To help students succeed in an increasingly global marketplace, Penn State Behrend has assembled an exceptional faculty with business experience in nearly every part of the industrialized world. Educated at leading universities, Penn State Behrend faculty members value high-quality teaching and research. To further ensure excellent instruction, almost all MBA classes are taught by full-time faculty.

Syed Saad Andaleeb, Ph.D., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Marketing management and strategy, marketing research methods, service quality and service delivery, international marketing, inter-organizational exchange behavior, social marketing.  Professor Andaleeb was the recipient of the Penn State Behrend Council of Fellows Excellence in Research Award, the Council of Fellows Faculty Outreach Award, and a Fulbright Fellowship.  He has published widely and completed numerous consulting studies for local and international organizations including the Ministry of Education in Bangladesh, The World Bank, America's Blood Centers, Tom Ridge-Erie International Airport, and United Way of Erie.  He was named to the roster of experts for the World Bank, United Nation Fund for Population Activities, and Council for International Exchange of Scholars.  He is also the Editor of the Journal of Bangladesh Studies.

Dr. Pelin Bicen, Assistant Professor of Marketing, Ph.D., Texas Tech University (2009): Dr. Bicen’s research interests include marketing strategy (e.g., competition, market orientation, resource advantage theory), innovation management, macro marketing, marketing education, and methodology. Her teaching interests include marketing strategy, marketing research, international marketing, business to business marketing, new product development, marketing theory, integrated marketing communications (IMC), and macro marketing. Before joining the academia, Dr. Bicen worked as a database admin and statistical consultant for a top tier international advertising agency.

Dr. Ozgun Caliskan-Demirag, Assistant Professor of Management, Ph.D., Georgia Institute of Technology (2007). Research interests include the role of promotions in demand management for supply chains, developing models to control logistics and transportations systems, as well as modeling to control decentralized systems. She has also researched and published on the effects of customer rebate and retailer incentives

Dr. Michael Chuang, Assistant Professor of Management, Ph.D., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2006). Dr. Chuang’s research interests group decision and collaboration processes, the social, cognitive, and cultural issues n project management, technology performance and communication quality as well as technology systems for high risk projects. Teaching interests center on global project management, new product development, and human issues in project management. Dr. Chuang has previously worked with the Taiwan Area National Expressway Engineering Bureau.

Brian Boscaljon, Ph.D., Texas Tech University.  Investments, portfolio theory, and corporate finance.  Research studies are focused within the investments and portfolio theory area.  Current projects include common stock price reactions to various events, diversification, and asset allocation models.   Dr. Boscaljon obtained the Charter Financial Analyst (CFA) designation and uses his knowledge in this area to incorporate practical applications as well as theory into the classroom discussions.  He has work experience as a financial analyst for Comerica Bank and has also been involved in several consulting projects for Johnson Control Interior Systems World Wide, a private endowment fund, and Kaplan, Inc. 

Charles A. Brown, Ph.D., CPA, Kent State University.  Financial and managerial accounting, cost accounting, cost management, auditing.  As a doctoral student, Dr. Brown received Kent State University's Graduate Student Senate Teaching Award.  He has had professional auditing experience with a regional CPA firm in Ohio.  Audit experience includes real estate developers, steel fabrication companies, thoroughbred horse racing tracks, and not-for-profit organizations.  He is the President-Elect for the Erie Chapter of the Institute of Management Accountants.

Michael E. Brown, Ph.D., Penn State University.  Ethics, organizational behavior, leadership, ethical leadership.  Professor Brown has received the Graduate Assistant Award for Outstanding Teaching and has also received the Center for Creative Leadership Kenneth Clark Research Award.  He received the Best Paper Award, Social Issues in Management Division, at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting.  He has done research and consulting for numerous companies and has done research work for the Ethics Resource Center in Washington, DC.

Ashutosh V. Deshmukh, Ph.D., University of Memphis.  Assurance services, accounting information systems, and financial electronic commerce.  Professor Deshmukh has previous industry experience as an audit manager, management accountant, and systems consultant.  He has worked with leading ERP systems such as SAP R/3 and Oracle.  Due to his research in financial statement fraud, he was invited as an expert witness by the U.S. House of Representatives. 

David T. Doran, Ph.D., C.P.A., University of Pittsburgh.  Market-based research studies, analysis of the accuracy of analysts' earnings forecasts, CPA education licensure requirements, and applied managerial/cost accounting.  Professor Doran has previous professional work experience as a staff member of Coopers & Lybrand and consulting experience with plastics companies and other manufacturers.

James F. Fairbank, Ph.D., Penn State University.  Strategic management and entrepreneurship.  Dr. Fairbank has received teaching awards at both West Virginia University and Penn State University.  He was a U.S. Naval officer and has previous professional work experience as a marketing engineer at Texas Instruments, Inc., and as a business development manager at Eldyne, Inc.  Dr. Fairbank is a member of Beta Gamma Sigma and the Academy of Management.

