Martha and Spencer Love School of Business

Experienced Scholars and Managers Who Love to Teach The faculty have earned postgraduate degrees from some of the best business schools in the country and have executive experience with large and small firms as well as manufacturing, service, scientific and financial organizations. Still other faculty members have significant international experience, working as consultants with international firms or teaching abroad.
Mary A. Gowan, Dean, Martha and Spencer Love School of Business Mary Gowan is Dean of the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business and Professor of Management at Elon University. She joined Elon in July 2007 from The George Washington University in Washington, D.C., where she was Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs and Associate Professor of Human Resources Management in the School of Business. Her Ph.D. is in Business Administration from the University of Georgia. Dr. Gowan has held visiting or regular faculty positions at the University of Central Florida, UNC Charlotte, UT El Paso, the University of Maryland, the Helsinki School of Economics, and Mercer University. In addition to teaching courses in organizational behavior and human resources, she has extensive consulting experience with private and public organizations in the areas of leadership, human resource management, and organizational behavior. Clients have included Lockheed Martin, Harris Teeter, BDO Seidman LLP, Marriott Vacation Clubs International, Sears Home Improvement Center, and the cities of Charlotte, NC, and El Paso, TX. Her research focuses on corporate reputation and career transitions. She is the co-author of Human Resource Management: Managing Employees for Competitive Advantage. Dr. Gowan is a member of the Society for Human Resource Management Foundation Board and the Alamance Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors.
Cassandra DiRienzo, associate dean of the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business and associate professor of economics, received a bachelor's degree in economics from Ohio State University, and master's and doctorate degrees in economics from North Carolina State University. Her research interests include economic and business applications of nonparametric, spatial and multivariate statistics, econometrics and statistical forecasting.
John J. Burbridge, Jr. Professor of Business Administration Dr. Burbridge is a professor of business administration and previously served as dean of the business school from 1996 to 2007. Under his leadership, the school achieved accreditation by AACSB International - the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business in 2004, and moved into its new facility, the Ernest A. Koury Sr. Business Center. Before coming to Elon, Burbridge worked extensively in both industry and higher education. Between 1988 and 1992, he served as director of the David D. Lattanze Center for Executive Studies in Information Systems at Loyola College in Maryland. Between 1992 and 1995, Burbridge was Associate Dean of the Sellinger School and was responsible for executive and graduate programs in business. Burbridge received a B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. from Lehigh University.
William Burpitt Professor of Business Administration and Director of Executive Education and Chair of the MBA Program, Martha and Spencer Love School of Business William J. Burpitt, associate professor of business administration, has been a television producer and director and radio station manager. He received a bachelor's degree from the University of Georgia, and a doctorate from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He taught at Peace College and Meredith College before coming to Elon. At Meredith, he served as the MBA Director. During the past three years, he has either published or had accepted for publication eight refereed journal articles.
Judy Dulberg MBA Program Coordinator, Martha and Spencer Love School of Business Judy Dulberg is the MBA Program Coordinator, handling all administrative aspects of the program. She is the main contact and advisor for MBA students, answering questions and communicating program information. She is also the program liaison for the MBA Student-Advisory Association. Judy received her bachelor’s degree in accounting from Pennsylvania State University.
James L. Barbour, associate professor of economics, served as head of the Division of Business on the Alexandria campus of Louisiana State University before coming to Elon in 1990. He has also taught at the University of Kentucky and Transylvania University. He has worked as a consultant in forensic economics and as an economic researcher for the Kentucky Energy Cabinet. He has taught a Winter Term course on the European Union. His academic interests include distributional ethics, particularly in Russia, and economic pedagogy. He received bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees from the University of Kentucky.
Christina C. Benson, assistant professor of business law, received a bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, as well as a juris doctorate with honors from the UNC School of Law and an MBA from Kenan-Flagler Business School at UNC Chapel Hill. Prior to arriving at Elon, she practiced law for 10 years with several major law firms in Washington, D.C. (including White & Case LLP, Hunton & Williams LLP and Arent Fox PLLC), where she specialized in international trade and cross-border business transactions. Benson also has served in the rules division of the World Trade Organization Secretariat (WTO) in Geneva, and has advised numerous foreign government ministries in their free trade agreement negotiations with the United States. Her research interests include international trade and investment agreements, international dispute resolution, sustainable business initiatives, business ethics, and economic development incentives.
