She received her PhD in Business Policy and Strategy from Ohio State University. She also holds a MA in Organizational Behavior and a BA in Economics from Brigham Young University. Prior to her appointment on the faculty at Cal Poly, she was on the faculty at Texas A&M University teaching in both the undergraduate and graduate programs there. Her research in the strategic human capital field is currently focused on top executives examining such issues as labor markets, compensation, value creation and value appropriation. Her research has been published in Academy of Management Review and Strategic Management Journal. In 2007 she received the Wiley Blackwell Outstanding Dissertation award from the BPS Division Academy of Management. Currently she serves on the editorial boards at Strategic Management Journal and Journal of Management.