Poole College of Management welcomes seven new faculty members for the 2025-26 school year. They represent a wide array of educational and professional backgrounds, from new Ph.Ds doing groundbreaking research to industry experts with years of experience.

Ariel De Fauconberg
Assistant Professor | Department of Management, Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Ariel De Fauconberg is an entrepreneurship researcher and organizational ethnographer. Her current research focuses on climate tech and related energy transitions. Before coming to NC State, she taught at University of Oxford, Harvard Extension School and Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership. De Fauconberg earned a Ph.D from the University of Cambridge, an MPhil from University of Oxford, an MBA from Bentley University and a BA from Smith College.

Hamid Firooz
Assistant Professor | Department of Economics

Hamid Firooz studies market power, international economics, macro-labor and firm dynamics. Firooz previously held faculty positions at the University of Rochester and the University of Florida, and was a Visiting Fellow at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. He earned his Ph.D in Economics from Penn State University, and holds an M.Sc. in economics and a B.Sc. in mechanical engineering from Sharif University of Technology in Iran.

Valerie Isakova
Assistant Professor | Department of Management, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship

Valerie Isakova earned her Ph.D. in business administration with an emphasis in strategy and entrepreneurship from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She previously received an MBA from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Her research interests include innovation, competition and the interplay of corporate and business strategies.

Xin Cindy Liu
Lecturer | Department of Finance

Xin Liu recently earned her Ph.D. in finance from the University of Manitoba, where she also served as an instructor. She also has a B.Sc. in finance from Sichuan University and an M.Sc. in economics from Tongji University. Her research focuses on the impact of technology on corporate finance.

Ross O’Donovan
Lecturer | Department of Marketing

Ross O’Donovan joins NC State with 30+ years of experience in advertising. He has worked at national and regional firms, handling marketing for notable brands such as Priceline.com, Capital One and I Love NY Tourism. He also directed marketing for the New York and Boston regions of the McDonald’s Corporation, winning Best Integrated Marketing Plan from the company for his efforts. Prior to joining the faculty at Poole College, O’Donovan taught at High Point University. He holds a BS from University of Richmond and an MBA from Boston University.

Amy Wares
Lecturer | Department of Accounting

Amy Wares is a data analyst and CPA who has collaborated with Poole’s ERM Initiative. She previously worked in high-level roles for the Social Progress Imperative and the U.S. Agency for International Development. She has also consulted for many organizations including the World Bank and Booz Allen Hamilton. She was an adjunct professor at the Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs. Wares is a graduate of Poole’s Jenkins MAC program, and also holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and BA in economics from the College of William and Mary.

Kathy Zuravel
Professor of Practice | Department of Accounting

Kathy Zuravel comes to Poole with around three decades of experience in corporate taxation. She began her career in public accounting at EY and advanced through the industry, eventually becoming vice president of global tax at Western Union. She also spent nearly seven years as an adjunct accounting instructor at Central Carolina Community College. Zuravel holds a MSPA in accounting and taxation from the University of Hartford.