Faculty and Staff

Frank Rudisill Interim Dean and Professor, Management

Dr. Rudisill received his Ph.D. in management science from Clemson University. He joined the USC Upstate faculty in fall 2002, served as Associate Dean of the College from fall 2008 thru spring 2011, and Dean of the College from July 2012 thru June 2017. Frank teaches in the areas of management, operations management, statistics and business strategy. He has over 25 years of experience in industry as a statistician (Duke Energy), operations research manager (Milliken & Co) and statistical quality consultant (with national and international companies). He was also the lead partner from USC Upstate in working with BMW Manufacturing to develop the USC Upstate / BMW Academic Outreach Camp for high school students. His research interests focus upon applying quality tools and techniques in solving industrial problems. He has published in peer-reviewed journals such as Production and Inventory Management, Quality Engineering, Quality Progress, International Journal of Production Economics, Interfaces, and Strategic Finance. He is co-author, with Dr. Earl Burch, of the book Quality Management and Measurement Systems.

Brian G. Brady Senior Instructor of Entrepreneurship  Director: Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation

Brian joined USC Upstate in 2016 as an Instructor and Director of the GreenHouse Business Incubator and was named Director of the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation in August 2020. Brian teaches entrepreneurship and marketing and is faculty of record for credit business internships. He also serves as the faculty advisor to the USC Upstate student chapter of the Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization (CEO). Prior to joining USC Upstate, Brian was Instructor in Residence at the UConn School of Business teaching entrepreneurship, marketing and management. Brian had also held dual appointments as both Director of the UConn Stamford Learning Accelerator and as clinical faculty at the Connecticut Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. He co-founded the Women Entrepreneurs Empowerment Forum, an annual conference of over 350 women entrepreneurs from greater New York. Prior to his academic career, Brian was co-founder of a marketing services company serving both national and international clients and held management positions at ADP, Omnicom/BBDO and Pitney Bowes. He is directly involved in several entrepreneurship initiatives at the Johnson College of Business and Economics, including the Johnson Innovation Speaker Series and Global Entrepreneurship Week. In addition, Brian is a member of the organizing committee for 1 Million Cups Spartanburg and was previously the Program Manager of Start:ME Spartanburg, a community-based microbusiness accelerator. He also participates in the Ten at the Top Upstate Entrepreneur Ecosystem. Brian earned a Master’s Degree in Communications from Fairfield University and a Bachelor of Arts from Georgetown University.

Chak Hung Jack Cheng Associate Professor, Economics

Dr. Cheng received his doctorate in Economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His research interests include macroeconomics, monetary and fiscal policy. He has published papers on the nonlinear effects of mortgage spreads over the business cycle, optimal monetary policy rules for emerging economies and the effect of exchange rate pass-through on fiscal policy. His recent work focuses on understanding the impact of economic uncertainty on the macroeconomy. His research has been featured in New York Times, Bloomberg and Central Banking. Dr. Cheng was the recipient of the JCBE Excellence in Teaching and Advising Award in 2020.

Elizabeth Cole Associate Professor, Accounting Chair, Department of Economics, Finance and Accounting

Dr. Cole joined the faculty in 2007. She earned a doctorate in Accounting from Kent State University. Before joining USC Upstate, she was an assistant professor at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA.

Daniel Davis Assistant Professor, Management

Dr. Davis earned his doctorate in Organizational Science and from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He also earned his master’s degree in Sociology from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and his bachelor's degree in Psychology from Appalachian State University. His research interests include institutional dynamics, inter-organizational collaboration, and the influence of information and digital technology on organizational processes. He recently published work in Social Science Research. He has also previously won awards from the Southern Management Association for best paper in the track of Organization Theory, International Management, and Management History and from the North Carolina Sociological Association for the Joseph S. Himes best graduate student paper. Dr. Davis teaches in the areas of human resource management and organizational behavior.

Chung-Yean Chiang Associate Professor Logistics and Supply Chain Management

Dr. Chung-Yean Chiang is an associate professor of Logistics and Supply Chain Management at the George Dean Johnson, Jr. College of Business and Economics (JCBE). Dr. Chiang holds a Ph.D. in Operations Management from the University at Buffalo, the State University of New York and a MBA in Supply Chain Management from the Rutgers University. He was a research associate in the department of automotive study at the Industrial Technology Research Institute, a major think tank in Taiwan. His research interests are supply chain inventory dynamics, user’s acceptance, and inter-organizational collaboration. His research works have been published in major premier international journals, such as International Journal of Operations and Production Management and International Journal of Production Economics. Dr. Chiang teaches Operations Management, Supply Chain Management, and Transportation at JCBE.

