Melrose & The Toro Company Center for Principled Leadership

The Principled Leadership Research Fellows Program supports faculty conducting original research that advances business practice, academic scholarship and teaching. Fellows explore topics aligned with the Opus College of Business Research Mission and Thought Leadership Aspiration to be a leading voice in responsible and responsive business. Research spans disciplines, academic units and methodologies, examining the responsibilities of business to its stakeholders and the role of business in addressing social issues and emerging challenges. Fellows are listed alphabetically by first name, with fellowship year noted in parentheses.

Aaron Sackett, PhD, Professor of Marketing (2024, 2026). 2024 research focus: Voter outreach project dissemination and extension. 2026 research focus: Whether data and analytics have become a new source of workplace influence within the organizational currencies framework.

Anupama Mukund Bharadwaj, PhD, Assistant Professor of Marketing (2024). Research focus: The effects of wordplay communication from brands on consumer choices and evaluations.

Casey Frid, PhD, Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship (2025). Research focus: Understanding entrepreneur behaviors in the craft brewery industry re: prioritizing collective well-being over self-interest, thereby creating a shared identity within a competitive market. 

Darin Sullwold, Clinical Faculty, Operations and Supply Chain Management (2026). Research focus: Whether data and analytics have become a new source of workplace influence within the organizational currencies framework.

Iva Rashkova, PhD, Assistant Professor of Operations and Supply Chain Management (2026). Research focus: Using optimization and field data to improve healthy food access, wellness product design and Food-is-Medicine programs while balancing affordability, scalability and business viability.

Jason Pattit, PhD, Professor of Management (2024). Research focus: Perceptions of how justice and trust impact wealth management consumers’ decisions to adopt financial services.

Jiang (Will) Zhang, PhD, Assistant Professor of Finance (2025). Research focus: An empirical study of corporate misconduct in the Twin Cities.

Jordan Barlow, PhD, Associate Professor of Operations and Supply Chain Management (2026). Research focus: Whether data and analytics have become a new source of workplace influence within the organizational currencies framework.

Kevin Henderson, PhD, Professor of Management (2026). Research focus: The impact of Minnesota’s Paid Family and Medical Leave law on employees and employers, including how employees use paid leave and how organizations adapt to implementation.

Kyle Goldschmidt, Ph.D, Associate Professor of Operations and Supply Chain Management (2025). Research focus: Investigating the identification and phase-out of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in supply chains.

Mahak Nagpal, PhD, Assistant Professor of Ethics & Business Law (2024). Research focus: How technosolutionistic attitudes vary across the globe.

Mary Eisele Slack, Senior Clinical Professor of Management (2026). Research focus: Whether data and analytics have become a new source of workplace influence within the organizational currencies framework.

Muer Yang, PhD, Professor of Operations and Supply Chain Management (2025). Research focus: The link between operational inefficiencies in election administration—specifically, long voting lines—and the erosion of public trust, culminating in the increased spread of political misinformation.

Priscilla Pena, PhD, Assistant Professor of Marketing (2025). Research focus: Brand activism, which occurs when a brand takes a controversial sociopolitical stance.

Seth Ketron, PhD, Assistant Professor of Marketing (2025). Research focus: VR and sensory marketing that relates to the domains of consumer well-being. 

Stephanie D. Grimm, PhD, Professor of Accounting (2025). Research focus: "Research, Serve, Observe and Learn: A Generalizable Framework for Service Learning in Accounting Courses." 

Tera Galloway, PhD, Associate Professor of Management (2025). Research focus: Understanding entrepreneur behaviors in the craft brewery industry re: prioritizing collective well-being over self-interest, thereby creating a shared identity within a competitive market. 

Victor Chernetsky, PhD, Assistant Professor of Marketing (2025). Research focus: Interfunctional conflict re: examining how flexible conflict interventions can improve collaboration between sales and marketing teams.

Yulia Vorotyntseva, PhD, Assistant Professor of Operations and Supply Chain Management (2025, 2026). Research focus: How for-profit surplus food platforms affect inventory decisions, product experimentation and food access, including whether they can unintentionally incentivize increased food production.

Featured Thought Leadership

• Michaelson, C.W., & Tosti-Kharas, J. (2025). The Meaning and Purpose of Work: An Interdisciplinary Framework for Considering What Work Is For. Routledge/Taylor & Francis.
• Michaelson, C.W., & Tosti-Kharas, J. (2024). Is Your Work Worth It? How to Think About Meaningful Work. Hachette/PublicAffairs. 
• Michaelson, C.W., & Tosti-Kharas, J. (2026). "Artificial Intelligence and Authentic Ignorance: How Overreliance on AI Could Make Us 'As Stupid and Ignorant as It Is Possible for a Human Creature to Become.'" NYU Institute for Purpose & Flourishing. 
• Michaelson, C.W., & Tosti-Kharas, J. (2025). "Should Federal Workers Accept Trump's Buyout Offer?" Time.
• Tosti-Kharas, J., & Michaelson, C.W. (2025). "Work as a Calling: Religious and Secular Approaches." Centre for Enterprise, Markets, and Ethics. 
• Michaelson, C.W. (2024). "Work Worth Loving." NPR Academic Minute. 
• Michaelson, C.W. (2025). "Business and Society, the Society and Business, and What Is It Like to Be a Rat?" Business Ethics Quarterly, 35(1), 124-140.
• Michaelson, C., & Williams, Y. (2022). "Like Athletes, Corporate Leaders Shifting in How They Tackle Social Issues." Minneapolis Star Tribune.