The Cornell SC Johnson College of Business kicks off the fall semester by welcoming its newest faculty. Learn about the academic focus, teaching, and interests of Cornell’s newest business professors who span areas of expertise, including  finance, marketing, emerging markets, communication and leadership.

Adam Dearing, assistant professor of strategy and business economics.

Areas of research interests and teaching focus: Researches industrial organization, public finance, econometrics, and their intersection, with contributions in theory, methodology, and empirical applications. His teaching focus is currently microeconomics.

What do you like best about teaching?

"The best part about teaching is that I reciprocally learn from the students. Throughout my career I have been fortunate to teach students from broadly diverse backgrounds and experiences, and I have learned tremendously from our interactions in the classroom. This is one of the reasons I joined Cornell–as we say here, 'Any person, any study.'"

Emily Garbinsky, associate professor of marketing and management communication.

Areas of research interests and teaching focus: Researches consumer financial well-being with a teaching emphasis on marketing management and brand management.

What attracted you to the SC Johnson College of Business?

"I was immediately drawn to the interdisciplinary research focus of the college and strong emphasis on behavioral research. I’m also very excited about the possibility of working with PhD students, especially since my previous employer did not have a PhD program in business."

Yao Lu, assistant professor of accounting

Areas of research interests and teaching focus: Researches financial disclosure and reporting, with a focus on financial institutions. His teaching currently focuses on financial statement analysis.

What first sparked your interest in your area of study?

"I first became interested in accounting research when working as an equity research analyst. Because I relied heavily on accounting numbers to value individual stocks, I thought a lot about how exactly those numbers were measured and disclosed, what justifies changes to some accounting rules, and why firms reveal certain information. I became more and more intrigued by such questions, and I eventually realized that I wanted to be a professor in accounting."

Elizabeth McClean, associate professor of management and organizations

Areas of research interests and teaching focus: Researches leadership, gender, and voice with a teaching focus on leadership, diversity, and strategic human resource management.

What are you most looking forward to during your first year?

"Getting to know the other faculty members and interacting with the MBA students. I sat in on a Zoom class recently and found the students to be very engaged, so looking forward to getting that experience in the classroom."

Fridah Mubichi-Kut, professor of practice of applied economics and policy.

Areas of research interests and teaching focus: Researches the diffusion of innovations in emerging markets, program monitoring, evaluation.She will focus her teaching on agriculture commodity research and promotion programs.

What first sparked your interest in your research/area of study?

"Having grown up in Eastern Kenya and worked in Mozambique, I have witnessed extensive malnutrition, poverty, and aid dependency among farming communities. Perplexed by the paradox of the hungry farmer and dependency on aid, I have remained curious and eager to better understand for example, the role agricultural interventions/innovations, market, and social networks play in promotion of socio-economic development."

James Stapp, lecturer of marketing and management communication

Areas of research interests and teaching focus: Researches persuasive communication and the role of new technology like artificial intelligence in communication in the workplace. He will focus his teaching on management communication.

What first sparked your interest in your area of study?

"As an undergraduate and graduate student, I had an affinity and interest in studying rhetoric and communication. I particularly became interested in researching the area of persuasive communication after my diverse professional experience outside of academia showed me the ubiquitous nature of persuasion—no matter what you do for a living, we all engage in persuasion almost any time humans communicate with each other."