About the Author

Lisa Ann Cairns, Ph.D., Senior Contributor to MarketWatch

Lisa Ann Cairns joined the Smith network of businesses in 2001 as a Technology Strategist and became the Chief Strategy Officer for a Smith subsidiary the following year. More recently, Lisa has been involved with various strategic marketing projects for the Smith network and is the Senior Contributor for MarketWatch. Prior to joining Smith, Lisa was an Assistant Professor at Texas A&M University. Lisa received her Ph.D. (1998) and A.M. (1992) from The University of Chicago, during which time she was awarded a National Science Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant. She holds a B.A. from Hofstra University, 1988, where she was the first woman undergraduate to receive a Fulbright Scholarship.