The American Marketing Association is pleased to announce Karen M. Blackwell and Irene Maria Papajohn as the 2026 Valuing Diversity PhD Scholarship recipients!
In partnership with the PhD Project and the AMA Academic Council, the Valuing Diversity PhD Scholarship seeks to empower doctoral students from various backgrounds to earn PhDs so they can inspire and educate the next generation of business leaders. Learn more about this scholarship and eligibility requirements here.
About the Recipients
Karen M. Blackwell is a Ph.D. student in Business with a concentration in Marketing at Virginia Tech. Her research examines how prior experiences of medical dismissal shape the way consumers interpret health information, evaluate expert guidance, and make decisions in digital health environments. Drawing from consumer behavior, healthcare marketing, and digital health contexts, her work seeks to better understand how consumers navigate expert advice after experiences that may have left them feeling unheard, minimized, or dismissed.
Karen brings a distinctive perspective to this research through her background in healthcare, marketing strategy, and biological sciences. Before beginning her doctoral studies, she spent nearly 15 years in healthcare and medical technology, including leadership roles at Medtronic and Hospira, formerly Abbott Laboratories. At Medtronic, she led strategic marketing, market access, value-based healthcare, and digital health initiatives, including work connected to AI-driven diabetes management solutions.
Karen is also a marketing lecturer at California State University, Los Angeles; California State University, Northridge; and San Diego State University, where she teaches courses in marketing, consumer behavior, personal selling, social media marketing, and cause selling. Her teaching is grounded in inclusive, applied, and student-centered pedagogy.
In addition to her academic and healthcare experience, Karen is the founder of Arc & Anthem, a marketing consultancy focused on data-informed strategy and consumer insight, and CEO of Sage & Alms, a benefit corporation supporting purpose-driven ventures. Across her research, teaching, and professional practice, Karen is committed to advancing marketing scholarship that is rigorous, relevant, and reflective of consumers whose experiences are often underrepresented in business research.
Irene Papajohn is a Ph.D. candidate in Marketing at Baruch College, City University of New York. She studies consumer behavior, with a focus on how emerging technologies shape perception, trust, and well-being. Her dissertation examines how generative AI disclosure labels influence consumer responses to advertising, drawing on expectancy violation theory and the norm of reciprocity to explain when transparency helps or hurts firms. Her broader research interests include AI disclosure, perceptions of human effort and creativity, digital beauty culture, and consumer well-being.
Prior to academia, Irene built a career in marketing and consumer insights, holding roles at organizations including Procter & Gamble, Unilever, and Meta. She also worked as a career coach, helping MBA students pursue careers in technology and marketing. These experiences inform an empirical and applied approach that keeps her academic work grounded in meaningful marketplace questions.
Alongside her doctoral studies, Irene teaches “AI and the Future of Strategic Communication” at Columbia University’s School of Professional Studies. She designed the course, which is now in its second year, to help students critically evaluate emerging technologies and apply them to real-world communication challenges.
Based in New York City, Irene is committed to conducting research that improves quality of life and to mentoring the next generation of students as they navigate their own paths in marketing, business, and academia.
Karen and Irene will be recognized at the AMA Foundation Awards Luncheon on July 25, 2026, during the 2026 AMA Summer Academic Conference in Denver, CO, July 24-26.
The AMA Foundation (AMAF) strengthens and elevates the marketing profession by advancing knowledge, building a global community of marketing leaders, and supporting marketing initiatives that drive innovation and societal impact. Gifts to the AMA Foundation empower the next generation of marketing students, develop forward-thinking faculty, support passionate professionals, build a dynamic community, and celebrate influential and transformative marketers and their work. Learn more about the AMA Foundation’s impact and ways to get involved here.