Research Team
Nationwide Center for Advanced Consumer Insights
NCACI Staff
| Thomas A. Bishop Director |
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| As the director of the Center, Dr. Bishop leads the NCACI team in formulating and executing the Center's research projects. He is also responsible for the day to day management of the Center's activities. He is an associate professor in the Department of Statistics and has more than 35 years of experience in consulting, teaching and research. Formerly he was the manager of the Applied Statistics and Computer Applications Section at the Battelle Columbus Laboratories. He currently teaches graduate level courses on statistical consulting, the design of experiments, regression analysis and the role of statistical theory and methods within the context of the scientific discovery process. |
| Yiem Sunbhanich Executive in Residence |
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| As the Executive in Residence, Yiem is a lead liaison between Nationwide and the Center research activities. He is an Associate Vice President leading the Behavorial Analytics team in Nationwide to fully leverage the insights and findings from the Center in supporting Nationwide management decision making and improving business performance. Prior to joining Nationwide, Yiem was the director of Consulting and Analytics at Power Information Network (PIN), a division of J. D. Power and Associates. During his seven years with PIN, Yiem had held various analytical, client management and managerial roles with increasing responsibilities. Yiem earned a master's degree in economics from University of California at Los Angeles and a bachelor's degree in economics from Thammasat University, Thailand. |
| Christopher Holloman Statistical Specialist |
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| As the statistical specialist of the center, Dr. Holloman is responsible for providing guidance on statistical modeling strategy, building statistical models and researching current statistical practices for solving marketing research problems. In addition to his role at the NCACI, he is the current director of Ohio State's Statistical Consulting Service and is an assistant professor in the Department of Statistics. Dr. Holloman has five years of statistical consulting experience, which includes working as a research scientist at Battelle Columbus Laboratories, as a market segmentation specialist at Chase Home Finance and as a research collaborator on many grants and projects at Ohio State. |
| Tim Welch Administrative Associate |
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| As administrator of the center, he is in charge of all human resources and financial functions. He has bachelor's degrees in Biology and Psychology. He has extensive office management work experience and taught classes on Microsoft Office and Office Management for more than five years at a community college. |
NCACI Graduate Students
| Juhee Lee Graduate Research Associate, Fisher College of Business |
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| Juhee Lee is a PhD student in the Department of Statistics. As a graduate research associate, she assists statistical analysis needed for executing the center's research projects. She has worked as a consultant of the Statistical Consulting Service and as a graduate teaching assistant in the department of Statistics. |
| Susan Wang Graduate Research Associate, Fisher College of Business |
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| Susan is a second-year MBA student. As a graduate research associate, she assists with the applied research projects. She assists the group with business analysis on various projects. Prior to joining Fisher, she worked for two years as an engineer at Procter & Gamble. At Fisher, she majors in Corporate Finance. Susan holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Northwestern University. |
| Steve Bamattre Graduate Research Associate, Fisher College of Business |
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| Stephen Bamattre is a 3rd Year PhD student in the Department of Statistics. As a Graduate Research Associate, his primary emphasis is the leveraging of Data Mining techniques to enhance the decision making process of Nationwide Insurance. He holds a Master of Science in Statistics from The Ohio State University and Bachelor of Science in MathMathematics from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo |
| Mike McCaslin Graduate Research Associate, Department of Psychology |
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| Mike McCaslin is a PhD student in the Department of Psychology. As a graduate research associate, he applies concepts from consumer psychology to address the center’s research questions. Specifically, his work draws on theories of attitude change and social cognition to help Nationwide better understand the thought processes and behavior of its customers. |
| Samarth Mital Graduate Research Associate |
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| Samarth Mital, a second year MBA student, is responsible for conducting research, analyzing data and providing recommendations on tactical projects for the research center. As a research associate he assists with understanding customer’s evolving demands/needs to develop actionable strategies and enable management decision making. Prior to joining Fisher, Samarth worked with the Global Consulting practice at Tata Consultancy Services, where he was involved in developing business transformation, cost optimization and process improvement strategies for clients. Samarth holds a bachelor's degree in electronics engineering from the Sardar Patel College of Engineering — Mumbai University. At Fisher he is focusing on Strategy, Operations and Finance. He plans on pursuing a career in Management Consulting. For fun he enjoys playing Squash, Badminton and Travelling. |
| Darren Weng Graduate Research Associate |
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| Darren is a fifth-year PhD student in economics whose fields of interest include industrial organization and applied econometrics. In his dissertation research, he deals with consumer’s optimal price-search strategy under regret and rejoicing. At the center, he is responsible for conducting technical analysis on various applied projects, and more importantly, formulating valuable problems on Center's seminal projects using the rich insights from economics. Formerly, Darren has worked as a graduating teaching assistant and an instructor in the department of Economics during the last four years. He holds a master’s degree in economics from Ohio State and a bachelor’s degree in finance and economics from Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Canada. |
Nationwide Associates
| Ty Henkaline Nationwide Associate |
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Ty is an associate of the Center as well as a member of the Data Mining and Modeling Team at Nationwide. Like Yiem Sunbhanich, the center's executive in residence, he serves as a liaison between the NCACI and Nationwide. |
| Hong Gu Nationwide Associate |
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