Haslam College of Business - Business Analytics & Statistics Ph.D. Students

Vahid Disfani

Vahid is a fourth-year BAS doctoral student and a UC Foundation Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC). Prior to joining UTC in 2017, he received his PhD in electrical engineering in 2015 and was a postdoctoral scholar in the Center for Energy Research at the University of California San Diego for two years. Disfani’s research interests include optimization, data analytics, and also artificial intelligence in energy systems, logistics and education systems. He currently has active research projects focused on optimal grid integration of distributed energy resources, optimal truckload planning and AI-powered student advising systems.

Jinyi Liu

Jinyi Liu is a third-year doctoral student with research interests in the operations-marketing interface. He earned his bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) in 2021 and his master of arts in economics from the University of Rochester in 2022. He will be on the job market of 2025-2026.

Personal Website

Dawson Maddox

Dawson Maddox is a first-year doctoral student with research interests in predictive analytics. He earned bachelor of science degrees in chemistry and mathematics as well as a master’s in teaching at East Tennessee State University. Before joining the program, Dawson taught chemistry and physics at South Greene High School in Greeneville, Tennessee.

Pedro Masi

Pedro Masi is a second-year doctoral student with a background in finance and business analytics. His research focuses on machine learning, causal inference, and natural language processing, with a particular interest in how artificial intelligence shapes the labor market and financial outcomes. He holds a Master of Science in Finance from the Duisenberg Honours Program in Finance & Technology at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.  

Nikhil Narayane

Nikhil Narayane is a third–year PhD student. His research interests lie in using deep–learning, state–of–the–art natural language processing methods for labor market analytics. Before coming to UT, he completed his master’s in business analytics with honors at the University of Texas at Dallas. Before pursuing his MS, he worked four years as deputy manager of production at ACC Limited. He earned his undergraduate degree in chemical engineering from Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology, India.

Jaachinma Somtochuksw Okafor

Jaachinma Somtochukwu Okafor is a second-year doctoral student with research interests in operations research and machine learning. She earned her bachelor’s degree in electrical electronic engineering from the Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Nigeria, in 2018. Before starting the doctoral program, Okafor worked as a cybersecurity analyst at Interswitch.

Abdullah Salau

Abdullah Salau is a second-year doctoral student with a concentration in business analytics and statistics. His research interests lie in applied machine learning and supply chain analytics. He graduated from DePauw University in 2022 with a bachelor’s degree in computer science and actuarial science.

Adam Spannbauer

Lecturer

Office: Room – 221, Stokely Management Center

Email: aspannba@utk.edu

Phone: 865-974-4116

Adam Spannbauer, a graduate of the MSBA program who returned to the Haslam College of Business as business analytics and statistics (BAS) lecturer is now also pursuing his PhD in BAS. With industry experience from roles at Eastman and DataCamp, Spannbauer has developed a diverse skill set in analytics, programming, and education. Since joining the BAS faculty in January 2022, he has distinguished himself by earning awards for excellence in teaching and outstanding commitment to students.

Christy Xia

Christy Xia is a first-year doctoral student with research interests in data mining, NLP and machine learning in labor markets and supply chain management. She holds a master’s degree in business analytics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she was awarded a merit-based scholarship and nominated for the Graduate Excellence Award. She has a background in finance and data analytics, having obtained a bachelor’s degree with honors from George Mason University, where she received the Dean’s Finance Scholarship and published two articles for the CFA Institute. Xia has extensive teaching experience as a teaching assistant and research experience in the OSS Data Mining Project.

Haoqi Zhang

Haoqi Zhang obtained his master’s degree in electronic and computer engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 2021 and his bachelor’s degree in applied physics from the University of Science and Technology of China in 2019. Before joining the BAS PhD program, he worked as a software engineer in a medical device company.