Amir Marmarchi Amir Marmarchi is an instructional assistant professor joining the Management and Quantitative Methods department. In Fall 2014, he joined Illinois State faculty in the Economics Department and has been teaching courses in statistics, energy economics, current economic issues, and other micro and macroeconomics courses. During his master’s and Ph.D. studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, he researched in areas such as forecast verification, behavioral economics, prospect theory, decision analysis, and game theory. In his Ph.D. dissertation, he focused on managing overconfidence in expert judgments and developed software and methods that helped industry experts forecast future events with better calibration, more accuracy, and less overconfidence bias, which ultimately made his research the featured research project of the year, as recognized by IARPA. He has also worked in industry for five years in positions like economic consultant, investment advisor, and fund manager.
Kari McMullen Kari McMullen has joined the Department of Marketing as an instructional assistant professor. She has over 15 years of experience in the communications field, where she worked in industries ranging from telecommunications, information technology, financial services, education, and most recently insurance, as a business analyst for State Farm Insurance. McMullen has a Bachelor of Science in organizational communications and an MBA, both from Bradley University in Peoria. During her MBA experiences, she studied in Brazil, where she learned the proper way to analyze a company’s business structure. She also learned how important cultural influences can be on successful communication strategies.
McMullen also has a Master of Science in integrated marketing communications from Medill at Northwestern University. She has had the honor of working collaboratively with leaders from top-tier global companies, such as Google, Leo Burnett, 3M, ESPN, and Frito Lay, in order to gain strategic and quantitative skills that focus intently on consumer insights. When McMullen is not focusing on her career or continuous education, she enjoys participating in the Association for Women in Communications (AWC), where she currently serves as the chair of the Professional Development Committee for the National AWC and the vice president of Membership Development for the BloomingtonNormal Chapter. In her free time, she enjoys traveling with her husband Jonathan and two daughters Annika (18) and Emily (10).
Horace Melton Horace Melton became the interim chair for the Marketing Department as of July 1, 2016. He is an associate professor in the department. He earned his Ph.D. in marketing from Florida State University, an MBA from Columbia University, and Bachelor of Arts from Harvard University. He has taught courses on marketing analytics, marketing management, product development management and other areas. Melton’s research interests primarily focus on service innovation and value co-creation, and he has published papers in the Journal of Service Research, Journal of Services Marketing, International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management, Journal of Marketing Education, and Journal on Excellence in College Teaching. Melton has over 20 years of experience in the financial services industry, having worked primarily in personal insurance sales, recruiting, research and planning at MetLife. Melton lives in Bloomington with his wife Jhane, and they have three adult children, Andrea, Camile, and Jason.
HORACE MELTON The College of Business is pleased to announce Horace Melton will serve the Department of Marketing as interim chairperson beginning July 1, 2016, through June 30, 2017. The search for a permanent chair will begin in spring 2016 with the formation of the search committee as outlined in the College of Business bylaws. Melton is a highly respected faculty member with an outstanding record of balanced teaching, research, and service. He has served the college as a member of the Coordinating Team, Human Resource Development Team, and the College’s Dean Search Committee. At the department level, he has been instrumental in numerous initiatives related to the formation and continuing development of the marketing analytics minor and sequence. He has also made important contributions as a member of the DFSC, faculty recruiting committee, curriculum development, and as a presenter at Marketing Advisory Board meetings. Through his service activities, Melton has demonstrated a collaborative and inclusive leadership style. Melton has a strong research portfolio that includes eight refereed publications, three refereed proceedings, a book chapter, and several national and local presentations. He balances his research and service records with an equally strong teaching portfolio. Melton will be responsible for managing and providing leadership to the Department of Marketing. Although the chairperson has many duties, priorities will include: assisting in the College’s AACSB accreditation efforts; upholding the image and reputation of the department; hiring, developing, and supporting faculty; facilitating curricular initiatives; overseeing department programs to attract, cultivate, and retain students in the department; maintaining relationships with the department’s stakeholders; and helping move the College of Business forward as a member of the College’s Leadership Team. The College of Business welcomes Horace Melton to his new role.
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