Poole College Welcomes New Faculty Members

Luca David Opromolla, Owens Professor of International Economics

Luca David Opromolla brings a discipline in theoretical and applied contributions to the fields of international trade, migration, labor economics, industrial organization and public economics to his role as Owens professor of international economics. Opromolla will be teaching international trade at the PhD and undergraduate levels. 

Opromolla’s research focuses on a set of topics at the intersection of international trade, labor and industrial organization. He studies firm dynamics and the size distribution of firms, firms’ decision to export vs. to open a plant abroad, the type and size of trade costs, the role of managers in determining firms’ international activities and in transferring export knowledge across firms, the internal organization of firms and its effect on firms’ productivity, and the quantification of the effects of reductions in migration and trade costs.

“The economics department at Poole College, jointly with the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, offered a unique opportunity to develop the area of international economics,” said Opromolla. “The presence of serious researchers in both departments, as well as the collaboration with the other universities in the triangle, were a guarantee of rigorous research and effective teaching. NC State’s collaboration with the Peterson Institute for international economics then added special attention to the policy implications of research to this mix. Overall, all three keystones—research, teaching and policy—were, uncharacteristically, strongly present in my decision to join Poole College.”

Opromolla received a Bachelor of Arts in economics from Bocconi University and a Master of Arts as well as PhD in economics from New York University.

Thomas Zagenczyk, professor, Department of Management, Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Thomas Zagenczyk joins Poole College of Management with a background in banking and courses in negotiation and influence for Michelin North America since 2012. Prior to NC State, Zagenczyk served as a faculty member at Clemson University beginning in 2006. 

Zagenczyk’s research explores how employees’ relationships affect their perceptions of the workplace and behavior at work. More specifically, he tries to integrate psychological and social network methods to better understand the role that both individual differences and social-contextual factors play in shaping employee-organization, employee-supervisor, and employee-coworker relationships and outcomes.

“Poole has a great faculty and many exciting programs and the Triangle is a great place to live,” said Zagenczyk on choosing NC State. “I’m excited to meet my new colleagues and the students and learn all about being a member of the Pack.”

Zagenczyk earned his PhD in organizational behavior and human resource (HR) management at the Katz Graduate School of Business at the University of Pittsburgh. He also has a Bachelor of Science in business administration from the University of Pittsburgh.

In the spring semester, Zagenczyk will be teaching undergraduate HR classes as well as a leadership and technology course for the Jenkins MBA Program.