Greg Filbeck, DBA, CFA, FRM, PRM, University of Kentucky. Investments, portfolio theory, and corporate finance. Research studies are focused within the investments, portfolio management, and behavioral finance areas. In addition to ten years experience in academia, he has seven years experience as Senior Vice-President of Schweser, a division of Kaplan, Inc. where he headed the content and curriculum areas and started and lead marketing and sales areas.

Eric C. Jackson, Ph.D., Michigan State University - Eric has sixteen years of industrial experience including twelve years as the technical director of a specialty chemical company. His experience includes product development, plant design and operations. He designed and brought into operation plants in several states and has extensive experience in Europe and the Orient. His research interests focus on the utilization of quality as a strategic tool and include an interest in Chaos and Complexity theory as applied to business and economics.  He also holds a Certificate of Graduate Studies in Complex Dynamic Systems from the University of Michigan.

William H. A. Johnson, Associate Professor of Management

Ph.D., Schulich School of Business, York University (2000):  Research and teaching interests include innovation, strategy and international management.  His research interests include international practices of New Product Development (NPD) and innovation in China.  Dr. Johnson created the NPD&PM tract at the Decision Sciences Institute (DSI) in 2005.  He has consulted pharmaceutical companies and the National Research Council in Canada and has published in a number of respected research journals on innovation and knowledge management.

Kerry A. King, Ph.D., West Virginia University. Public economics, regional and urban economics, managerial economics, and the economics of education. She serves as a research associate for the Economic Research Institute of Erie.

Sanjay Kumar, Instructor in Management.  Ph.D. Candidate, University of Texas at Dallas. Research interests include risk management in supply chains, simulation-optimization, metaheuristics methods for supply chain applications, and scheduling of large scale systems. He teaches in the areas of supply chain management, logistics, operations management, and quantitative methods. He has consulting experience with many organizations and industries including Homeland Security department, Space Research, European Space Agency, European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company, Electronic Data Systems, Defense Research, Aeronautics, and Xerox. He also had full time positions with Space and Defense research organizations.

James A. Kurre, Ph.D., Wayne State University.  Regional economics, economic development, microeconomics, philanthropy.  Professor Kurre received the Penn State Behrend Council of Fellows Excellence in Teaching Award in 1982 and 1986 and the Guy W. Wilson Award for Excellence in Advising in 1990.  He has consulted or performed funded research for the Erie Conference on Community Development, the Erie Community Foundation, United Way of Erie County, GTE-North, the Pennsylvania Department of Commerce, and the Center for Rural Pennsylvania.

Kenneth K. T. Louie, Ph.D., University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign.  International trade and finance, labor economics, economic development.  Professor Louie has received the Penn State Behrend Council of Fellows Award for Excellence in Teaching and the Guy W. Wilson Award for Excellence in Advising, and was a Fulbright Lecturer in the People's Republic of China in 1998.  He has consulted for GTE.

John M. Magenau, Ph.D., Director of the Black School of Business, State University of New York at Buffalo.  Dr. Magenau's research and teaching interests are in the area of negotiation.  He serves as a trustee of Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine, a board member and secretary of the Center for eBusiness and  Advanced Information Technology, and board president for the Enterprise Development Center of Erie County.

Todd M. Nesbit, Ph.D., West Virginia University. Micro- and macro-economics, business statistics, econometrics, business forecasting, entrepreneurship, public economics with emphasis on taxation, and sports economics. Dr. Nesbit is a research associate for the Economics Research Institute of Erie.

Phylis M. Mansfield, Ph.D., The University of Memphis.  Consumer satisfaction, consumer complaint behavior, ethical and social issues in marketing, and corporate culture.  Professor Mansfield received the Distinguished Paper Award for the Marketing Management Association in 2002.  She has worked as a business analyst and product manager for First Kentucky National Corporation and Sun Trust Bank and as a manager of financial systems education for Vanderbilt University and Medical Center.

Ido Millet, Ph.D., The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.  Dr. Millet has served as a systems analyst, project manager, and consultant to companies such as the Israeli Navy, Fidelity Bank, Yael Software and Systems, Liberty Mutual, and Petroleum Products Corporation.  His research interests include the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), reporting systems, and online reverse auctions.  He developed several software tools (www.MilletSoftware.com) that are currently in use by more than 270 organizations.

Diane H. Parente, Ph.D., State University of New York at Buffalo.  Functional and business-level strategy and business simulations, strategic management, international business.  Professor Parente received the School of Management Excellence in Teaching Commendation in 1996 as a visiting assistant professor.  She has worked in manufacturing, banking, and insurance, most recently as international business manager with Oxychem.  She also has consulted for small and medium-size companies in manufacturing, professional sports, health care, distribution, and contracting services.

