PhD Students

Lin Deng  |  Organizations & Strategic Management
Lin Deng is a doctoral student in the Organizations and Strategic Management area at the Lubar College of Business. She holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Henan University, China, and a master’s degree in management from Hebei University of Economy and Business, China. Lin has been an active participant in research discussions and has presented her work at prestigious conferences including the Academy of Management (AOM), the Decision Science Institute (DSI), and the International Association for Chinese Management Research (IACMR). Her research focus encompasses a spectrum of topics such as the interplay between cooperation and conflict within strategic alliances, the selection of entry modes by multinational enterprises, and the exploration of International Business theories.
deng23@uwm.edu

Mohammad Fathi | Marketing
Mohammad is a Ph.D. student at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Lubar College of Business, where he specializes in Quantitative Marketing with a minor in Management Information Systems. He completed his bachelor’s degree at Islamic Azad University and developed a strong foundation in data analysis through his master’s in Cosmology at Amirkabir University of Technology. This educational journey, combined with his rich background in marketing and advertising, has fueled his ambition to apply data science in refining marketing strategies. Mohammad’s research centers on digital marketing and social media, with a focus on unstructured data analytics. He leverages advanced data-driven methods to enhance marketing strategies and optimize business performance by deepening the understanding of consumer behavior across digital platforms.
mfathi@uwm.edu

Hyunji Lee  |  Finance
Hyunji Lee is a PhD candidate in Finance at the Lubar College of Business. She earned her master’s degree in Finance from Korea University Business School and her second master’s degree in large-scale data analysis from CUNY. Hyunji brings a wealth of experience to UWM, having worked as an accounting staff, research assistant, college assistant, and after-school tutor in middle and high school. Her research interests include corporate finance topics, especially executive compensation, capital structure, and ESG. Hyunji’s current research focuses on exploring the implications of financing decisions among small businesses and the impact of returning CEOs on firm performance.
hyunji@uwm.edu

Jessie Nouri  |  Supply Chain and Operations Management
Jessie Nouri is a PhD candidate in the Supply Chain and Operations Management field. She received her BSc degree in Industrial Engineering from Khaje Nasir Toosi University in Iran and her MS in Industrial Engineering from University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Her research interests include developing data-driven predictive models and prescriptive analytics for operations and econometrics problems. She is particularly concentrated on data-driven analysis of business environments and producing actionable results for managerial decision making under uncertain conditions. Her research has been cited over 135 times in 10 published manuscripts including a book, a book chapter and nine journal papers. She was awarded a Lubar Doctoral Scholarship for three years and was honored to be awarded the Doctoral Publication Award in 2019. During her time at UWM, she has taught or assisted teaching seven different courses, instructing more than 1,000 graduate and undergraduate students.
nournin@uwm.edu  |  Curriculum Vitae |  LinkedIn profile

Golshad Parsimoghadam |  Marketing
Golshad Parsimoghadam is a doctoral student in Marketing at UWM’s Lubar College of Business. She received her bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering from Azad University, North Tehran Branch, and she earned her master’s in Industrial Engineering from University of Science and Culture in Iran. Her background in data analysis and statistical models, as well as her work experience in customer satisfaction, has encouraged her to pursue a PhD degree in quantitative marketing. Her research interest focuses on crowdfunding and advertising by analyzing unstructured data like image analytics and text mining.
golshad@uwm.edu

Antonio Porto |  Organizations & Strategic Management
Antonio Porto is a PhD candidate in Organizations and Strategic Management. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering and a Master of Science degree in Management, both from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Antonio brings over 10 years of industry experience, having worked as a research and development engineer and product manager for a Fortune 500 multinational corporation, as well as entrepreneurial experience as a co-founder. He has a wide range of research interests that include innovation and strategic management, entrepreneurship, and international business.
janschp2@uwm.edu |LinkedIn profile

Yusuf Mayowa Raji |  Finance 
Yusuf comes to UW with a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Kwara State University, Nigeria, a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Al-Hikmah University, Nigeria and a master’s degree in Finance from the University of Ilorin, Nigeria. He has seven years of industry and academic experience. His research interests include investment, asset pricing, and corporate finance.
ymraji@uwm.edu

Pouneh (Penny) Sadeghi  |  Marketing
Pouneh (Penny) Sadeghi is a Ph.D. candidate in Marketing with a minor in International Business at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. She holds a BSc in Mechanical Engineering and an MBA, during which time she co-authored the book Automotive Engine Design. Her research focuses on the intersections of marketing strategy, international marketing, and artificial intelligence. Penny is active in academic conferences and contributes to the scholarly community through peer-review work, supported by certifications from Elsevier and Wiley. She is also honored to be a Paul R. Lawrence 2024 Fellow. Penny is a passionate language learner and can speak six languages, including French and German. She has received both the Gold Star Teaching Award and the Outstanding Doctoral Student Teaching Award at the Lubar College of Business.
pouneh@uwm.edu | LinkedIn profile

Sarthak Singh  | Organizations and Strategic Management
Sarthak Singh is a doctoral candidate in Strategic Management at the Lubar College of Business, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. His research examines the intersection of innovation and corporate strategy with particular emphasis on knowledge flows and international management in shaping firm-level innovation. His dissertation employs large-scale patent and audit datasets to investigate how firms balance exploration- and exploitation-type innovations. He has published in peer-reviewed journals, co-authored a book chapter, and presented his work at the Academy of Management, Southern Management Association, and Midwest Academy of Management conferences, where he has also been invited to doctoral consortiums. He has taught strategic management, international business, and organizational behavior, and his teaching excellence has been recognized through multiple awards, including the Outstanding Doctoral Student Teaching Award and the Gold Star Teaching Award. Beyond research and teaching, he serves as a reviewer for several management journals and conferences, and has held leadership roles in academic and community organizations. Before academia, he earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and an MBA in finance and strategy from India, and gained professional experience as a Senior Executive in project finance at Azure Power, an NYSE-listed renewable energy firm.
sarthak@uwm.edu