors Professor Mark Beattie and T. Umbreit have a publication “Ivar’s Tipping Point” in the 2020 issue of Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Cases. 8(4).
Murray and coauthors Alecia Kiszonas and Craig Morris published “Influence of Soft Kernel Texture on Fresh Durum Pasta Quality” in the 2018 issue of the Journal of Food Science, 83, 2812-2818.
Murray, Kiszonas, and Morris also published “Pasta Production: Complexity in Defining Processing Conditions for Reference Trials and Quality Assessment Methods” in the 2017 issue of Cereal Chemistry, 94, 791-797.
Kiely Yonce (accounting) is the coauthor of a forthcoming journal article with Professor Beau Barnes, “Healthcare Accounting Research: An Analysis, Review, and Suggestions for Future Work,” in the Journal of Governmental & Nonprofit Accounting.
Lu Yuan (hospitality) published “SWOT Analysis About the Integration of Tourism Development of Urban Agglomeration in the Middle Reach of the Yangtze River” in the 2016 issue of Chinese & Foreign Entrepreneurs, 1-18.