Dr. Tessa Garcia-Collart is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at the Department of Marketing and Entrepreneurship at the University of Missouri–St Louis. Dr. Garcia-Collart holds a PhD in Marketing from Florida International University, an MBA from the Thunderbird School of Global Management (knowledge unit of Arizona State University) and completed her graduate internship in Geneva, Switzerland. She also holds a BA in Marketing and International Business from Universidad Tecnologica Centroamericana in San Pedro Sula, Honduras.
Her primary research areas include consumer health and well-being and brand communications in digital media. Her research has been published in the Journal of Advertising, Marketing Letters and Marketing Science Institute Working Paper Series. She has presented her work in premier marketing academic conferences including AMA, AMS, SCP and ACR, as well as in multiple universities around the globe, and corporations such as The Coca-Cola Company headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia.
Dr. Garcia-Collart's research has been recognized with multiple awards, grants and fellowships. She most recently received the Anheuser-Busch Excellence in Teaching Award (2025). She received the Best Paper Award by the Marketing Management Association (2022). She is an AMA-Sheth Doctoral Fellow (2018), and is the recipient of an UMSL Faculty Research Grant (2021) and a Marketing Science Institute grant (2018) to fund her research initiatives. She was awarded the UGS Provost Award for Best Paper at Florida International University (2020), the SCP Ethnic Travel Scholarship (2018), the Russell V. Ewald Award for Academic Excellence (presented by the McKnight Fellowship, 2017), and the American Marketing Association Valuing Diversity Award (2017).
She currently serves as a member of the Impact Taskforce at the Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, member of the UMSL Marketing Advisory Board, and is member of the UMSL Graduate Studies Committee. In addition, Dr. Garcia-Collart served as President and Vice-President of the Marketing Doctoral Students Association at The PhD Project, an organization that supports minority representation in business academia.
Prior to entering academia, she worked in brand marketing in Fortune 500 companies, including Shell Oil and Stanley Black & Decker. Outside of her research work and academic roles, she enjoys traveling the world with family and friends, and is an avid Peloton enthusiast.
Education
PhD in Business Administration, Marketing
Florida International University (Miami, Florida)
MBA, Global Business Administration
Thunderbird School of Global Management (Phoenix, Arizona)
B.A. Marketing and International Business Administration
Universidad Tecnológica Centroamericana (San Pedro Sula, Honduras)
Courses
MKTG 3700 – Introduction to Marketing (Undergraduate)
MKTG 5702– Brand Management (Graduate)