Michael Dinger Associate Professor, Management

Dr. Dinger holds a doctorate in management information systems from Clemson University. His research appears in top journals such as Information Systems Research, Journal of the Association for Information Systems, Journal of Management Information Systems, and MIS Quarterly.

Rebecca Goessel Senior Instructor, Accounting

Becky Goessel earned both her Bachelor of Science in Accounting and her Master of Professional Accounting from Clemson University. She is a certified public accountant (CPA) as well as a chartered global management accountant (CGMA).With more than 19 years of experience, Becky Goessel has a strong background in big four accounting, auditing, financial analysis, month-end closing, financial reporting, corporate budgeting and management reporting. She remains active in the business community serving on a board of directors as well as promoting financial literacy education.

Uma Gupta Director of Business Analytics & Associate Professor

Dr. Uma Gupta is the Director of Business Analytics and leads and directs the graduate program, the Master of Science in Business Analytics, and is the Co-Chair of the Analytics Advisory Board at the College of Business. She holds a Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering and an MBA from the University of Central Florida and a graduate degree in mathematics from Stella Maris College, India.

A Fulbright scholar and Fulbright Specialist, she has published three textbooks in Information Systems, edited a book on expert systems, and co-authored a book on Data Governance. She has authored more than ninety research papers and conference proceedings. Her areas of expertise include Enterprise-wide Business Analytics, Data Literacy, Data Visualization, and Organizational Digitization, and is a Tableau Desktop Specialist. She serves on the Editorial Review Board of the Business Education Innovation Journal, the International Journal of Data Analytics, the American Business Review, and the Journal of Global Responsibility. She was awarded the Change Champion Certificate in 2022 "for leadership in transforming the master’s in business analytics from a small face-to-face evening program into a robust online and hybrid program rooted in experiential learning opportunities” and the State University of New York’s Online Ambassador Teaching Award (2017) “as an exemplary online educator, who is both enthusiastic and effective in online teaching, and who can be a positive and strong advocate for online teaching.”

Dr. Gupta was selected as the Top Ten Influential Women in Technology in Houston, Texas, was awarded the Women of Distinction Award from the Girl Scouts of Western New York and served on the National Liaison Task Force for STEM for the American Association of University Women.

She has won numerous other awards for community engagement and leadership contributions. She is also a seasoned keynote speaker and conducts and leadership workshops for middle and senior executives.

McCrady Gwinn Instructor, Finance

Prior to joining the USC Upstate faculty, McCrady enjoyed a 27-year career that included positions as a chief financial officer, controller and cost accountant for several companies in the Greenville – Spartanburg area. Additionally, he turned a hobby into a business and became a registered investment adviser in 2008. In the last few years, he has embraced the world of teaching at both USC Upstate and Furman University in an adjunct role and joined Upstate as a full-time faculty member in 2017. McCrady has served (or currently serves) on several endowment boards and leads the student-managed investment fund at our school. He enjoys teaching business finance, real estate finance, financial statement analysis, principles of investments, personal finance, financial and managerial accounting. McCrady has a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Georgia and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration degree from the University of South Carolina.

Elise Harvey Assistant Professor, Marketing

Dr. Harvey earned both her master's degree and her doctoral degree at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. She also earned a Bachelor of Science degree in marketing and a Honors Bachelor of Science in finance at Oklahoma State University. Her primary research interests include nontraditional families, consumer socialization, advertising to children, children's use of new media and socio-cultural events. She recently published work in Social Science Quarterly. Her teaching experience includes Introduction to Marketing, Marketing Communications Strategy and Contemporary Marketing. Prior to joining academia, Dr. Harvey worked in the Corporate Treasury at Koch Industries, Inc.

Kimberly Land Senior Instructor, Marketing

Kim Land received a Master of Business Administration from the University of South Carolina and a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Mass Communications from the University of South Carolina Honors College. She has over 16 years of professional marketing and public relations experience, including 14 years as marketing and innovation director at the Herald-Journal/GoUpstate.com. Land remains active in the business community and has served on numerous local boards including Project REST, Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium and Oakbrook Preparatory School. Land is also the Director of the Honors program for USC Upstate and serves as faculty advisor for the Student Marketing Association. She was recognized in 2014 as one of the Direct Marketing News 40 Under 40 national honorees.

Yin-Chi Liao Associate Professor, Management

Dr. Yin-Chi Liao holds a Ph.D. in Management from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Her research interests include inter-organizational relationships and networks, corporate strategy, innovation, and entrepreneurship. Her research has been published in the International Journal of Human Resource Management, Journal of Small Business Management, and Journal of Technology Transfer. She has work experience in consulting and a government think tank on science and technology policy in Taiwan. Before joining the faculty at USC Upstate, she was an associate professor at Western Illinois University. She teaches International Business and Strategic Management.

