My name is Farnoush Reshadi and I am an Assistant Professor of Marketing at WPI. I am originally from Iran. I moved to the United States in 2015 to pursue my Ph.D. in Business Administration with a focus on marketing. After completing my Ph.D. studies, I joined WPI in 2020 and I have been a part of the WPI community ever since. I currently teach Consumer Behavior and Business Applications of Data Mining at the WPI Business School. In addition to teaching, I am very passionate about conducting research. In my research, I focus on studying how consumers make financial and health-related decisions, what biases they have when making those decisions, and what can the government and public policy makers do to protect them against harmful marketing practices. I have traveled the world to learn marketing and have worked with outstanding marketing professors and I am very excited and honored to share my knowledge and experience with WPI students.
I started my college education and career as a software engineer. I got my bachelor’s degree in computer science from Bu-Ali Sina University of Iran in 2008 and my master’s degree in Information Technology (IT) at the Iran’s University of Science and Technology in 2011. At the end of the first semester of my master’s degree, I decided to couple my knowledge with experimental practices, so I started to work at one of the top Iranian insurance companies. At this company, I was first responsible for developing web-based programs for managing the company’s day-to-day operations. After a few months, I was assigned as the head of life insurance section in the IT department to manage the tasks related to life insurance information systems. In this role, I learned a lot about the insurance industry, and I developed a passion for business. After working for three years for this company, I moved to a software company that was responsible for developing software programs for the National Bank of Iran. Working at a financial institution got me interested in learning about banking and personal finance and how consumers make financial decisions.
Working for a few years in the software industry, I realized that when I worked on a project, I was more interested in the business aspects of the project rather than the software engineering parts and I realized that my true passion lies within the realm of business and consumer behavior. My interest in business drove me to attend a one-year MBA program at the University of Tehran, the most reputable business school in Iran. I also changed my job and moved to a marketing research company, to gain more experience in this area.
My academic and professional experience helped me understand that learning business, contributing to the creation of knowledge in business, and exploring new ideas is what really matters to me in my professional career. Considering this and my desire to learn, I decided to continue my education and get my Ph.D. I joined the marketing Ph.D. program at West Virginia University (WVU) in 2015. During the last year of my Ph.D. studies at WVU, I started applying for academic jobs to become an assistant professor in marketing. One of the universities that I applied for was WPI.
When I first learned about WPI, I was astounded by the distinctive educational approach offered at WPI and I immediately knew I wanted to join the WPI Business school. Indeed, the WPI business school is a unique institution. The Business School at WPI offers training and courses at the intersection of STEM and business with a project-based learning approach. I believe that this Business School is well positioned to help students learn the skills required for working in the modern business world. Higher education is going through a digital transformation and educational institutions must adapt their approaches to this new environment. I believe that the WPI Business school leadership has already implemented an educational approach that is suitable for the current environment. Indeed, WPI is a pioneer and leader in offering modern and enriched learning experiences. I am honored to be a part of this institution and I am excited to utilize my knowledge and experience to help prepare WPI students for becoming future business leaders.