Meet Darden’s Newest Faculty Members

Darden welcomed 12 new faculty members ahead of the 2022–23 academic year, including the first Bodily Bicentennial Professor in Analytics.

Les Alexander will work in the Finance and Strategy, Ethics & Entrepreneurship areas as a professor of practice and the John Glynn Professor in Venture Capital. Previously a professor at Tulane’s Freeman School of Business, Alexander has extensive professional experience in investment banking, venture capital and private equity.

Ian Appel joins the Finance area as an associate professor. His main area of interest is empirical corporate finance. Prior to Darden, Appel held positions at Georgetown University and Boston College. He earned a Ph.D. in finance from the Wharton School.

Lillien Ellis joins the Leadership and Organizational Behavior area as an assistant professor after earning her Ph.D. at Cornell University. Her research interests are idea theft, creativity and innovation, entrepreneurship, and social dynamics in corporate knowledge work.

Serena Hagerty, assistant professor in the Marketing area, focuses on the social consequences of economic inequality. Hagerty was a Stone Ph.D. Scholar at the Harvard Kennedy School and earned her Ph.D. in marketing from Harvard Business School.

Lauren Kaufmann joins the Strategy, Ethics and Entrepreneurship area as an assistant professor with a focus on behavioral ethics, social impact and impact investing. Kaufmann received her Ph.D. in business ethics from the Wharton School.

Matt McBrady is now full time in the Finance area as a professor of practice. McBrady returns to academia following a career as an investor and entrepreneur. He earned his Ph.D. in business economics from Harvard University.

Anthony Palomba joins the Communication area as an assistant professor. Palomba focuses on how professionals can present data and insights through storytelling and why audiences consume entertainment. He received his Ph.D. in mass communications from the University of Florida.

Melanie Prengler, assistant professor in the Leadership and Organizational Behavior area, focuses on diversity, work arrangements and allyship. She earned her Ph.D. from the Mays Business School at Texas A&M University.

Eric Siegel is the inaugural Bodily Bicentennial Professor in Analytics, joining Darden as a visiting scholar. He will share his expertise in machine learning as a consultant and professor. Siegel earned his Ph.D. in computer science from Columbia University.

Bo Sun joins the Global Economies and Markets area as an associate professor after working at the Federal Reserve as a principal economist. She earned her Ph.D. in economics from the University of Virginia.

Ayana Younge, assistant professor in the Leadership and Organizational Behavior area, was a postdoctoral researcher and the behavioral lab manager at the Kenan-Flagler Business School, where she also earned her Ph.D. in organizational behavior.

Zhihao Zhang joins the Marketing area as an assistant professor. Formerly a postdoctoral scholar at the Haas School of Business, he studies consumer behavior. Zhang earned his Ph.D. from Yale University.