KINGSTON, R.I.—Dec. 11, 2023—Kara Li Liu, a Ph.D. candidate in the University of Rhode Island College of Business, has been named a Best Reviewer by the Decision Sciences Journal of Innovation Education.

Liu, who is expected to graduate in the spring with a doctoral degree in operations and supply chain management and a master’s degree in statistics, received the award in November at the Decision Sciences Institute’s national conference in Atlanta. DSJIE is a peer-reviewed academic journal that focuses on research relevant to teaching and learning in the decision sciences, which provide quantitative and behavioral approaches to managerial decision-making.

“It really surprised me. There are so many reviewers for the journal and most of them are assistant, associate or full professors, and I’m just a doctoral student,” said Liu. “I have to thank my major advisor, Dr. Koray Özpolat, who has rich experience in pedagogy and supply chain management. I’ve worked with him for more than four years.”

Özpolat, a URI professor of supply chain management and member of the journal’s editorial board, recommended Liu as a peer reviewer after seeing her commitment to teaching. Liu, who is originally from northwest China, has more than 10 years of international teaching experience and embraces technology to improve her teaching effectiveness and better relate to students. At the start of the pandemic, Özpolat was impressed by how quickly she transitioned to online teaching.

Since serving as a peer reviewer for the journal’s special issue on teaching innovations during the pandemic, Liu has reviewed researchers’ manuscripts regularly for the journal, quickly moving from training to a fully independent reviewer.

“Her diligence and rigor in her reports, as well as her constructive feedback to the authors, captured journal editor-in-chief Susan Palocsay’s attention and she was recognized as one of the two best reviewers of the journal in 2023,” Özpolat said. “She’s the only doctoral student to receive this honor in the recent history of the journal.”

Liu, who earned a master’s degree in operations and supply chain management from California State University Long Beach, was attracted to URI because of its location on the East Coast, near business and finance centers. Liu said she likes the diversity she has found at URI, how courses can be customized to students’ interests, the connections the University has with the local business community, and, especially, the opportunity to work closely with her professors.

“I’ve received great help and support from my two major advisors—professors Koray Özpolat and Seung Kyoon Shin—and also the many professors in the College of Business,” said Liu, who is secretary of the Graduate Student Association at URI. “Our professors closely work with students in a very friendly atmosphere. They provide guidance from different perspectives.”

Liu, who earned the college’s 2023 Ph.D. Student Outstanding Teaching Award, has enjoyed the balance between teaching and research as a doctoral candidate. In the classroom, she has shared her hands-on experience in courses that teach students to apply analytical skills in decision-making, presenting business examples that may be relevant to the students.

“I have realized students want to know how to apply their knowledge to solve problems in real life, instead of being constrained by textbook exercises,” she said.

Liu’s research interests focus on data-driven analytics and theory-based process design in multi-tier supply chain networks and information technology, along with pedagogical research in teaching operations and supply chain management.

Her dissertation research has explored the relationships between buyers and suppliers at all levels, looking at the multiple tiers of the supply chain and how they relate to buyers’ performance. Two of her manuscripts are currently under academic journal review. She said her work as a peer reviewer has given her more insight into the process. “It’s been a good opportunity to review other researchers’ manuscripts,” she said. “You can look at it from the reviewer’s perspective and get more experience when you work on your own manuscripts.”