Jackie Mitchell

Jackie Mitchell is a second-year graduate student studying Communications from Woodbridge, Virginia. Mitchell attended Virginia Tech and graduated in Spring 2025 with a Bachelor of Arts in multimedia journalism. She decided to pursue an accelerated master's program in her senior year to gain more experience with communication research, while also completing a master's degree in a shorter amount of time. Her background in journalism and love for content creation inspired her working thesis about travel influencers and travel journalists. Outside of work and the classroom, you can find Mitchell creating content via social media, taking pictures, or baking/cooking. Marketing has always fascinated her and her background in communications allows her to tie these skills together as a Marketing Department Associate. We are glad to have her as part of our team!

Yiyuan Yin 

Yiyuan Yin is a PhD student in marketing at Virginia Tech, originally from Shandong, China. He earned both his bachelor's and master's degrees in economics from Renmin University of China. While studying economics, Yin discovered similarities between economics and marketing that inspired him to pursue a PhD in marketing. His goal is to better understand consumer decision-making and the behavioral strategies that exist between consumers and firms. Outside of his studies, he is excited to experience American culture for the first time. Yin also enjoys running. In China, he runs about three times a week and looks forward to having more time for this activity in the U.S. We are glad to have him as part of our team!

Lecheng Zheng

Lecheng Zheng, a scholar with a diverse academic background, was born in China near Shanghai and journeyed to the University of Kansas to study computer science. He continued his educational pursuit, earning his PhD in computer science from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Currently, Zheng is exploring the intersections of various fields as a postdoctoral fellow at Virginia Tech. His background specializes in machine learning and data mining with applications in cybersecurity, finance, climate, and sustainability; his research is interdisciplinary, focusing on applying machine learning and AI to identify patterns of money laundering in transaction networks. Computer science focuses on the method itself, while marketing focuses on the application. He wants to focus on solving real world issues with consideration of the kind of issue and purpose of the method applied. Zheng was awarded the Virginia Tech Presidential Postdoctoral Fellowship to support his interdisciplinary research. Outside of his studies, Zheng enjoys hiking and is ecstatic to discover more of the trails the Blacksburg region has to offer. We are glad to have him as part of our team!