Bio
Lieutenant Colonel Emily P. Bulger is an Assistant Professor of Management for the Department of Management (DFMA), Dean of Faculty (DF), United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) and a tested and proven leader of character, warfighter, and wingmate. She completed a sponsored doctoral program in Strategic Management, where she focused her dissertation on the influence of organizational language and leadership on operational improvement and innovation. She is a lifelong learner who is passionate about inspiring future Air Force officers to become leaders of character, capable of analyzing strategic issues, formulating effective strategies, and implementing decisions.
Lieutenant Colonel Bulger graduated from the USAFA and was commissioned into the U.S. Air Force in 2005. She earned a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree in 2006 as well as a Doctor of Philosophy in Business Administration in 2018, both from the Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business at the University of Pittsburgh. In addition to her academic and teaching assignments, Lieutenant Colonel Bulger has served in a variety of leadership roles as a 65F3 Finance Officer. For example, she has served in roles as budget and disbursing officer at a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Air Base in Germany, as deployed joint forward comptroller for Special Operations Command Central (SOCCENT) Headquarters in Qatar, and as Squadron Commander for Air Mobility Command's Air Refueling Wing at McConnell Air Force Base, Kansas.
Education
Ph.D. in Business Administration – Organizations & Entrepreneurship (Strategy), 2018, Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business, University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Master of Business Administration (Concentration in Marketing), 2006, Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business, University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
B.S. in Management (Minor in Spanish), 2005, United States Air Force Academy (USAFA), Colorado
Professional Experience
Assistant Professor of Management, HQ United States Air Force Academy, Department of Management (2020 – Present)
- Director of Strategy & Personnel
- Director of Cadet Summer Research Program (CSRP)
- Director of Advising
- Course Director (Strategic Management Capstone)
- Instructor (Marketing Analysis)
Squadron Commander, Comptroller Squadron, 22d Air Refueling Wing, McConnell AFB, Kansas (2018 – 2020)
- Director of Staff
Doctoral Student, Air Force Institute of Technology, Civilian Institution Program, Wright Patterson AFB, Ohio (2014 – 2018)
Deployed Joint Financial Comptroller, Special Operations Command Central Forward HQ, Al Udeid AB, Qatar (2013 – 2014)
Assistant Professor of Management, HQ United States Air Force Academy, Department of Management (2009-2013)
- Executive Officer
- Advisor-in-Charge of Management
- Course Director (Financial Accounting, Managerial Accounting)
- Instructor (Personal Investments)
Financial Manager & Disbursing Officer, 470th Air Base Sq, Geilenkirchen NATO Air Base, Germany (2006 – 2009)
Graduate Student, Air Force Institute of Technology, Civilian Institution Program, Wright Patterson AFB, Ohio (2005 – 2006)
Honors & Awards
Top GPA (#1/47), Defense Financial Management Course (2019), Air University, Maxwell AFB, AL
Best Student Paper Award, 2016 Midwest Academy of Management Conference, Fargo, ND
Outstanding Reviewer Award (Top 18%), 2016 Midwest Academy of Management Conference, Fargo, ND
Research Award ($2,000), David Berg Center for Ethics and Leadership, University of Pittsburgh, PA
Graduate Student Mentor and Research Fellowship ($500), Honors College, University of Pittsburgh, PA
Outstanding Academy Educator (2012), DFMA, USAFA, CO
Brig Gen Woody Award as Outstanding Upper-Division Management Instructor (2011), DFMA, USAFA, CO
Distinguished Graduate (2006), Basic Financial Management Officer Course, Keesler AFB, MS
Dean’s Outstanding Service Award (2006), Katz Graduate School of Business, University of Pittsburgh, PA
Distinguished Graduate (2005) with Athletic and Academic Distinction (#33/919), USAFA, CO
Graduate Studies Program (GSP) Scholar (2005), Department of Management, USAFA, CO
Research and Scholarly Interests
My research interests include strategic management and specifically the role of language in an organization’s efforts to transform the way they do business. Additionally, I am interested in understanding how the background and experiences of strategic leaders as well as the formal and informal elements of strategic implementation influence the way organizations manage innovation and change.
Publications
Manuscripts in Preparation
Bulger, E. & Cohen, S., Resetting the Organizational Code: How Executives Create and Enact Novel Strategies. (Planned submission to Academy of Management Journal in summer 2023)
Brands, K., Green, S., Heppard, K., Heyler, S., Bulger, E., Enhancing Introductory Accounting and Capstone Course Alignment and Integration: Leveraging Data Analysis, Active Learning, and Collaboration. (Planned submission in fall 2023)
Conference Presentations
Strategic Management Society Special Conference (December 2017)
Bulger, E. & Cohen, S., Making the revolutionary evolutionary: Navigating and communicating a potentially transformative business concept (Common ground session)
Midwest Academy of Management Annual Conference (October 2017)
Bulger, E., Telling Stories to Strangers: How Do CEOs Seek External Support for Transformative Business Model Innovations? (Research proposal)
Academy of Management Annual Conference (August 2017)
Bulger, E., Creating Linguistic Impressions: Language as a Mechanism to (Re)Build a Firm’s Organizational Code (Doctoral workshop)
Organization Science Winter Conference (February 2017)
Bulger, E., A Typology of Innovation Narratives: How Stories Build the Code. (Poster)
Midwest Academy of Management Annual Conference (October 2016)
Bulger, E., A Typology of Innovation Narratives: Structuring Stories to Sustain or Transform the Organizational Code. (Showcase paper)
Bulger, E., Singh, S.P., & Camillus, J., Shareholder Value and Social Entrepreneurship: Toward a Point Omega in Strategic Planning Systems? (Divisional paper)