{"295691":{"#nid":"295691","#data":{"type":"news","title":"First Ph.D. in International Affairs, Science, and Technology Awarded to Murphree","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIn April, Michael Murphree,\u0026nbsp;successfully defended his dissertation earning the first Ph.D. awarded by The Sam Nunn School of International Affairs in\u0026nbsp;International Affairs, Science and Technology. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhere are you from?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E \u003Cbr \/\u003E I was raised in Texas until I was 15 and moved to Singapore for three years before coming to Atlanta to start my undergrad at Georgia Tech in 2000.\u003Cbr \/\u003E \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E What is your educational\/professional background?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E \u003Cbr \/\u003E I am a Tech man through and through, having earned my B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. all here at Georgia Tech. In between finishing my bachelor\u2019s and beginning my masters, I spent a year teaching English in China. After earning my M.S., I returned to China to conduct research with former Nunn School professor Dan Breznitz on high technology industry and innovation before beginning my Ph.D.\u003Cbr \/\u003E \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E What did you learn from your experience teaching English in Guizhou Province, China?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E \u003Cbr \/\u003E Teaching in China was one of the best and most formative experiences of my life. My Chinese language skills improved immensely and I discovered that I enjoy teaching, although perhaps I lack the patience to work with younger students. The experience also instilled in me an interest in economic development, international business, and the role of the state in promoting industrial and economic growth. Guizhou at the time was just beginning its economic boom, so it was a fascinating time to be in China and observe decades of change compressed into a few short years.\u003Cbr \/\u003E \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E Why did you choose The Sam Nunn School of International Affairs?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E \u003Cbr \/\u003E I chose The Nunn School because of its unique interdisciplinary approach to international affairs research and education. Few programs combine engineering, science, public policy, international business, and political science into such a well-organized package. Being at the intersection of multiple disciplines can be daunting, but it gives a lot of intellectual freedom to explore.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe program also allowed me to work with scholars pursuing a wide range of interests in comparative political economy, economic development, science and technology policy, as well as more esoteric concepts like using technology to develop new tools for studying or making policy predictions in these areas. \u003Cbr \/\u003E \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E Describe your research.\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E \u003Cbr \/\u003E My research looks at the comparative political economy of technology standards, specifically the role these standards play in the formation of markets for technology in different political economies. My dissertation compares the standardization process and market outcomes for technology in the U.S., Europe, and China. I find that the differences in our respective technology markets can be attributed to the historically-derived institutions of standardization\u2014formal development organizations, as well as less formalized, but still consistent patterns of behavior\u2014and the positions of different states and firms in fragmented global production chains.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUnderstanding the connection between standardization and market outcomes may help policy makers and firms better tailor their standardization and market strategies in different countries in order to improve their outcomes.\u003Cbr \/\u003E \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E What led you down this research path?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E \u003Cbr \/\u003E My interest in standards began while working with Professor Breznitz on our book \u003Cem\u003ERun of the Red Queen\u003C\/em\u003E, which includes brief case studies looking at China\u2019s standardization policies and practices in mobile telephony and optical storage media. This introduced me to the political world of standardization and the different avenues by which states seek to set and control standards.\u003Cbr \/\u003E \u003Cbr \/\u003E \u003Cem\u003EMichael Murphree has accepted a tenure-track assistant professor position at the Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EMichael Murphree, PhD candidate in \u003Cstrong\u003EThe Sam Nunn School of International Affairs\u003C\/strong\u003E, defended his dissertation on the standardization process and market outcomes for technology in the US, Europe, and China in April, the first to emerge since the inception of the PhD program in International Affairs, Science and Technology.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Michael Murphree, PhD candidate in The Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, defended his dissertation on the standardization process and market outcomes for technology in the US, Europe, and China in April."}],"uid":"27889","created_gmt":"2014-05-07 16:56:50","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:16:22","author":"Beth Godfrey","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2014-05-07T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2014-05-07T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"70118":{"id":"70118","type":"image","title":"PhD Student Michael Murphree","body":null,"created":"1449177288","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:14:48","changed":"1475894616","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:36"}},"media_ids":["70118"],"groups":[{"id":"1281","name":"Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}