Eight professors joined the faculty at the BYU Marriott School of Business in 2023. “We are excited to welcome these new faculty members,” says Brigitte Madrian, dean of BYU Marriott. “In line with our mission to develop leaders of faith, intellect, and character, these new faculty bring insight and experience that will contribute to the educational experience BYU Marriott offers its students.”
Ben Beck is a new assistant professor of marketing. Beck earned a BS in business administration from the University of Utah and went on to work for several Utah tech companies as a marketing manager and director. In 2017 he received his MBA from BYU and then attended Pennsylvania State University, earning a PhD in marketing in 2023. Beck studies how marketing tactics impact sales, how computers understand human language, and how firms can increase trust with consumers. His research also explores business as a force for good.
Laura Cutler joins the faculty as an assistant teaching professor of information systems. After graduating from BYU with a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in information systems management, Cutler gained work experience with Sandia National Laboratories, Ernst and Young, and Vertex 42. Then she spent six years as a software engineer with Capital One in Dallas. She oversaw the payment system with Capital One’s auto loan line of business, and she designed new features for their website and mobile apps. Cutler then moved to Seattle to work as a product manager with Redfin, where she oversaw the scheduling system for house tours with real estate agents across the country. Passionate about solving customer problems with innovative solutions, Cutler is excited to prepare students for the workplace. She enjoys teaching project management and the MISM graduate capstone course at BYU Marriott.
After spending the past six years as president of BYU–Idaho, Henry J. Eyring joins BYU Marriott as a professor of management. Eyring’s education began at BYU, where he earned a BS in geology in 1985 as well as an MBA and law degree in 1989. He then spent ten years in management consulting at Monitor Group in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and as a board member of SkyWest Airlines. He returned to Provo as the director of BYU Marriott’s MBA program from 1998 to 2002, leaving that position to preside over the Japan Tokyo North Mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. When his service ended in 2006, he began a 17-year career at BYU–Idaho, serving as the academic vice president, associate academic vice president for online learning and instructional technology, advancement vice president, and ultimately president of the university.
An associate professor of management, Richard Gardner earned a BS in management and an MPA from BYU and then received a PhD in management from Texas A&M University. He spent eight years in Nevada as an assistant and then associate professor of management at UNLV. His research specialties include business ethics, dysfunctional behaviors, and the imposter phenomenon in the workplace. His work has been published in top academic journals, including Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Applied Psychology, Personnel Psychology, and Harvard Business Review. Media outlets such as BBC Radio, New York Times, Psychology Today, Monitor on Psychology, and Leadership Today have also featured his work.
Hannah Judd joins the faculty in the School of Accountancy as an assistant professor. Judd began her education at BYU Marriott, earning a BS in accounting and a MAcc, with minors in economics and music. Her early career took her to London to work for Deloitte UK as a tax intern and then back to Utah to work at Grant Thornton as a tax associate. Judd went on to earn her PhD from Texas A&M University, where she also taught introductory accounting. She received a Deloitte Doctoral Fellowship and continues to hold an active CPA license. Research interests for Judd primarily focus on how taxes and business strategies intersect with financial reporting and capital markets. Specifically, she analyzes how tax-related disclosures can reveal information about a firm’s underlying business strategies. She also studies how a firm’s tax strategies interact with the external environment, and she is broadly interested in tax enforcement, tax policies, and innovation strategies.
After two years as a visiting assistant professor in the Department of Management, Lena Lizunova is now an assistant professor of strategy. Lizunova studied international political economy and business at BYU, earning her bachelor’s degree in 2008. After completing a master of public policy at BYU, she worked with Project-Level Aid Data at BYU (now called AidData) and at an education technology startup in Shanghai. She completed graduate work at HEC Paris, Tsinghua University, and MIT, eventually earning an MBA before continuing on to earn a PhD in management from HEC Paris, where she also taught strategic management courses. Her research interests include women in business and venture processes. In addition to her academic work, Lizunova also volunteers with a variety of nonprofits.
Tanner Skousen joins BYU Marriott as an assistant professor in the Department of Information Systems. Skousen holds a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in information systems management from BYU Marriott. During his schooling, he worked as an account manager for Brevium, a local healthcare technology company. He went on to the University of Georgia, earning his PhD in business administration with an emphasis in management information systems in 2023. His research interests include behavioral information systems, resilience, and online communities in the workplace and in healthcare. Skousen has collaborated and published research with Mayo Clinic Connect, an online patient community. He has presented and received best paper awards at the International Conference for Information Systems on topics including artificial intelligence, the relationship between firms and online communities, and online community governance.
Trent Williams is an incoming associate professor for the entrepreneurship program. He earned a BA in English with a minor in philosophy from BYU and then an MS in organizational behavior and strategy from Purdue University. For three years, Williams worked as a senior consultant for Deloitte and then a senior associate for PwC. Williams earned a PhD in entrepreneurship and strategy from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University. He went on to teach undergraduate and graduate courses first at Syracuse University’s Whitman School of Management and then in the MBA program at Indiana University. His research centers on value creation through organizational emergence, and he has published widely on related topics including resourcefulness, resilience, and decision-making.