Executive Biography

I am a PhD Candidate in the Management and Organizations Department at the University of Michigan’s Stephen M. Ross School of Business. My research examines a central promise behind many diversity initiatives: that bringing different people into the room will bring different ideas into play. I study what happens when that promise breaks down. In my work on the diversity paradox, I examine how teams can become more demographically diverse while remaining cognitively similar. Using data on more than four million patent teams and natural language processing, I investigate whether organizations are expanding real opportunity or incorporating differences in ways that leave existing cognitive norms intact.

More broadly, my research examines how social structures, networks, and knowledge spaces shape cognitive diversity, expertise, and the evolution of knowledge in medicine and patenting. My research has received several honors, including the Ross Access and Opportunity PhD Research Award and my selection as the Flamholtz Fellow for Excellence in Entrepreneurship Research. I also hold a Graduate Certificate in Complex Systems from the University of Michigan. Before beginning my PhD, I graduated magna cum laude from Vanderbilt University in 2021 with Highest Honors in Human and Organizational Development and minors in Quantitative Methods and Cognitive Studies. At Vanderbilt, I received the Best Honors Thesis Award in Human and Organizational Development for my work using machine learning to map physician networks. Outside of academia, I enjoy powerlifting, hiking, and traveling.