Professor Spotlight: Jie Zhang

It's more than just an expertise in retail management for Jie Zhang. At the Smith School of Business, Zhang has been an associate professor of marketing since 2006.

Zhang was born in China and attended college in Beijing. She received her bachelor's degree in demography at Renmin University before she moved to the Unites States in 1992. Zhang attended the University of Chicago where she received her master's in demography and social statistics in 1995. In 1999, she obtained her Ph.D. in marketing at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.

Before Zhang became a professor at Maryland, she was a lecturer at the Kellogg Graduate School and an associate professor of marketing at University of Michigan's business school from 1999 to 2006.

Zhang has received many honors and awards during her career including the Smith School's Top 15% Teaching Award since 2006.

Zhang has done research in several fields pertaining to marketing and retail management and has done several research and conference presentations. 

Currently Zhang teaches three sections of retail management with an average enrollment of 31 students.

"I love shopping and this class really gives you a new perspective on the retail world, said senior finance major Parita Shah.

Shah is taking retail management as an elective this semester.

"I have tremendously enjoyed teaching retail management at Maryland, that's the truth," said Zhang.

Zhang said she would like to teach more courses at Maryland, if given the opportunity.

Zhang says Maryland has an outstanding marketing department with a world-class faculty and she really enjoys working with the dedicated staff members.  

"We are all committed to bring the school to the next level," Zhang said.

In terms of the faculty research productivity, Maryland was ranked number one in the University of Texas's 2009 ranking, Zhang says.

As far as expansion and further development, the marketing department has great plans for the future.

Currently, the school is in the preparation stages of launching a master's of science in marketing analytics. The program is set to launch in Fall 2012.

This is one of the most important initiatives, Zhang says and further down the line, the department will continue to recruit world-class researchers as faculty members to help strengthen the school's research position and also to help support the new program.  

As a woman with many degrees and accomplishments behind her, Zhang says teaching is definitely rewarding and well-worth it.