YOUR BRIDGE TO ACADEMIA
What makes Robinson's Ph.D. programs special?
DIVERSE MAJORS WITH HARD-TO-FIND CONCENTRATIONS
- accounting
- business process innovation
- digital innovation
- finance
- information systems
- international business
- marketing
- organizational behavior & human resources
- real estate
- risk management
- strategy
Research is the main component of the Ph.D. program. Students are mentored by highly productive research faculty and are strongly encouraged to publish in scholarly journals and present research papers at national and regional conferences.
Students are also encouraged to attend Robinson’s Research Workshops. Robinson's Ph.D. program aims to graduate individuals who are sought after for faculty positions in research-oriented universities.
INTERDISCIPLINARY COURSEWORK
- Students play an active role in the design of the program of study during the coursework phase of the program.
- Students take 15 hours of research methods courses, 18 hours of discipline-specific coursework within their major, and nine hours dedicated to a secondary area of interest.
LOCATION.LOCATION.LOCATION.
Both of our campuses are in the middle of Atlanta’s professional districts — an ideal location for the study of many business-related topics.
Most classes are held downtown. A few classes are offered in Buckhead.
FACULTY AND RESEARCH
- Robinson’s internationally recognized faculty are experts in their fields.
- Our faculty are renowned for rigorous scholarship and practical expertise across a range of business disciplines.
- Robinson's research centers and institutes provide direct access to current trends in business research.
Upcoming Events
Alumni & Current Students
Alumni Spotlight
Dr. Sarang Sunder
Dr. Sarang Sunder is an Associate Professor of Marketing and the Jerome Bess Faculty Fellow at the Kelley School of Business, Indiana University. He previously served on the faculty of the Neeley School of Business, Texas Christian University. He received his PhD and master’s degrees in marketing from Georgia State University and undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering from Anna University, India. His research focuses on the tactical deployment of marketing strategy using econometric methods. His current research interests include understanding substantive issues in Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Healthcare, and Salesforce Management. Sarang’s research has been featured in various premier journals such as the Journal of Marketing, Marketing Science, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Retailing, and the Journal of International Marketing as well as at reputed practitioner outlets such as the Harvard Business Review. He is the recipient of research awards such as the John Howard/AMA Doctoral Dissertation award, Mary Kay/AMS Doctoral Dissertation award, the Don Lehmann award, and the Lourdes Casanova Award.
Alumni Updates
- Dr. Brian Brown, graduate of the PhD in Marketing, has been named Dean of Virginia Commonwealth University School of Business beginning April 2025.
- Dr. Kevin Barrera graduate of marketing in 2025, is shaping the future of marketing with leadership and technology.
- Dr. Liwei Chen, graduate of Digital Innovation in 2016, has been appointed as an Associate Editor of MIS Quarterly, the premier journal in information systems.
- Two Marketing doctoral alums have been promoted to the position of Editor-in-Chief (EIC) of high-quality specialized Marketing journals. Dr. Brian Rutherford of Kennesaw State University, a 2007 marketing graduate, takes over as EIC of the Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, and Dr. Roberto Mora Cortez of South Denmark University, a 2018 marketing graduate, takes over as EIC of the Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing.
- Dr. Marco Pagani, a Robinson PhD alum in Finance, has been appointed the new Dean of the Business School at Xavier University.
- Ayan Ghosh Dastidar, a 2022 Ph.D. graduate in marketing, earned an honorable mention at the prestigious dissertation competition for the AMA/Howard Dissertation Award.
- Sarah Ku, a 2022 Ph.D. graduate in marketing and international business, "Brings Business and Sustainability Together" at Loyola University Chicago.
- “Founding Family Ownership and Firm Performance: Evidence from the Evolution of Family Ownership and Firm Policies,” by Chip Ryan of the Department of Finance and former doctoral student Huimin Li, has been accepted by Journal of Business Finance and Accounting.
- Sarang Sunder, a 2015 marketing Ph.D. graduate, has been named a Best 40 Under 40 Professor by Poets & Quants.
Current Student Accomplishments
- Ishita Nagpal won the MASSIG Doctoral Scholarship Award for her ongoing research work focusing on the societal impact of Marketing. Her research explores how the basic tenets of marketing and customer-centric management may be applied for holistic life improvement of vulnerable population.
- Renzhi Zhao, Computer Information Systems, is the recipient of Georgia State’s internal grant awards for dissertations for 2025 for the dissertation titled: Role of Human Expertise in Influencing Human-AI Delegation and Task Performance Under Environmental Uncertainty.
- Marketing doctoral student Davon Holmes has been selected to be the Vice President for the PhD Project Marketing Doctoral Student Association with oversight in the areas of Leadership and Strategic Planning, Conference and Event Management, Collaboration and Networking and Interpersonal Communication and Advocacy. Was awarded the prestigious 2023 Valuing Diversity PhD Scholarship. In partnership with the PhD Project and the AMA Academic Council, the Valuing Diversity PhD Scholarship seeks to widen opportunities for underrepresented populations to attend marketing doctoral program.
- Kevin Giang Barrera (doctoral candidate) and Dr. Denish Shah (Kevin’s advisor) won the Best in Conference Paper and Best Paper in the Digital & Social Media Marketing Track at the 2023 Winter American Marketing Association (AMA) Conference. The research analyzes the challenges and opportunities of the Metaverse for research and marketing practice. The study was recently published in the Journal of Business Research and is listed among one of the most downloaded papers.
- Marketing students Kevin Barrera and Emily Webster (both dissertations chaired by Denish Shah) won the top awards at the recently concluded 6th Marketing, Strategy, and Policy Doctoral Colloquium and Conference hosted by Newcastle University, UK.
- Cazembe Monds a doctoral student in the Institute of International Business was awarded the Society of Business, Industry, and Economics' Student Research Award for his study titled: "Content Analysis on Marketing Campaigns: Instances of Bounded Rationality, Bounded Awareness, and Decision Making."
Placements
Recent placements include:
- Auburn University
- Baylor University
- Florida State University
- Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
- Iowa State University
- Lehigh University
- Michigan State University
- Pepperdine University
- Texas A&M
- Texas Christian University
- University of Cincinnati
- University of Denver
- University of Leeds
- University of Ottawa
- Virginia Tech
Contacts
Application Questions
If you've submitted an application and are looking for a status update or are following up with supplemental documents, contact the Office of Admissions – Graduate Programs:
Phone: 404-413-2444
Email: [email protected]
Please email digital transcripts to [email protected]
Ph.D. Program Administration
Adenike Brewington, administrative director
[email protected]
404-413-7070
downtown campus, office 802
Departmental Contacts
Accountancy
Dr. Michael Majerczyk
[email protected]
404-413-7220
Center for Digital Innovation
Dr. Arun Rai
[email protected]
404-413-7857
Computer Information Systems
Dr. Likoebe Maruping
[email protected]
404-413-7363
Finance
Dr. Hadiye Aslan
[email protected]
404-413-7345
International Business
Leigh Anne Liu
[email protected]
404-413-7288
Management
Christian Thoroughgood
[email protected]
Marketing
Dr. Bruce Pilling
[email protected]
404-413-7673
Real Estate
Dr. Vincent Yao
[email protected]
404-413-7726
Risk Management & Insurance
Alejandro Del Valle
[email protected]
404-413-7472
Regular Mail
Adenike Brewington
Robinson College of Business
Ph.D. Program
Georgia State University
P.O. Box 3989
Atlanta, GA 30302-3989
Express Mail
Adenike Brewington
Ph.D. Program
J. Mack Robinson College of Business
35 Broad St., Ste. 802
Atlanta, GA 30303