Patricia Huddleston is a professor of retailing in the Department of Advertising and Public Relations at Michigan State
University. She teaches undergraduate courses in consumer behavior and retail strategy and consumer behavior,
international consumer behavior and strategic brand communication at the graduate level. From 1991-2007 her
research analyzed the retail systems in the transition economies of Russia and Poland. She was present at a pivotal
moment in Russian history, witnessing the failed coup of August 1991. She and Dr. Linda K. Good published work on
Russian and Polish worker morale, price-quality product perceptions of Russian and Polish consumers and ethnocentric
tendencies in Russian and Polish consumers. In 1996, Dr. Huddleston spent a sabbatical in St. Petersburg, Russia,
teaching the first marketing course at Leningrad Oblast University. From 1998-2007, she pioneered a study abroad
program to Russia and Poland which focuses on retail distribution. This intensive, short term program provided the
opportunity for students to gain knowledge of retailing in post-transition economies. Dr. Huddleston’s research
interests include customer loyalty, with a focus on food stores. In 2004, Dr. Huddleston spent six months in Australia at
Monash University, interviewing retail CEOs for a book chapter on retailing in Australia. As a result of the time spent in
Australia, she collaborated with Dr. Stella Minahan from Deakin University on a book entitled Consumer Behavior:
Women and Shopping, which was published in January 2011. Her newest research project uses eye tracking technology
to identify what consumers focus on when they view retail displays and how eye movement relates to purchase
behavior. She is collaborating with Dr. Bridget Behe and Dr. Thomas Fernandez from the Department of Horticulture
(MSU) and Dr. Stella Minahan from Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia.
Prem Chahal is an associate professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Michigan State University. His research
interests are Terahertz (THz) and Millimeter-wave Electronics, IR Sensors, Microsystems Packaging, RF-MEMS,
BioMEMS, and Flex Electronics. He is the 2012 recipient of the DARPA Young Faculty Award.
Rachel Giordano is a senior intelligence analyst in the Global Product Integrity, Global Security Department at Merck &
Co. In this role, she leads the brand protection intelligence effort to protect patients from global supply chain threats
with intelligence-led investigations. Her focus is to proactively identify patterns related to counterfeit and other illicit
trade/trafficking, and to use this information to build strategies driven towards patient safety. Rachel participates in
intelligence-based communities and global security analyst associations to further expand her knowledge of
capabilities to better identify risk and provide valuable solutions within the industry. She is frequently called upon as a
subject matter expert to analyze data concerning counterfeit pharmaceuticals, as well as to identify trends within the
activities of illegal drug sellers and the threat this activity poses on patients, worldwide.
Ryan Scrivens is an assistant professor in the School of Criminal Justice at Michigan State University. He is also a visiting
researcher at the VOX-Pol Network of Excellence, a research associate at the International Cyber Crime Research Centre
at Simon Fraser University, and the associate editor for Theses of Perspectives on Terrorism. Ryan conducts
problem-oriented, interdisciplinary research, with a focus on the local, national, and international threat of terrorism,
violent extremism, and hatred as it evolves on- and offline. His primary research interests include terrorists’ and
extremists’ use of the Internet, right-wing terrorism and extremism, combating violent extremism, hate crime, research
methods and methodology, and computational social science. He has presented his findings before the Swedish
Defense Research Agency in Stockholm, the Centre of Excellence for National Security in Singapore, and the United
Nations in New York City and Vienna. His work has also been featured in over 100 new stories (television, radio, and
print) and covered by an array of national and international media sources
Saleem Alhabash is an assistant professor of public relations and social media, jointly appointed by the Department
of Advertising and Public Relations, and the Department of Media and Information. His research focuses on the
processes and effects of new and social media. More specifically, Saleem’s research investigates the cognitive and
emotional responses, and psychological effects associated with using social networking sites and playing
serious/persuasive video games. His research is geared toward understanding how new communication technologies
can be utilized in cross-cultural and international communication, with emphasis on changing attitudes and
stereotypes of foreign nations. Saleem received his doctor of philosophy from the University of Missouri School of
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