Alex Bolinger, Ph.D.
Idaho Central Credit Union Endowed Professor of Management
Office: BA 433
Ph.D., University of Utah
MBA, Idaho State University
MA, Idaho State University
BBA, Idaho State University
Alex Bolinger is the Idaho Central Credit Union Endowed Professor of Management at Idaho State University. His research focuses on team dynamics, leadership, and entrepreneurship, and has appeared in the Academy of Management Review, the Academy of Management Discoveries, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, and the Harvard Business Review, among other outlets. Bolinger also serves on the review boards of the Academy of Management Discoveries and the Academy of Management Learning and Education and he is an associate editor of the Journal of Management Education.
Bolinger has taught executive education for organizations throughout the state of Idaho. At ISU, he teaches advanced courses in leadership, negotiations, teamwork, and decision-making, as well as the Introduction to Business course for first-semester undergraduate students. An advocate of active, experiential approaches to teaching, Bolinger regularly teaches an Honors course on collaborative creativity in which students have worked together in teams to write and publish several books. Students in his classes have also participated in the “Make-a-Wish Challenge” to raise money for local children facing life-threatening illnesses in partnership with the Make-a-Wish Foundation of Idaho. For the past decade, he has served as adviser for teams of ISU students that have brought home over two dozen trophies from the International Collegiate Business Strategy Competition in Anaheim, California.
Tyler Burch, Ph.D.
Professor of Management
Office: BA 444
Ph.D., University of Washington
MS, University of Washington
MAcc, Brigham Young University
BS, Brigham Young University
Tyler Burch is a Professor of Management at Idaho State University. He earned his Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior and M.S. in Business Administration from the University of Washington, and holds a Master of Accountancy and B.S. from Brigham Young University. His primary research interests focus on individual psychological withdrawal and embeddedness in an organization, the work-family interface, and employee voice. Additionally, Dr. Burch serves the academic community by helping to plan and coordinate teaching workshops both for ISU as well as the Academy of Management, an organization with a significant international footprint and outreach.
Before entering academia, Dr. Burch gained professional industry experience working at KPMG and as a business analyst at Sandia National Laboratories. At ISU, he is passionate about teaching courses related to organizational behavior. A strong proponent of experiential teaching, Dr. Burch focuses on pedagogical techniques that bridge the gap between theory and practice. Outside of his professional responsibilities, he loves the outdoors and is enamored with his wife, Erin, and their three children.
Yan Chen, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Management
Office: BA 440
Ph.D., Rutgers University
MS, University of Illinois
BS, Renmin University of China
Yan Chen received her Ph.D in Industrial Relations and Human Resources from Rutgers University. Her research areas include compensation and benefits, workplace diversity, and strategic human resource management.
Julie Frischmann
Clinical Associate Professor
Office: BA 529
MS, Idaho State University
BS, Western Washington University
Julie Frischmann’s primary interests are student education and technical growth in quantitative and statistical reasoning. Prior to joining Idaho State University, she worked as an actuarial health care consultant with Mercer, Marsh and McLennan Companies working between Seattle and San Francisco. Her clients included large tech companies and fortune 500 firms. Julie has extensive experience in teaching math and statistics courses and is dedicated to raising confidence in students’ quantitative intellectual power.
Nikole Layton
Clinical Assistant Professor of Management, Director of Bengal Solutions
Office: BA 332
MBA and MHA, Idaho State University
BS, Weber State University
Nikole received her undergraduate degree in Sales with a minor in Psychology from Weber State University before earning dual master’s degrees in Business Administration and Healthcare Administration, with a finance emphasis, from Idaho State University. She is currently a PhD Candidate in Business Administration at Oklahoma State University, specializing in strategic management. Her research interests include strategic management, entrepreneurship, and economic development. She has published work in strategic management and economic development, and is particularly interested in research that connects business strategy, innovation, entrepreneurship, and regional growth.
In addition to her academic work, Nikole brings extensive professional experience in healthcare administration, business consulting, human resource management, entrepreneurship, and small business operations. She currently serves as a Clinical Assistant Professor of Management and Director of Bengal Solutions in Idaho State University’s College of Business. Through Bengal Solutions, she leads graduate students in providing applied business consulting and research services to small businesses, government organizations, and other community partners. Nikole is also an entrepreneur and co-owner of Cognitive Healing Institute, a mental health practice. Her experience as a business owner provides her with a practical perspective on entrepreneurship, organizational growth, and the challenges facing small businesses.
Nikole is passionate about connecting academic knowledge with real-world business challenges. She enjoys mentoring students, developing their professional skills, supporting entrepreneurs and organizations, and helping businesses and communities pursue growth, innovation, and informed decision-making. Outside of her professional work, she also has a strong personal interest in health and fitness, spending time outdoors, and fostering an entrepreneurial mindset in her children by encouraging them to develop and pursue their own business ideas.
Annik Martin
Clinical Assistant Professor
Office: BA 340
Annik Martin worked at the Bank of Montreal as an undergraduate student. After completing her graduate studies, she decided to shift from a future in international money markets to pursue a career in education. She joined ISU in 2001 and became a member of the College of Business in Fall 2024. With over 20 years of experience teaching undergraduate mathematics courses, she is deeply committed to enhancing the student learning experience through evidence-based teaching practices.
Currently, Professor Martin teaches Mathematics for Business and Business Statistics, continually refining her teaching methods to improve student engagement and outcomes. Her dedication to excellence in teaching was recognized in 2024 when she received the inaugural ISU Excellence in General Education Teaching Award for Mathematical Ways of Knowing, followed by the 2024 State Gem Innovative Educator Award in the same category.
Professor Martin is deeply committed to helping her students achieve their academic goals, a dedication evident to all who have witnessed her answering students’ emails while riding the lift at Pebble or while listening to the crackling of a campfire after a day of rock climbing.
Greg Murphy, Ph.D.
Professor of Management
Office: BA 443
Ph.D., University of Houston
MBA, University of Houston
MS, University of Central Texas
BA, Weber State University
Dr. Murphy’s research focuses on strategic management and entrepreneurship. Examples of recent research include a study of diversification in small firms and a study of factors related to interest in taking a course in entrepreneurship. Dr. Murphy has taught graduate and undergraduate courses in strategic management, as well as undergraduate courses in entrepreneurship and business ethics.
Jeff Street, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Management
Office: BA 335
Ph.D., University of Georgia
MBA, University of Tennessee
BSME, East Tennessee State University
Dr. Street holds a Ph.D. in Business Administration from the Terry College of Business at The University of Georgia. His areas of research and teaching bridge his dual interests in strategic management and operations management, particularly where processes and systems germane where operations management can be leveraged to achieve competitive advantage.
Neil Tocher, Ph.D.
Department Chair of Management and Marketing, Professor of Management
Office: BA 441
Ph.D., Auburn University
MS, Auburn University
BS, Gonzaga University
Dr. Tocher’s primary research interests focus on the influence of social resources on entrepreneurial outcomes, the influence of human resource management practices on the performance of small and emerging firms, and case writing. Tocher has taught courses at the undergraduate and masters levels in entrepreneurship, venture consulting, strategic management, and organizational behavior.