KINGSTON, R.I. – June 23, 2021 – The University of Rhode Island College of Business has a new member of its leadership team. Christy Ashley, Ph.D. ‘06, assumed the role of associate dean for undergraduate programs as of June 21. She succeeds Douglas Hales, professor of supply chain management, who held the role for the last three and a half years.
As associate dean, Ashley will be responsible for overseeing all aspects of undergraduate program academics, course schedules, and working on AACSB-related issues and other administrative and leadership duties. She will work closely with College of Business Dean Maling Ebrahimpour; Shaw Chen, associate dean for graduate programs, and Carmen Rogers, assistant dean.

“We warmly welcome Dr. Christy Ashley as the new associate dean for undergraduate programs at the College of Business,” said Ebrahimpour. “Her knowledge and expertise in this area will be invaluable for the entire community. We are so fortunate to have her serving in this role, and we thank former Associate Dean Doug Hales for his work over the last three and a half years.”

“I am honored to serve as the associate dean of the College of Business – the college where I formed connections and developed problem-solving skills that transformed my life 20 years ago,” said Ashley.  “I look forward to working with others in the College and across the University to help strengthen URI’s efforts to develop skilled leaders who will solve complex problems.”

Ashley joined the faculty in the College of Business as an assistant professor of marketing in fall 2015. She previously served as an associate professor of marketing and research fellow at East Carolina University, where she was recognized as a leading scholar-teacher and as the top Alumni Teaching Award recipient at the university level. Prior to that, she was an assistant professor of marketing at Fairfield University.

At URI, Ashley is an associate professor of marketing. In 2018, she won Pearson Prentice Hall’s Solomon-Marshall-Stuart Award for Innovative Excellence in Marketing Education.

Ashley has industry experience in direct marketing, new media marketing, and retail and service management. Her main research interests are customer experience management, especially in retail settings, and the formation and dissolution of emotional connections with consumer brands. Her work has been published in the Journal of Retailing, the Journal of Advertising, the Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, the Journal of Business Research, Psychology & Marketing, and Marketing Education Review, among others.