April 2026

Virginia Tech PhD alum Dr. Jess Filosa received the Outstanding Auditing Dissertation Award at the American Accounting Association Audit Section Meeting. Now an assistant Professor at The University of Alabama, Dr. Filosa is recognized for her exceptional doctoral research and contributions to the auditing field. This award has been given to many scholars she admires.  She is grateful to my dissertation committee, especially my chair, Sarah Stein, for their guidance, support, and mentorship throughout this process. “Thank you to everyone at Virginia Tech for the encouragement received during her PhD. Additionally, I’m thankful for time spent the EY Richmond office working on SOC reporting sparked an interest in outsourcing and third-party risk—an area of practice that plays a critical role in auditing but has received relatively little attention in academic research, and one that has become increasingly important in my teaching as she prepares students for real-world audit challenges.”

The Blackwood Department of Real Estate has maintained an exceptional pace throughout the second semester. Three student teams are currently representing the department at prestigious national competitions, including the Harold E. Eisenberg Foundation Real Estate Competition, the National Real Estate Appraisal Conference hosted by the Appraisal Institute, and the Mulroy National Real Estate Challenge. Faculty achievements have been equally impressive. Xue Xiao, Hainan Sheng, Dustin Read, and Tom Mayock each have secured publications in leading real estate journals, reinforcing the department’s research impact. Hainan Sheng was also appointed to the ARES Board of Directors, highlighting her influence within the academic community. Xue Xiao received the 2025 Manuscript Prize for Sustainable Real Estate and earned competitive funding from the Real Estate Research Institute to support ongoing research. Additionally, alumni Danielle Ferrari '20 was recently featured on the department's website as part of an ongoing alumni spotlight campaign.

David Simpson (CMA program, Northern Virginia) and Virginia Tech’s Yaling Yang spoke at the “Scam Bot Virginia Tech Foundry Roundtable” during the 2026 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. They shared progress on the SIM Farm Detection Initiative, a collaboration with GSMA Foundry that uses cellular network digital twins, telecom simulation, and AI to detect large-scale SIM farm fraud without affecting live networks. Wade Baker contributed to a Virginia Tech News article on cybersecurity trends for 2026. Dr. Alan Abrahams presented at ICPHSO 2026 and will serve as an invited panelist at the APEC Workshop on AI-enabled product recall systems (March 2026).

In January, HTM faculty and Ph.D. students attended and presented their research at the 31st Annual Hospitality Graduate Conference hosted by Auburn University. Dr. Phil Xiang joined fellow Pamplin faculty to host “A Day in the Life with AI,” a virtual session on practical strategies for integrating AI into real-world workflows. The February VT News featured David Yanisko’s Chef Lab, highlighting how students develop critical skills through hands-on culinary operations. Dr. Eojina Kim was appointed Associate Editor of the Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research (JHTR). HTM students also engaged in immersive learning beyond campus. During the Winter Session, 13 students, led by Tom Duetsch, traveled to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, to study international resort management. Students in HTM 4514 Hospitality Market Data Analysis, led by Dr. Shaniel Bernard, stepped outside the traditional classroom to visit and analyze two dynamic tourism markets: Norfolk/Virginia Beach and Richmond/Petersburg. 

The Department of Management recently hosted the DeAlamo Hogan Ethics Symposium focused on ethical leadership in changing political times. The panelists discussed navigating tension in leadership and keeping grounded in purpose, ethics, and responsibility while the landscape shifts around you. Our students have also been busy getting hands-on experience in the classroom through capstone projects, including partnering with Hope to Walk, a Blacksburg-based nonprofit that designs, builds, and donates prosthetic legs to people in Central America, Africa, and Asia. As part of Dirk Buengel’s management consulting course, students worked directly with the organization to identify and solve organizational constraints. To learn more about the work of the department, check out our latest Innovation and Influence Review.

The Virginia Tech Department of Marketing welcomes Carolyn Kogan as assistant professor of practice, following her prior role as adjunct instructor. She looks forward to deepening connections with students, expanding Hokie Headspace into live video, and developing a mentorship program aligned with the Pamplin+ Initiative. The department also highlights a notable research achievement: former PhD student Jinyan Xiang, current student Daniel Todorovic, and faculty mentor Mario Pandelaere published “Economic Inequality Hinders Consumers’ Access to Peer-to-Peer Services” in the Journal of Marketing. Public speaking is often ranked as people’s number one fear, even ahead of death; assistant professor of practice Steve Matuszak recently examined communication apprehension in high-pressure speaking situations in a compelling talk that earned a Respondent’s Pick at the 2026 Faculty Nutshell Talks. Finally, the 2026 Marketing Spring Seminar Series welcomes Kanishka Misra, Hema Yoganarasimhan, Brad Shapiro, and Dhruv Grewal to share cutting-edge research and foster academic exchanges.