Dr. Lucy M. Matthews

Departments / Programs

Degree Information

DBA, Kennesaw State University (2015)
MBA, Georgia State University (1997)
BS, Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne (1995)

Areas of Expertise

Personal Branding; Selling; Creativity; Marketing Management

Biography

Dr. Lucy M. Matthews brings a unique blend of professional experience and academic expertise to the field of marketing. After earning her B.S. in Marketing and Management from Indiana University and an M.B.A. with a concentration in Marketing from Georgia State University, she spent over 15 years in sales and management. In her role as Credit Manager at Steel Dynamics, Inc., she managed over $15B in credit and collections in a 12-year period with less than .02% in write-offs. She developed au...

Dr. Lucy M. Matthews brings a unique blend of professional experience and academic expertise to the field of marketing. After earning her B.S. in Marketing and Management from Indiana University and an M.B.A. with a concentration in Marketing from Georgia State University, she spent over 15 years in sales and management. In her role as Credit Manager at Steel Dynamics, Inc., she managed over $15B in credit and collections in a 12-year period with less than .02% in write-offs. She developed automated systems to create the leanest credit department of flat roll steel mills in North America at that time. She also created systems that decreased customers' outstanding days of pay; therefore, decreasing working capital and creating $4M of profit annually. Lucy completed a Doctorate in Marketing at Kennesaw State University. She joined the Department of Marketing at Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) in Fall 2015.

Dr. Matthews’s dedication to teaching is evident in her broad instructional portfolio, having taught nine different undergraduate courses and one graduate-level course. She has also developed four online classes to expand access and flexibility for students. Her commitment to student success is further reflected in her mentorship of three undergraduate Honors Theses, and in 2022, she was recognized with MTSU’s Outstanding Teacher Award.

A champion of applied learning, Dr. Matthews played an instrumental role in launching MTSU’s professional selling concentration and certificate program, securing over $150,000 in sponsorships. She has chaired committees at the department, college, and university levels. This, in addition to her extensive external service, earned her MTSU’s Outstanding Public Service Award in 2023.

Beyond campus, she currently serves as Managing Editor of the Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management and sits on the Board of Governors for the Society for Marketing Advances after years of involvement on the executive committee. Following her participation in the 2024–2025 MTSU Leadership on Deck Institute, she serves as a MTSU Provost Fellow for 2025–2026.

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Awards

2025 Conference USA Faculty Achievement Award, Nominee

2024 Society for Marketing Advances Faculty Fellow

2024 Conference USA Faculty Achievement Award, Nominee &nbs...

Research / Scholarly Activity

Her research interests span a variety of timely and impactful areas, including sales and sales management, burnout, engagement, grit, PLS-SEM, and interdisciplinary topics like innovation and entrepreneurship. Dr. Matthews has published over 45 peer-reviewed journal articles, with her work being cited more than 10,000 times on Google Scholar, a testament to the relevance and reach of her scholarship.