Advancing Research: Bridging the Gap between Academia and Industry 

Professor Shane Wang’s research bridges the gap between academia and industry, bringing together different approaches – consumer behavior and quantitative marketing, and constantly finding new ways to communicate these complex technical ideas. Read about his work is pushing the boundaries of AI-driven consumer research. Learn more: here  

Celebrating Student Excellence: 2025 Senior Awards Recipients 

The 2025 Pamplin Students of Distinction Ceremony, held on March 30th at the Inn at Virginia Tech, celebrated the exceptional achievements of Pamplin seniors. Among those honored were eight outstanding marketing-affiliated seniors.  

Five students received departmental level honors from Marketing: 

  •  Julia Lee – Marketing Outstanding Senior Award 

  • Angelina Jannace and Lainie Thompson – Marketing Outstanding Service Award 

  • Sydney Epps and Maeleigh Moore – Marketing Outstanding Leader Award  

 Three students received college-level honors: 

  • Tyler Chillot (Double Major in Marketing and BIT) – Outstanding Senior Award 

  • Katie Ramboyong (Marketing Major) and Alessia Ucci (Finance Major, Digital Marketing Strategy Minor) – College Service Award 

The Department of Marketing congratulates these students, and all our seniors, for their hard work and accomplishments. Read more: here   

Experiential Learning in Action: The Battle in Blacksburg Sales Competition 

Battle in Blacksburg, the annual sales competition, was hosted at the VT Data & Decision Sciences Building on March 28th – 29th with teams from across the region including VCU, CUA, ODU, and JMU. Students competed in either the Speed Selling Competition or the Role Play Competition.  

We are proud to announce the following Virginia Tech student winners: 

  • Role Play Competition: 1st place – Eva Carney, 2nd place – Trang Woolridge  

  • Speed Sell Competition: 1st place – Briana Reveron, 3rd place – John (Jack) Spurlin 

More information: here

Community Involvement: High School Mentorship in Social Media Strategy 

This semester, Professor Carolyn Kogan launched a mentorship project connecting her Social Media and Content Marketing students with students at Blacksburg High School. The goal is to foster connection and belonging through a supportive learning community where students at different academic levels collaborate on real-world client projects. Twice a month, Pamplin students share video updates on strategy, content creation, and campaign development, while high school students respond with written or audio questions. This exchange encourages critical thinking and deeper engagement and is a powerful example of how mentorship and hands-on learning can prepare students for professional success.