The PhD Project Announces 2018 Inductees to Hall of Fame

MONTVALE, N.J., Sept. 13, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The PhD Project, an award-winning program to increase diversity in management, has announced the 2018 inductees into The PhD Project Hall of Fame. They are: Dr. Mary Gilly, Senior Associate Dean and Professor of Marketing at the Paul Merage School of Business, University of California, Irvine; Dr. Miles Davis, President of Linfield College; Dr. Quinetta Roberson, Fred J. Springer Endowed Chair in Business Leadership, School of Business at Villanova University.

The PhD Project established the Hall of Fame in 2011 to recognize a select few who have inspired many. These individuals have sustained an unwavering commitment to The PhD Project's mission and their positive leadership has resulted in significant encouragement and impact within The Project's network of minority business doctoral students and faculty.

"We are pleased to present the 2018 inductees to The PhD Project Hall of Fame. Since our inception, these individuals have served The Project as presenters, mentors and advisors," said Bernard J. Milano, President of The PhD Project and the KPMG Foundation, the founder, lead funder and administrator of The Project. "They have put forth great effort to create diversity in academia and ultimately, the business world."

Dr. Mary C. Gilly is Senior Associate Dean and Professor of Marketing at the Paul Merage School of Business, University of California, Irvine. She received her BA from Trinity University in San Antonio, TX, her MBA from Southern Methodist University and her PhD from University of Houston. Dr. Gilly's research addresses consumer behavior issues using a multi-method approach. Her research appears in premier journals, including the Journal of Consumer Research, the Journal of Marketing, the Journal of Service Research, the Journal of Business Research and the Journal of Retailing. She is the recipient of the 2011 Williams-Qualls-Spratlen (WQS) Multicultural Mentoring Award of Excellence from the American Marketing Association Foundation for her work with doctoral students.

Dr. Miles Davis is the president of Linfield College.  Previously, he was the dean of the Harry F. Byrd, Jr. School of Business and the George Edward Durell Chair of Management at Shenandoah University.  He also was the founding director of the Institute of Entrepreneurship at Shenandoah University. Dr. Davis is an active scholar and has published scholarly articles on the intersection of entrepreneurship and faith based practices. He has been presented with the "Silver Good Citizenship Medal" from the Sons of the American Revolution and recognized as being a "Drum Major for Justice" by the United Covenant Churches of Christ.

Dr. Quinetta M. Roberson is the Fred J. Springer Endowed Chair in Business Leadership in the School of Business at Villanova University. Prior to her current position, she was an Associate Professor of Human Resource Studies at Cornell University. Her research appears in the field's top journals, and she was an Associate Editor at Journal of Applied Psychology from 2008-2014. She received her BS from University of Delaware, MBA from University of Pittsburgh, and PhD from University of Maryland. She is a Fellow in the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP) and currently serves as Vice President/Program Chair of the Academy of Management (AOM).

The PhD Project, founded by the KPMG Foundation in 1994 and became a separate 501c(3) in 2005, recruits minority professionals from business into doctoral programs in all business disciplines. Since its inception, The PhD Project has been responsible for the increase in the number of minority business professors from 294 to 1,470. Further, 270 minorities are currently enrolled in doctoral programs, and will take a place at the front of the classroom over the next few years. The Project attacks the root cause of minority under-representation in corporate jobs: historically, very few minority college students study business as an entrée to a corporate career.  Diversifying the faculty attracts more minorities to study business and better prepares all students to function in a diverse workforce.

The PhD Project 2018 Hall of Fame's inductees will be honored at the organization's annual conference in November. A new class of inductees is selected annually, with supporters of The PhD Project and the public invited to submit nominations for each year's class. 

The PhD Project has received ongoing support from its sponsoring companies, participating universities and organizations. The sponsors who are founding organizations, in addition to the KPMG Foundation, are the Graduate Management Admission Council and AACSB International. Other leading corporations, foundations and associations funding The Project  include: AICPA Foundation, DiversityInc, Dixon Hughes Goodman LLP, American Marketing Association, Rockwell Collins, John Deere Foundation,  California State University System, Lincoln Financial Group, Academy of Management, American Accounting Association, City University of New York System, Aerotek, NASBA, Thrivent Financial, American Express Foundation, Fidelity Investments, Bentley University, LinkedIn and over 300 Participating Universities.

Lisa King
646-234-5080
[email protected]

SOURCE The PhD Project