Dr. Iryna Pentina, a professor of marketing and international business in the John B. and Lillian E. Neff College of Business and Innovation at The University of Toledo, received a Fulbright Specialist award to complete a project at the La Rochelle University in La Rochelle, France, during fall semester.
The Fulbright program is devoted to increasing mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries through international educational exchanges.
Pentina
This is the second Fulbright award for Pentina, whose research focuses on internet marketing and retailing, social media marketing and online consumer behavior. In 2012, a few years after she joined UToledo, Pentina was selected as a Fulbright research scholar to conduct research with colleagues in Ukraine at the International Solomon University.
“It was a serial grant for the summers of 2012-13 and 2013-14 that allowed us to collect data for several research projects and work together to publish articles in scientific journals,” she said. “We investigated the role of cultural differences in consumers’ use of social media and online shopping. At that time, I became aware of other Fulbright programs and saw an opportunity to be useful not only in the research realm but also to assist with curricular planning and course development in other countries.”
“We are proud of Dr. Pentina’s efforts as she continues to prove that she is an innovator in her field,” said Dr. Anne L. Balazs, dean of the Neff College of Business and Innovation. She is deserving of this award, and we are excited to watch her make additional impactful contributions to society.”
The Fulbright Specialist program is an opportunity for U.S. academics and established professionals to engage in two- to six-week project-based exchanges at host institutions across the globe.
“I applied and was approved for the Fulbright Specialist roster that allows universities to connect with scholars proficient in curricular innovations, strategic and institutional planning, and faculty development,” Pentina said. “The selected scholars remain on the roster for a period of four years, and the applying foreign universities can contact them and invite them to deliver seminars, trainings or workshops.”
The two-week visit to France, she said, is at an opportune time for her.
“I will be on a sabbatical leave for the fall 2022 semester and will have time to focus on developing deeper collaboration with the colleagues at the University of La Rochelle,” Pentina said. “I am very excited about the possibilities to forge stronger ties with the colleagues I already know, meet new colleagues, discuss new projects and, hopefully, facilitate collaboration between the two universities.
“I also look forward to the opportunity to initiate new research projects,” Pentina added.
In 2019, she was invited by La Rochelle colleagues at the School of Business and Management to work on a joint research project investigating customer online shopping experiences. Pentina’s one-month visit was supported by a joint Academy of Marketing Science – French Marketing Academy grant.
“The results of the project were presented at several conferences and published in a research journal,” she said. “My communication with the La Rochelle colleagues and discussions about the UToledo marketing curriculum innovations prompted them to explore the possibility of inviting me again.”
“In between the scheduled meetings and presentations, I plan to reconvene with friends over delicious French meals and to spend a day sightseeing in Paris on my way to La Rochelle.”
Pentina earned Ph.D.s in marketing and education from the University of North Texas and Kharkov State Pedagogical University in Ukraine, a master’s in business administration from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, and a Bachelor of Arts from Kharkov State Pedagogical University.
