Welcome to my homepage. I am a Professor of Innovation and Creativity, and Vice Dean for Internationalization, at WFI Ingolstadt School of Management at KU (the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt) in Germany. I also serve as Founding Director of the KU Research Institute for Business and Economics in Service of Humanity (BESH), Strategic Advisor for University Enrollments and Advancement at KU, and as Faculty Head for Marketing at WFI. I joined KU in June 2018. Prior to that, I served as the Faculty Director of the Full Time MBA and the Working Professional MBA programs, and Associate Professor of Marketing – Clinical, at The Ohio State University Fisher College of Business in Columbus, Ohio, USA.
In my academic career I’ve engaged extensively with industry through consulting and keynote speaking engagements at several companies in the U.S., and internationally, in the areas of marketing strategy, branding, positioning, marketing metrics, return-on-investment, customer experience, and service management. I’ve served as an expert in these subject areas, for media stories locally and nationally. My experience includes serving on the board of directors of for-profit and non-profit organizations, and as an expert witness in cases involving brand confusion and consumer behavior.
My industry experience, prior to my academic career, includes positions in brand management at a consumer packaged goods company, in account planning at a leading advertising agency, and as head of marketing operations for an educational services firm. My teaching experience includes teaching at all levels at a business school, including in Full Time and Working Professional MBA programs, Undergraduate programs, and Executive Education programs, and I have been fortunate to receive multiple teaching awards including Best MBA Core Class Professor, Faculty Luminary Award for Excellence in Teaching in the BRIGHT MBA program, Best MBA Marketing Elective Professor, Daniel Westerbeck Pacesetter Award for Excellence in Teaching, and AMA Professor of the Year Award (at OSU).
My research is in the areas of branding, consumer behavior, innovation, and services marketing, and has been published in the Journal of Marketing, Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Psychology, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Retailing, Review of Marketing Research, and Emotion.
Invited Presentations and Workshops
(since January 2019)
Sprint4Local Hackathon and Innovation Challenge by brigk and IFG Ingolstadt, Ingolstadt, Germany, April 2020. Webinar on “Innovation in Times of Crisis.”
Gabelli School of Business, Fordham University, New York City, USA, February 2020. LEGO® Serious Play® Workshop for Faculty on “Infusing Social Innovation in the Curriculum.”
Aerospace MBA Program, Toulouse Business School (TBS), Toulouse, France, February 2020. LEGO® Serious Play® Workshop on “Business Growth Strategies and Innovative Solutions.”
University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany, January 2020. Research Presentation on “More Than a Matter of Opinion? Consumers’ Perceptions of the Usefulness of Online Ratings Provided by Critics and Users.”
University of Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany, January 2020. Research Presentation on “The Person Brand Effect and the Role of Product Innovation.”
Workshop on Social & Innovation Marketing, Toulouse Business School (TBS), Toulouse, France, November 2019. Research Presentation on “The Person Brand Effect and the Role of Product Innovation.”
Toulouse Business School (TBS), Casablanca, Morocco, October 2019. LEGO® Serious Play® Workshop on “Building a Research Program.”
Interdisciplinary Summer School Workshop, Hanns Seidel Foundation, Casablanca, Morocco, October 2019. LEGO® Serious Play® Workshop on “Research Impact.”
Interdisciplinary Summer School Workshop, Hanns Seidel Foundation, Casablanca, Morocco, October 2019. Research Workshop on “Identity: Perspectives from Social Psychology and Consumer Behavior.”
Creativity and Construction Grammar Workshop II, Fritz Thyssen Foundation and Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt, Eichstätt, Germany, March 2019. Research Presentation on “Connecting the Dots: Insights on Creativity from Research in Business and Consumer Behavior.”
Toulouse Business School (TBS), Social & Innovation Marketing Lab, Toulouse, France, March 2019. Research Presentation on “Parental Choice of Healthy Food for Children: The Role of Social Comparison, Implicit Self-Theories and Social Norms.”
Komark Annual Meeting 2019, Karlsruhe, Germany, January 2019. Research Presentation on “Parental Choice of Healthy Food for Children: The Role of Social Comparison, Implicit Self-Theories and Social Norms.”

File Photo on Campus: Fall 2019