The School of Business has added four faculty members to its ranks, all with extensive classroom experience. The new professors include a trio of OPIM experts, who will be based in Stamford, and a former LEGO-company innovator who is joining the Marketing Department.

“It is always a pleasure to welcome new faculty to the School of Business. We search worldwide for experts who will complement our faculty, and each will share insights with UConn students based on their diverse perspectives and experience,’’ said David Souder, senior associate dean for faculty and research.

The new faculty members are:

Heidi Bailey joins the marketing department as an in-residence instructor, based in Storrs and Hartford. Bailey has more than 25 years of experience at the LEGO company in various managerial roles, including as a global leader for the LEGO Club and as a brand manager for the LEGO Disney Princess line. Her professional strengths include global team leadership, brand management, digital marketing and consumer relations management.

Bailey has taught at UConn as a visiting instructor since 2018 and also has taught at the University of Massachusetts. She brings a strong student focus and a breadth of very successful teaching experiences to the department. This year she will teach introduction to marketing, consumer behavior and personal brand management. Bailey earned a bachelor’s degree in business from UMass and an MBA from Western New England College.

Wei Chen joins the OPIM Department as an associate professor with tenure. He will be based at the Stamford campus. He previously worked as an assistant professor at the University of Arizona’s Eller College of Management. His research interests include platforms, crowds, and fintech. His current projects focus on home-sharing platforms, real estate markets, and crypto markets.

At UConn, Chen will teach business database management and data management and business process modeling. He earned a Ph.D. at the University of California at San Diego. He is the recipient and nominee of several Best Paper awards at information systems conferences, and won the inaugural ISS Gordon B. Davis Young Scholar Award in 2020. Chen will use the email address: weichen@uconn.edu.

Karen Xie joins the OPIM faculty as an associate professor. She will be based at the Stamford campus. Xie previously taught at the University of Denver’s Daniels College of Business. She is also a co-founder of HomeLab Technologies, Inc., a vacation rental investment and pricing solutions company, from which she connects students to many real-world analytics exercises. Xie’s research interests include platform economics, housing markets, and fintech. Her expertise is frequently sought by reporters from New York Times, Forbes, and other publications.

Her recent awards include the Distinguished Scholar Award from the University of Denver in 2022 and the Best Paper Runner-up at the Conference on Information Systems and Technology in 2022. She earned her Ph.D. in business administration from Temple University’s Fox School of Business. Xie will be teaching visual analytics and related courses.

Fasheng Xu joins the OPIM faculty as an assistant professor. He will be based at the Stamford campus. He previously worked as an assistant professor of supply chain management at Syracuse University’s Whitman School of Management. His research interests include blockchain, fintech, supply chain finance, digital platforms, and economics of data and privacy.

At UConn, he will be teaching courses in operations management and supply chain finance. In 2022, Xu was the recipient of Syracuse University’s Guttag Junior Faculty Award. He was also the recipient of M&SOM Meritorious Service Award in 2022 and 2023. Xu earned his Ph.D. in operations management at the Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis.

Souder said the addition of three faculty in Stamford reflects the commitment of the School of Business to provide outstanding instruction to students on all campuses. Cuihong Li, OPIM department head, said the new faculty in her department reflect the opportunity and growth potential at the Stamford campus, adding that they will add to the vibrancy of that campus with new curriculum offerings, research activities, industry collaborations and community engagement.

Robin Coulter, marketing department head, is equally pleased to welcome Bailey to the team. During her time at UConn, Bailey has demonstrated her enthusiasm and abilities by developing and teaching courses including the Honors Marketing Project course and the Business Solutions for Societal Challenges course.