Fall 2021 Virtual Presentation

Sara Rist, Ohio University;

Sarah Rist is an Assistant Professor of Instruction in the Marketing Department within the College of Business at Ohio University and has a Master of Education degree with an emphasis on academic technology from Ohio University. She instructs courses in marketing research, consumer behavior, consumer marketing, business information systems in the Integrated Business Cluster, as well as the freshmen Bobcat Learning Community experience. Sarah serves in the Center for Consumer Research and Analytics as a faculty advisor, where research is conducted for numerous business clients in various industries; she also serves as a faculty advisor for the Ohio University chapter of the American Marketing Association (AMA). Sarah is a volunteer and member of the Athens County Humane Society Board, as well as the Southern Ohio Copperheads Board of Directors.

Sarah comes from a strong applied organizational background of project management and leadership, with nearly two decades of professional experience leading teams in enterprise-wide initiatives, program development, research, analysis, and service excellence. In her previous roles, Sarah developed and implemented an outreach program to improve partnerships throughout the organization and was responsible for delivery, marketing and support of technological services and professional development programs for use and best practices of numerous enterprise-wide organizational systems.

Bridging her organizational experience with effective classroom teaching, Sarah has remained passionate about fostering positive work environments through effective communication and teamwork, as well as ensuring that strategy is clearly defined while overseeing performance and maintaining morale. Current areas of research interests include marketing, positivity, and team effectiveness.

Moumitna Gyomlai, Ohio University;

Moumita Das Gyomlai is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at Ohio University, where she teaches Sales Management and Marketing Strategy, and serves as the faculty advisor for Beta Gamma Sigma. She received her PhD from HEC Paris, France, her Post Graduate Diploma in Communications Management (specializing in Brand Management and Marketing Research) from MICA, India, and her undergraduate degree (in Math) from University of Pune, India. Before academia, she spent four years at L’Oréal in a senior managerial role managing multiple brands. After completion of her PhD at HEC Paris, she joined University of Houston as a Post-Doctoral Fellow to continue working on her research projects. She taught various undergraduate and graduate courses at Tulane University, before joining Ohio University’s College of Business.

She is pursuing research across the disciplines of marketing and strategy. Her areas of interest include sales management, luxury brand management, strategic acquisitions, and identity integration. She relies on survey research, structural equation modeling, and econometric data analysis to explore and address interesting research questions on managerially important issues. Her work has been published in the Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management. She has presented her research at various conferences including the Strategic Management Society - Annual Conference, American Marketing Association – Summer Marketing Educators Conference, ISBM Academic Conference, and INFORMS Marketing Science Conference. She also serves as a reviewer for many of these conferences.

She has previously taught research analytics, marketing fundamentals, psychology of decision-making, luxury brand management at the undergraduate level, marketing fundamentals for the MBA program, in addition to serving as a faculty mentor for business projects at a graduate level. In pedagogy, her approach towards students is to empower them to use what they learn in a meaningful way after they graduate. She believes in helping students to connect the dots from academia to practice and deliver content that is relevant for students' learning: via examples from the industry, reflective presentations from students, and via involvement in projects with industry partners.

Jessica Babin Weeks, Ohio University;

Jessica Babin Weeks is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at Ohio University, where she teaches Marketing Research. She serves as an Associate Director and Faculty Advisor for the Center for Consumer Research and Analytics at Ohio University.

She received her PhD from the University of Georgia, her Master’s in Marketing Analytics from the University of Alabama, and her undergraduate degrees (in Business Administration and French) from Samford University (Birmingham, Alabama). Before returning to academia, Jessica worked as a research analyst for a marketing research firm, conducting both qualitative and quantitative research projects for business clients.

Her research interests include consumer-based strategy, social shopping, and firm and consumer curation. Her work has been published in journals including the Journal of Business Research and International Business Review and has been presented at conferences including Academy of Marketing Science and Society for Marketing Advances.

Shawnee Meek, Ohio University;

Shawnee Meek is an Assistant Professor of Instruction of Management and the Assistant Director of Emerging Leaders, a selective one-year accelerated student leadership development program at Ohio University. She teaches strategic business communication and leadership. Her research interests include workplace effectiveness, positivity, and leadership.

Shawnee is a John Maxwell certified speaker and coach. She provides leadership training for both private and public-sector organizations, including Global Cooling and GallopNYC. In 2019, she coached and co-led a team of students at a regional Collegiate Leadership Competition. Additionally, she works with Sogeti’s training program to assist newly hired international professionals in refining their presentation and communication skills. Shawnee is a Certified Professional with the Society of Human Resources Management and has a Master of Arts in Human Resources Management from Webster University along with a Bachelor of Science in Organizational Communication from Kennesaw State University. Prior to her current position, she worked for the Board of Trustees and President at Ohio University. Previous experience includes human resources, student affairs, and corporate trainer.

Mary Tucker, Ohio University;

Mary Tucker is Professor of Management in the Department of Management at Ohio University and has taught courses in global leadership, management, organization behavior, intercultural effectiveness, and communication. Mary received her Ph.D. from the University of New Orleans; her dissertation research focused on transformational leadership. Mary has published over 50 professional journal articles and textbooks. She has garnered 12 teaching, 5 service, and 7 research awards, including a Best Research Paper Award from the OCIS Division of the Academy of Management.

Mary is a certified trainer in cultural intelligence and has done extensive training, speaking, and course development for both private and public sector organizations in the areas of leadership, effective communication, intercultural effectiveness, management, emotional intelligence, diversity, ethics, media relations, customer satisfaction, and total quality management. For seven years, Mary conducted leadership training for the American Association of Highway Transportation Officials in cooperation with the ENO Transportation Foundation in Washington, DC. She has worked on a faculty team for the OU College of Business Center for International Business Education and Development in an MBA program for Brazilian executives and served on a faculty team for the OU MBA without Boundaries program. She served as the Director of Communication across the Curriculum for the College of Business and directed the Management Department Honors Program, which she developed. Mary team taught in the OU College of Business AACSB award-winning business cluster, a problem-based holistic teaching approach where students apply cross-discipline concepts to solve real-world consulting problems. Mary participated in the OU College of Business Global Consulting Program, teaching one quarter in Pau, France, and a summer session in Ancona, Italy. She also served as a Master Teacher Mentor, Director of Undergraduate Assurance of Learning for the OU College of Business, and Associate Director for Undergraduate Education for the OU Center for International Business.