Faculty/Staff

Diana Neely

Diana Neely

Assistant Professor of Instruction
diananeely@usf.edu
St. Petersburg Office: LPH 445
Vita

Diana Neely is an assistant professor of instruction in the Muma College of Business at the University of South Florida, where she teaches Strategic Management and International Business. She brings more than a decade of professional experience to the classroom, combining industry expertise with academic research to prepare students for today's complex business environment.

Prior to academia, Neely held a variety of positions in the financial services industry in South Africa, with experience spanning investment banking operations and transaction advisory services. She also worked in public accounting in northern Nevada, providing bookkeeping, payroll and tax services to small and medium-sized businesses. 

Neely earned her PhD in strategic management and a master's degree in accounting from the University of Nevada, Reno. Her research focuses on interorganizational trust and behavioral strategy. She examines how organizations make decisions in uncertain environments, with particular emphasis on the role of trust, governance and social influence in interorganizational relationships. Her work draws on experimental and behavioral research methods to investigate how managerial decisions affect organizational performance. Her research has been presented at the Academy of Management and published in peer-reviewed journals.

As an educator, Neely is committed to helping students develop strategic thinking, analytical skills and decision-making capabilities required to lead organizations in an increasingly complex global environment. She incorporates case discussions, business simulations and experiential learning to bridge theory and practice while preparing students for successful careers in business.

Teaching

  • GEB 4890 – Strategic Management and Decision-Making
  • MAN 4631 – Global Perspectives and Managerial Choices

Research

  • Neely, D. (2026). Interorganizational Trust. A Joint Venture Conceptual Framework. Academy of Management Proceedings in Philadelphia, PA, USA. 
  • Ridinger, G., Sundali, J., Guerrero, F., Solorio, M., Fan, M., Sevindik, I., ... & Neely, D. (2026). An Experiment on the Impacts of Experiential Investment Advice. Plos one, 21(2), e0343126. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0343126
  • Neely, D. (2026). Three Essays on Economic Value Creation Through Decisions and Cooperation. ProQuest One Academic. (3355513623) 
  • Hanna, A., Neely, D., & Jones, K. More “Interesting” Recruitment: An Innovative Solution to the Gender Employment Gap. Under Review at the Journal of Personnel Psychology.
  • Huizar, Y., Neely, D., Carre, J., & Jones, D. Overclaiming Business Knowledge Predicts Selfish Orientation and Poor Sales Outcomes. Under Review at the Journal of Current Psychology.