Faculty Recognized for Outstanding Scholarship

Linda Edelman, Rhodes Professor of Management

A well-regarded researcher at the intersection of strategy and entrepreneurship, Edelman has increased awareness of how new and small firms thrive across industries. Her scholarship includes four books, 25 book chapters and more than 90 journal articles. Her work has earned more than 11,000 citations and regularly appears in top journals like Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, Journal of International Business Studies and Journal of Business Venturing.  

Best known for her research on gender and entrepreneurship, Edelman’s work has helped shape global initiatives, including the World Bank’s report on women entrepreneurs during the COVID-19 pandemic. She also enhances understanding of student entrepreneurship by using data from the Global University Entrepreneurial Spirit Students’ Survey (GUESSS), one of the largest entrepreneurship research projects in the world.  

“Linda’s knowledge, experience and strong academic record combine with a rare gift for inspiring others,” says her colleague and frequent co-author Tatiana Manolova, professor of Management. “She has firmly established Bentley on the map of entrepreneurship research and practice worldwide, an accomplishment that will continue to bear fruit for years to come.” 

Laure Astourian, Associate Professor of Modern Languages

Astourian’s book, “The Ethnographic Optic: Jean Rouch, Chris Marker, Alain Resnais, and the Turn Inward in 1960s French Cinema,” offers a new understanding of mid-century French cinema. She reveals how French cinema shifted from documenting distant cultures to reflecting on its own urban society.  

Recognized for its originality, “The Ethnographic Optic” has drawn attention from major academic institutions, international film festivals and leading publications. Astourian has been invited to present at Columbia University, the University of Toronto and UCLA, among others, and recently became a visiting scholar at Harvard University. Acclaimed film historian and scholar Antoine De Baecque calls her book “fascinating and invigorating,” noting that Astourian “captures all of the spicy, subtle flavor of the encounter between ethnography and politics ... [and] makes us rediscover an incredibly daring movement in cinema.”

Casey Hayward, Professor of English and Media Studies

Hayward, an accomplished filmmaker, was recognized for his documentary “Seeing RED: Changing the Narrative.” The film builds upon his 2016 work, “Seeing RED: Racial and Ethnic Disparities in the Massachusetts Juvenile Justice System,” which explores why Black and Latino youth are overrepresented in the juvenile justice process. Both films were commissioned by the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI), a national network of service providers.  

His new film amplifies the voices of families most affected by systemic racism, offering powerful testimonies that shed light on racial bias in youth-serving systems. It premiered in Boston in 2024 before an audience of state and local leaders and has since been adopted as a training tool across state agencies and universities.

Its reach now extends beyond Massachusetts. The Center for Juvenile Justice Reform at Georgetown University incorporated the film into its national curriculum. Screenings at national conferences, including a 2024 event sponsored by the Coalition for Juvenile Justice, further show Hayward’s contributions to social justice reform. 

Fred Ledley, Professor of Natural and Applied Sciences and Director of the Center for Integration of Science and Industry (CISI)

Edward Zhou, Postdoctoral Researcher, CISI

Ledley and Zhou’s research has reshaped the conversation about who funds pharmaceutical innovation. Their study, published in JAMA Health Forum, found that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded research associated with 99% of all drugs approved from 2010 to 2019, at a total cost of $187 billion. This public funding matched or exceeded industry spending. Their findings challenge the common view that the private sector bears most of the cost of drug development, showing instead that public and private investments are complementary.

The paper’s impact has been significant, with nearly 60 scholarly citations and extensive media coverage, including the Boston Globe, Washington Post, Forbes and Rolling Stone. It has also informed White House policy on lowering drug costs, NIH testimony to Congress and reports by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services and other major health agencies.

Arielle Scoglio, Assistant Professor of Natural and Applied Sciences

Scoglio’s research highlights the lasting health impacts of intimate partner violence (IPV) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Her study, published in JAMA Network Open, analyzed health data from nearly 14,000 women, taken both before and during the pandemic.

She discovered that women exposed to IPV in the first 18 months of the pandemic were significantly more likely to experience anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress. They were also more likely to get poorer-quality sleep and to increase their use of alcohol or other substances. These findings highlight new opportunities for IPV screening and intervention, offering guidance for clinicians and policymakers working to improve women’s health.

Scoglio’s study has already been covered in 25 media outlets. Her work has also been cited in 15 scholarly publications, including articles in peer-reviewed journals like Frontiers in Public Health and International Journal of Mental Health Nursing.

Rob DeLeo, Professor of Global Studies

A leading policy scientist, DeLeo explores how governments respond to complex challenges through two interconnected lines of research: the development of policy-making processes and the study of hazard- and disaster-related policymaking.  

He is best known for his contributions to the Multiple Streams Framework (MSF), a theoretical model that explains how public policy decisions are made. In 2024, DeLeo co-authored “Multiple Streams and Policy Ambiguity,” the first comprehensive guide for conducting MSF research. His work has also appeared in influential journals such as Public Administration Review, Policy Studies Journal and Policy and Politics.  

Beyond theory building, DeLeo applies his expertise to urgent, real-world crises. His research — funded in part by National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health grants — has helped shape public health messaging strategies related to COVID-19 and bird flu (H5N1). DeLeo’s research deepens knowledge of governance, risk communication and crisis response, shaping both scholarly debate and practical policy solutions.