Thanh Nguyen Associate Professor, Finance

Dr. Nguyen received his doctorate in Finance from the University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida. His research interests include payout policies, M&As, divestitures, SEOs and IPOs, family firms and behavioral finance. He has publications on Journal of Behavioral Finance, Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Global Finance, Review of Accounting and Finance, Managerial Finance…He teaches Investments and Corporate finance courses. Before joining the faculty at the University of South Carolina Upstate, he taught at Limestone College and University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. He passed CFA level 2 and has five years of working experience in the banking industry. He is a member of Financial Management Association and Southern Finance Association.

Jim O'Connor Associate Dean Associate Professor, Management

Dr. Jim O'Connor earned a doctorate in business administration from Georgia State University, and master's degrees in statistics and management and a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He joined USC Upstate in 2008 and teaches primarily in the areas of management, operations management and improvement, statistics, and environmental sustainability in business. He has over 20 years of experience in industry as a vice president of operations, plant manager, director of quality, and process engineering manager for such companies as Fuji Film, BBA Fiberweb, and Printpack. Dr. O’Connor is a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt and consults with companies on operational performance and quality improvement. His research interests include applied statistics, operations improvement, and environmental sustainability strategies.

Rosalind Corieri Paige Associate Professor, Marketing Chair: Department of Management, Entrepreneurship, and Marketing

Dr. Paige earned her doctorate from Iowa State University and teaches international marketing, marketing research and consumer behavior. Dr. Paige is the Chair of the Department of Management, Entrepreneurship, and Marketing and has served as the Associate Dean of the Johnson College of Business and Economics on the Greenville Campus. Before joining USC Upstate, Dr. Paige was on the faculty of the University of Tennessee where she guided master's and doctoral students. Her research interests focus on tourism marketing and have taken her on projects in Thailand, China, Russia, South Korea and Mexico. Dr. Paige has published in peer-reviewed journals such as "The Journal of Small Business Management," "The Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship," "The Journal of Promotion Management," "The Journal of Vacation Marketing" and "Services Marketing Quarterly."

Sirajul Shibly Assistant Professor, Marketing

Dr. Shibly received his Ph.D. in Management from Binghamton University, the State University of New York. He also earned his MBA from the University of Sheffield, UK and BBA from North South University, Bangladesh. His primary research interest revolves around buyer perception of seller’s marketing activities and includes topics such as information asymmetry, brand evaluation, and customer satisfaction. While he has a strong concentration in marketing strategy, his research interests overlap with consumer behavior as well. Prior to joining the academia, Dr. Shibly worked in the promotion and capacity building department of IDCOL, the largest financier of green infrastructure and renewable energy programs in Bangladesh. He has also worked in corporate affairs for Berger Paints Bangladesh Limited.

Brian Smith Senior Instructor, Information Management Systems Director: Office of Technology and Student Support Systems

Mr. Smith graduated from the University of Georgia and earned a Master of Management Information Systems from Georgia College and State University.  He is a Senior Instructor of Management Information Systems and also serves as the Director: Office of Technology and Student Support Services for the College of Business. His research interests include business intelligence, analytics, value creation, and corporate sustainability.  A former IT manager and network engineer, he teaches management information systems.

John Strandholm Assistant Professor, Economics

Dr. Strandholm earned his Ph.D. in Economics from Washington State University, and an M.S. in economics and B.A. in mathematics from the University of Wyoming. His main research interests lie in the fields of environmental economics, industrial organization, and other microeconomic topics. His research has been published in journals such as Resource and Energy Economics, The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis and Policy, and Ecological Economics. He has also co-authored a problems and solution manual for Intermediate Microeconomics.

Xiao Tang Assistant Professor, Business Analytics

Dr. Xiao Tang earned her Ph.D. in Management Science and Systems from the University at Buffalo, the State University of New York. Her research interests are information security, user’s acceptance, and knowledge management. Her research works have been published in international journals, such as the Journal of Computer Information Systems. Dr. Tang teaches data analytics, and statistics at JCBE.

Julie Wade Associate Professor, Management

Dr. Wade completed her PhD in Information Systems and her MS in Marketing Research at Clemson University. Her research focuses on social media and virtual communities, and appears in journals such as MIS Quarterly and Communications of the Association for Information Systems.

Michael Wooten Senior Instructor, Accounting

Michael Wooten earned his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration - Management from Erskine College and his Masters of Accountancy from Western Carolina University. His areas of interest include governmental and not-for-profit accounting. Before joining the faculty at the University of South Carolina Upstate, Mr. Wooten had the pleasure of being one of its students. His love of the Johnson College of Business and Economics, and its student body, lead him to this position at the college. He is active in the local community by serving on the board of directors of a Spartanburg non-profit organization and the Spartanburg chapter of the Institute of Managerial Accountants.