Gary R. Mercado, Ph.D., is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Quantitative Methods and Academic Director of the Master of Science in Business Analytics and Information Management (MS BAIM) program at Purdue University’s Mitch Daniels School of Business. His areas of expertise include business analytics, applied statistics, data science, artificial intelligence, machine learning, quantitative methods, and experiential learning.

Dr. Mercado is particularly focused on connecting analytics education with real-world business challenges. He leads and supports industry-engaged projects that provide students with opportunities to apply analytics, AI, machine learning, and data-driven decision-making to problems faced by organizations across a range of industries. He also mentors graduate students through independent studies, applied research, analytics competitions, and professional development initiatives.

His teaching philosophy is grounded in applied and experiential learning. He believes students learn analytics most effectively when they move beyond formulas and techniques and use them to solve complex, open-ended problems where the data, objectives, and business context are not always perfectly defined.  His goal is to create learning experiences that closely reflect the way analytics is practiced in organizations and to prepare students not only to use emerging technologies, but also to understand how to translate them into meaningful business decisions.