Class of 2017: Foster School welcomes four promising new faculty members

Stephanie Lee
Assistant Professor of Information Systems

Education
PhD (economics), Stanford University, 2017
Dissertation quantifies the benefits of smartphone adoption
BA, Stanford University

Accolades
NBER Digitization Research Grant, 2016
Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award, Stanford University, 2016
Freeman Spogli Institute Research Grant, Stanford University, 2016
Gregory Terrill Cox Fellowship in Law and Economics, Stanford University, 2014
Firestone Medal for Excellence in Undergraduate Honors Thesis, Stanford University, 2012
J.E. Wallace Sterling Award for Scholastic Achievement, Stanford University, 2011
President’s Award for Academic Excellence, Stanford University, 2008

Expertise
Economics of information technology and digitization, economics of innovation, industrial organization, applied microeconomics
Most fascinating research discovery: “I examine the extent to which smartphones have substituted other digital devices and expanded over digital consumption, and I estimate the newly generated consumer surplus.”

Extracurricular
Something surprising about me: “I love of all kinds of noodles.”
When I’m not at work, I enjoy: swimming, reading and traveling
Favorite book: Ender’s Game, by Orson Scott Card
Favorite movie: The Wizard of Oz
Favorite television series: How I Met Your Mother
Favorite company: Apple, because “I study the mobile industry.”

Yingfei Wang
Assistant Professor of Information Systems

Education & Experience
PhD (computer science), Princeton University, 2017
Reviewer for MIS Quarterly, IEEE Transactions on Knowledge and Data Engineering, Neurocomputing, and Pattern Recognition Letters
BS, Peking University

Expertise
Machine learning, recommendation systems, Bayesian optimization, dynamic pricing, e-commerce, online auctions, deep learning, natural language processing, and healthcare analytics
Most fascinating research discovery: “The adaptive greedy policy for sequential decision-making inherits basic properties of the simply greedy policy.”

Extracurricular
If not a business professor, I would be: a research scientist or a software engineer in an IT company
Something surprising about me: “I’m very good at playing various online and video games.”
When I’m not at work, I enjoy: shopping
Favorite book(s): the Harry Potter series, by J.K. Rowling
Favorite movie: Mission: Impossible
Favorite television series: Friends
Favorite company: Google, which is “engaging in genuine innovations and always having fun.”

Elijah X. M. Wee
Assistant Professor of Management and Organization

Education
PhD (organizational behavior), University of Maryland, 2017
Dissertation explores organizational power dynamics, specifically why, when and how followers challenge power dynamics with their leaders
BA, National University of Singapore

Experience
Assistant Director, Public Service Division, Singapore Prime Minister’s Office, 2010-2011
Staff Officer, Center of Leadership Development, Singapore Armed Forces, 2005-2008 

Accolades
Alvah H. Chapman Jr. Outstanding Dissertation Award (finalist), Florida International University Center for Leadership, 2017
Allan N. Nash Outstanding Doctoral Student Award, University of Maryland Smith School of Business, 2017
Best Paper with Practical Implications Award, Organizational Behavior Division, Academy of Management Meeting, 2017
Best Paper Award, Organizational Behavior Division, Academy of Management Meeting, 2016
Outstanding Graduate Assistant Award, University of Maryland Smith School of Business, 2015
Most Innovative Student Paper Award, Organizational Behavior Division, Academy of Management Meeting, 2013
Diamond in the Rough Best Proposal, Managerial and Organizational Cognition Division, Academy of Management Meeting, 2012

Expertise
Power and status dynamics, creativity and employee innovation, organizational change
Most interesting research discovery: When abused followers strategize to increase their leaders’ level of dependence on them, they not only reduce the incidence of future abuse, but also increase their leaders’ motivation to seek reconciliation with them.

Extracurricular
If not a business professor, I would be: a government policy maker or a photojournalist
Something surprising about me: “I completed a basic airborne training in the military.”
When I’m not at work, I enjoy: photography and tennis
Favorite book: Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage, by Haruki Murakami
Favorite movie: Pulp Fiction
Favorite television series: Community
Favorite company: Bridgewater Associates, because its “expectation of radical transparency among its members is a riveting case study on idea meritocracy at work.”

Tiona Zuzul
Assistant Professor of Management and Organization

Education
PhD (strategy), Harvard Business School, 2014
Dissertation on entrepreneurship and innovation in nascent industries
MSc, London School of Economics, 2006
BA, Harvard College, 2005

Experience
Assistant Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship, London Business School, 2014-2017
Alumni board, Harvard Business School
Editorial board, Strategic Management Journal
Ad-hoc reviewer, Organization Science, Management Science, Academy of Management

Accolades
Wiley Blackwell-BPS Outstanding Dissertation Award (finalist), Academy of Management, 2014
Heizer Dissertation Award (finalist), Academy of Management Entrepreneurship Division, 2014
Grigor McClelland Award (honorable mention), Society for the Advancement of Management Studies, 2014
Best Paper Award (honorable mention) and Best PhD Paper Award (finalist), Strategic Management Society, 2012
Paul Taylor Prize for Best Overall Performance, London School of Economics, 2006
Elizabeth Cary Agassiz Merit Award, Harvard College, 2005

Expertise
Entrepreneurial strategy in new industries, innovation, decision-making and cognition, organizational learning and change

Extracurricular
If not a business professor, I would be: a fiction writer or executive chef (or, more realistically, a consultant)
Something surprising about me: “I practice Mysore-style Ashtanga yoga six days a week, with no exceptions!”
When I’m not at work, I enjoy: spending time with family and friends; cooking eating and learning about food; visiting art galleries and museums; hiking and exploring the Seattle area; swimming, sailing or just relaxing on the coast of Croatia (where I am from)
Favorite book: Lolita, by Vladimir Nabokov, and Catch-22, by Joseph Heller (“We have a cat named ‘Yossarian’ who lives up to his name.”)
Favorite movie: The Royal Tennenbaums
Favorite television series: Game of Thrones (current) and The Wire (past). “I also have a (not-so-secret) penchant for cooking competition shows.”
Favorite career moment: “At the end of my last MBA class at the London Business School (where I taught before joining Foster), the students surprised me by putting together a “flash mob” and performing a song from Les Miserables. Seeing 85 (typically very serious, of course) MBAs singing in unison was certainly a memorable way to leave LBS. I think there’s a rather embarrassing video of my reaction still floating around somewhere…”