Our faculty bring to the classroom:
Professor Burkhart worked in the accounting and financial services portions of the property management and residential home sale industries, which includes the local and national units of EEXCEL Communities, EEXCEL Management and EEXCEL Homes.
Dr. Fawaz is a veteran executive with more than 20 years of experience in global consulting, corporate and business unit strategy, developing market entry strategies, managing organizational structure, cost reduction, process improvement and leadership. An entrepreneur with extensive experience in the Fashion Industry. He joined our faculty in 2007 and in addition to lecturing, Dr. Fawaz is the Director of Internship and Faculty Advisor for SIFE (Students In Free Enterprise). He also acts as an Academic Advisor for our business students. His areas of proficiency include Global Strategy, Marketing, Manufacturing, Leadership, and Organizational Behavior & Change. Dr. Fawaz is a Concordia Alumni who went on to earn his Executive MBA from UCI where he was awarded the "Most Innovative Thinker" for the class of 2005 and then earned his Doctorate from Pepperdine in Organizational Leadership.
Dr. Hanson has extensive experience in city planning, direct marketing, and organizational consulting in addition to teaching at several major universities internationally. His primary teaching philosophy is experiential learning through action research in live organizational settings.
Professor Muller’s 25 year career in the multinational corporate finance world has given her valued experiences in both domestic and international environments. She has worked for high tech corporations in the computing, gaming and medical industries. The last eight years were focused as a supplier to the international banking community, developing a successful international business venture. In addition to the traditional corporate financial functions of planning, analysis and accounting, her experience includes developing business plans and corporate governance processes, managing large capital investment projects and major contract negotiations, integrating financial analysis and discipline into sales processes achieving outstanding results, researching and effectively managing the impact of changing government regulations on revenue generation, and completing a public offering during the market crash of 1987.
Professor Muller teaches the core Finance classes in the undergraduate and graduate programs throughout the year and occasional elective courses in the Finance and Economics disciplines.
Professor Shiery has over 30 years of experience in corporate marketing and training. She has worked for and with major Fortune 500 firms and had a consulting firm specializing in market research and training. She has taught marketing courses for over 20 years and has broad knowledge of marketing strategy, international business and communications.
Dr. Williams' corporate experience spans 25 years, in employee education/training, recruitment, staffing, internal communications, employee relations, diversity management and community relations. She has served in human resources under Rupert Murdoch, owner of Fox Groups, including Fox Sports, the Los Angeles Dodgers and a variety of other properties. Dr. Williams has lived and/or worked in over 30 countries covering five continents. In 1997, she launched Communication Works, a corporate training and development consultancy.
George W. Wright is the Assistant Dean for the School of Business and Professional Studies at Concordia University Irvine. As a senior member of the School of Business leadership team, the Assistant Dean is responsible for the strategic and operational leadership and direction for the undergraduate business programs and extracurricular opportunities. His primary role is to ensure the continuing growth in the quality and size of the program including recruitment and retention of exceptional staff, attracting diverse students, and involvement of business partners. In the classroom he contributes to the growth of undergraduate students as well as MBA (Master's in Business Administration) and MAIS (Master of Arts in International Studies) in understanding, applying and presenting the latest trends as well as seminal basics.
Previously, he was a senior IT executive in technology, financial and general management in a $400+ million USD global corporation and it's $24.7 billion USD parent. Major strengths and unique value generation includes creation, implementation and maintenance of successful IT and business strategies, enterprise initiatives, ERP implementations, value chains and business processes combined with project leadership/management and team development. In addition to winning national and statewide awards for accounting applications he is known for his IT, business applications, outsource negotiations and ERP implementation presentations at national and international conferences.
Professor Busby has over 30 years of experience in the accounting industry. He was an audit manager for an international CPA firm and served as chapter president of the California Society of Certified Public Accountants (3,000 member chapter). He has taught accounting and finance for graduate and undergraduate levels at Loyola Marymount University, Chapman University and University of California, Irvine Extension.
Andy Grimalda joins us as a Resident Professor in our Business Department with a wealth of experience as a senior manager and entrepreneur. Andy recently sold his business that he grew to rank among the 100 largest medical billing companies in the country. In this business, he epitomized Friedman's concept of a flat world by integrating technology to maintain seamless operations in both the United States and in India.
As a Chief Financial Officer for 13 years, Andy was responsible for the management of the financial, accounting, human resources, and management information system departments. He has integrated leading edge technology to improve the claims processing operations of large insurance companies facilitating the efficiencies and knowledge base of sales and marketing teams.
Andy was an Assistant Professor at the U.S. Military Academy where he taught economics and accounting to senior level cadets for three years.