Jeffrey K. Pinto, Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh.  Project management, information systems implementation, power and political processes in organizations, diffusion of innovations.  Professor Pinto teaches project management, organizational behavior, and organization theory.  He is the Samuel A. and Elizabeth B. Breene Professor of Management.  He is a two-time recipient of the Project Management Institute's Distinguished Contribution Award and has also received the Penn State Behrend Council of Fellows Research Award.  He has consulted for numerous corporate clients, including General Electric, Rolls-Royce Corporation, PPG Industries, Aker Rauma Offshore (Finland), Data General Corporation, Erie Press Systems, Repola Oy (Finland), and Zurn Industries.  He is the author or editor of 18 books and has developed Penn State's Master in Project Management program.

Mary Beth Pinto, Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh.  Consumer credit behavior, health care marketing, pharmaceutical marketing, advertising.  Professor Pinto has industry experience as an account executive with Illinois Bell and manager of professional services with the Dr. Gertrude A. Barber Center.  Dr. Pinto has over fifteen years of teaching experience.  She has done funded research for St. Vincent Medical Group and has served as a consultant for the Dr. Gertrude A. Barber Center, Erie Day School, MedRisk, James W. Sewall Company, E. C. Hart and Sons, and the Coalition for Maine's Children.

Matthew E. Swinarski, Ph.D., State University of New York at Buffalo.  Information systems and technology (ITS) outsourcing, IT service provider capabilities, IT service contact and relationship management, IT service level agreements (SLAs).  Dr. Swinarski's research, part of a larger project in the area of ITS outsourcing, has been funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). He has served as Issue Managing Editor for the Journal of Information Technology Theory and Application (JITTA) and as Editor-in-Chief of INFORMS OR/MS Tomorrow Newsletter.  Dr. Swinarski has worked as an IT consultant for Perfect Fit Glove Co., LLC, a division of Bacou-Dalloz, customizing and developing applications and was the lead technology advisor for the Year 2000 and EDI projects.

Peg Thoms, Ph.D., The Ohio State University. Leadership, organizational vision, leadership development, self-managed work teams, human resources management.  Dr. Thoms has received the Professor of the Year Award for Best Core Course in the Penn State Behrend MBA program, the Walter F. Ulmer Jr. Award for Applied Research in Leadership from the Center for Creative Leadership, and the paper of the year award from The Project Management Journal.  She has industry experience as a Human Resource manager.  She has consulted for numerous organizations including National City Bank, Columbus Arts Council, Millcreek Community Health Systems, Nationwide Insurance, American Ambulance Company, GTE, General Electric, Vacuform Industries, and Peer Review Systems.

Ray Venkataraman, Ph.D., Illinois Institute of Technology.  Operations planning and control, supply-chain management, operations strategy, purchasing, business statistics, project management.  Professor Venkataraman has over 20 years of teaching experience and has received the Ideal Industries Award for Excellence in Business Teaching at Northern Illinois University.  He has several research publications in top-tier Operations Management journals.  He also has five years of previous industry experience as an Assistant Manager with a multinational bank in India.

James A. Voss, M.B.A., University of Pittsburgh; Mag. art., University of Bergen. CPA. Income tax, financial accounting, entrepreneurship.  Professor Voss maintains an active practice as a certified public accountant and has consulted for many small businesses.

Alfred G. Warner, Ph.D., Director of the MBA Program. Ohio State University. Business policy and strategy, innovation management. Dr. Warner's research focuses on the effect of innovation on firm competitiveness and technology sourcing and governance choices. He has prior experience with a number of manufacturing firms including Butler Manufacturing and Holophane Lighting. Professor Warner has consulted with several startup firms and with Q-Multimedia, a subsidiary of WQLN public broadcasting in Erie.

Dr. Jerod Wilkerson, Assistant Professor of Management Information Systems, Ph.D., University of Arizona (2008): Research and teaching interests include Software Engineering, Software Development Methodologies, Software Design Patterns, System Architecture, Object-Oriented Analysis and Design, Programming Languages, Project Management, Business Intelligence, and Heuristic Search Algorithms. Dr. Wilkerson has previous industry experience as a consultant for state and federal government agencies (including the US Department of Defense and the State of Utah) and several large and mid-sized businesses. He worked in industry for ten years, primarily as a consultant, before returning to school to earn his Ph.D. During his last four years in industry, he founded and served as the President of The Object Center—a consulting and training company focused on object technology and web development.

Xin (Jessica) Zhao, Ph.D., State University of New York at Buffalo.  Market microstructure, investment, and corporate finance.  Research studies are focused within market microstructure and IPO area. Professor Zhao has received the A. James Boness Research Paper Award in the field of Finance for year 2002-2003 by State University of New York at Buffalo.  She has worked for Da Hua CPA and taken part in several funded projects in China.