Faculty Focus: Jianjun Zhu

The number of opportunities in NMSU's College of Business doesn’t only apply to students, but also to its faculty members, who take pride in educating students while conducting robust research. Jianjun Zhu is one of those leading the way in both roles. 

“I am a researcher and educator,” Zhu said. “My job at NMSU provides me with the benefit of both. The Marketing Department in the College of Business is research-oriented and has a competitive doctoral program. COB is very supportive of faculty research, providing research-active faculty members with a well-balanced research-teaching-service package and financial support to conduct research.” 

Zhu is originally from Shanghai, China, and received his bachelor’s degree in economics from the Shanghai Institute of Foreign Trade. He then trekked overseas to the United States to earn a master’s degree in economics from Central Michigan University. He later completed a second master’s degree in business administration and a Ph.D. in marketing from the University of Iowa.

He began his journey at NMSU in 2018 as an assistant professor in the Marketing Department and was recently promoted and tenured this spring to associate professor. Zhu said he enjoys his experience in the classroom and has seen how diligent and self-motivated students are while showing high regard for their professors. 

“They are young but well-informed, understanding and open-minded to learn new knowledge and skills,” he said. “Students also show great respect to faculty members and are friendly to a minority (Asian) like me. COB’s teaching approach is also flexible, with a combination of in-person, online, synchronous and non-synchronous. I always feel excited and vigorous to face my students.” 

Zhu believes there is great value in being a researcher and educator, especially when it comes to producing new knowledge and mastering advanced skills, and disseminating them to students and others in academia.

“It is a great pleasure that some of my knowledge and aptitudes can be passed on and shared with people who need and benefit from them. This is the goal of scholarly research and education and complies with education ethics and university social responsibility,” he said.

Since joining NMSU, Zhu has published seven high-quality research articles in leading marketing and business journals and received the COB’s Junior Research Award in 2021. 

His most recent projects involve studying phenomena in emerging online business models (blockchain, sharing economy, crowdsourcing, crowdfunding) and new information technology applications in marketing (machine learning, artificial intelligence, text-mining, virtual reality, augmented reality). He has also studied topics in mobile applications, social media and user-generated content. 

“Another stream focuses on emerging cybersecurity issues, consumer privacy, data security, mobile app security and corporate social responsibility in marketing,” he said. “All these are cutting-edge topics in contemporary marketing research. I commit to helping advance the marketing research of COB, establish a scholarship in these domains and set a competitive image of scholarly expertise and productivity.” 

Zhu shared he’s proud to be a part of the COB and believes its comprehensive programs meet students’ needs and objectives.

“COB is a business school of enchantment. Our faculty team is knowledgeable, experienced, friendly and student-oriented,” he said. “We are local and inclusion-serving but with great international exposure. Moreover, we are cost-effective and boost your return on investment.”