Andy is a retired Colonel from the US Army. As an Airborne-Ranger, Andy commanded a battalion size unit with more than 250 personnel in combat operations during Desert Storm. His more senior military duties included management of all logistical operations for reserve units located in the Northeast U.S., and command responsibility for the professional development/classroom training of officers stationed in the Northeast U.S.
Andy holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, and a Masters in Management Sciences from the Sloan School of Management, M.I.T.
Dr. Mangum has over 17 years experience in economic research and analysis. He has also taught courses in economics, statistics, and econometrics at five colleges and universities. He has served as an expert in many litigation matters, focusing on microeconomic economic analysis involving intellectual property, antitrust, statistical analysis, and damage quantification.
Dr. Tvorik has 35+ years in marketing and sales within the healthcare and software development industry. Corporate responsibilities have included roles in sales management, product management, and marketing management from Director through Vice-President. Throughout his corporate career he has earned numerous sales and marketing achievement awards, such as the "President's Award" for sales excellence at Baxter Healthcare International. His academic career includes 10+ years working with doctoral students, MBA programs and undergraduate classes. He is currently involved with various entrepreneurial projects, consulting engagements, and executive coaching on a global basis with clients throughout the U.S. Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, China, and Hong Kong.
Professor Harms has over 25 years experience in the field of software development in the public sector and currently manages an IT development department for a Fortune 100 company. He has taught various Information Technology, Business and Accounting courses at Concordia and other universities for the past 10 years.
Professor Hasty has been in private practice since 1965 in Orange and Riverside counties. His areas of practice include business transactions, litigation, estate planning, trust administration and other numerous areas of the civil and criminal law. He has also taught law classes at Santa Ana College and Santiago Canyon College. He is married with four children and eleven grandchildren.
Professor Larson has over 40 years of business experience and has served in such positions as Vice President, Controller, Treasurer, General Manager, and business owner in organizations generating sales of $1 million to $23 billion annually. For the past 19 years he co-founded and developed a professional accounting and consulting practice with 4 offices offering financial services to governmental and private sector organizations throughout California. He specializes in the areas of accounting, business management, and finance. For the past 30 years he has taught at several educational institutions in the areas of accounting, business management, business systems, and finance.
Professor Law has been involved in the startup industry for the last 5 years. Since graduating from Concordia with his MBA in 2005 he was worked with educational research firms, national non-profit organizations, and started a firm that specialized in sales recruiting and training. Most recently, he served as the manager of research at a business development firm that specializes in commercializing university technologies.
Professor Miller has more than 25 years of experience across a broad range of industries, focusing primarily on entrepreneurship and new ventures, change management, and organizational design. He is currently President of Persuasive Business Plans, where he has a significant record of accomplishment helping clients tell compelling stories that attract money and people to accelerate business success. Prior to his consulting career, Tom served as an executive with several entrepreneurial firms in California and held several staff positions with a Fortune 500 firm in Illinois, including an engineering effort that resulted in several U.S. Patents. In his spare time, Tom volunteers with the Boy Scouts and is a Licensed Deacon in the Pacific Southwest District – LCMS.
Curriculum Vitae
Professor Philips has over 35 years of experience in the aerospace and software industries. He has managed worldwide operations for several firms and has built international sales organizations. He runs his own consulting firm specializing in management and marketing. He has taught at several educational institutions in the areas of business management, statistics and computer science.
Professor Derek Podobas teaches undergraduate and graduate level business courses at Concordia University. He is CEO of ChicagoAnalyticsTM, a strategy consulting firm. In addition, he is a General Partner in Balboa Bay Capital Group, LLC., a venture capital advisory firm. Both companies are based in Orange County, California. During his professional career he has held VP and Director level positions for Corporate Development, Business Development, and New Product Development with Fortune 500 multinational companies as well as with California based international start-ups.
Professor Randall serves as the Director of the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT) at Concordia University, Irvine. The mission of CELT is to help students and professors use technology in their professions. He has also served as a technology coordinator and as a corporate computer systems trainer. He currently teaches a variety of courses related to technology including Information Technology and Educational Technology. He is also involved in the development of online education at Concordia.
Professor Stick has been an instructor in the undergraduate and the accelerated education programs in the School of Business at CUI for the past 5 years. The courses that he has taught include: Marketing, Advertising and Sales Promotion, Entrepreneurship – New Ventures, Introduction to Business
Professor Van Blarcom has been a practicing California lawyer for 22 years. He has served as general counsel to seven different water districts and to two nonprofit organizations. In that role, he has spent significant time advising governing boards and management staff on general legal matters relating to contracts, finances, personnel, policy and corporate organization. He has provided legal counsel on specific matters involving land use and real estate development, environmental and water related issues. He began teaching at Concordia in 1988. He has also taught law classes at Chapman University.