Scott Buechler, associate professor of management, returns to full-time teaching after serving as the Love School of Business associate dean since January 2003. Dr. Buechler has directed MBA programs at the University of Illinois and the University of Tennessee, programs that are characterized by emphasis on integrated curriculum and experiential learning. Before joining the Love School, Dr. Buechler was a project manager for Educational Benchmarking, Inc., a company specializing in assessment of professional programs, where he has responsibility for product lines in professional education, including management, engineering, nursing and teacher education. He holds an MBA from the University of Tennessee and a Ph.D in English from the University of Utah. He has been on the faculty of Virginia Tech and Radford University, and has held management positions at Martin Marietta Corporation, now Lockheed Martin.
Arthur Cassill, professor of accounting, is chair of the accounting and finance department at Elon. He received bachelor's and master's degrees from Eastern Kentucky University, and a doctorate from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. He is a certified CPA in Ohio and North Carolina. Previously, he taught at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He has contributed a significant amount of scholarly work in the area of taxation.
Patty Cox , assistant professor of accounting, came to Elon in 1987. She is a certified CPA in the state of North Carolina. Prior to coming to Elon, she worked as an auditor for a CPA firm. She received her bachelor's and master's degrees in accounting from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Jayoti "Tina" Das , associate professor of economics, teaches in the undergraduate and MBA programs. Her academic interests include international trade and finance and industrial organization. Her research interests include intellectual property rights and product quality issues in an international context. She received bachelor's and master's degrees from Presidency College in Calcutta, India, and her master's degree and doctorate from the University of Cincinnati. She taught at Marquette University and Kenyon College before joining Elon in 1996.
Stephen B. DeLoach , Stephen B. DeLoach, associate professor of economics and chair of the economics department, joined the Elon faculty in 1996. He has published research in the areas of macroeconomics and international finance. His research focuses on issues facing transitional economies and the teaching of economics. He received a bachelor's degree from the University of Nebraska and a master's and doctorate from Michigan State University. He taught in the Ukraine for one year.
Lawrence L. Garber Jr., associate professor of business administration, holds a doctorate from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a master’s degree from Yale University and a bachelor's degree from Brown University. His research interests include visual persuasion, branding, marketing communication, nonprofit and arts marketing, marketing education, and the graphical presentation of statistical data. Before coming to Elon, he served as senior analyst in marketing sciences at Glaxo Pharmaceuticals (now GlaxoSmithKline) and BBDO Advertising, and worked as a freelance illustrator in New York City. He has published articles in several professional journals. He previously taught at Appalachian State University and the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.
Neeraj J. Gupta, assistant professor of finance, has a doctorate in finance from the University of Connecticut. He received a bachelor's degree in engineering from the University of Delhi and an MBA from Babson College. He has over ten years of finance experience in Asia, Europe, North and South America, having worked for Nestlé, Xerox, and Claridges Investments (a boutique asset management firm). His research interests are in investments, corporate finance, and international finance.
Sharon K. Hodge , assistant professor of business administration, has held management positions and done consulting work. She has also been involved as an events manager in the catering industry and is currently involved with the Elon Enterprise Academy initiative. She received bachelor's and master's degrees from Old Dominion University and a doctorate from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Earl Honeycutt Jr. , professor of marketing, served in the U.S. Air Force as a B-52 flight officer after receiving a bachelor's degree from Appalachian State University. He earned master's degrees from Chapman University and Appalachian State University, and a Ph.D. from the University of Georgia. Dr. Honeycutt was chair of the department of business administration and director of the Ph.D. program in business administration at Old Dominion University before coming to Elon. He has more than 60 refereed publications, including journal articles, books and book chapters in the areas of sales management, B2B marketing, global marketing and marketing education. Dr. Honeycutt regularly leads study abroad groups to Europe and Asia. He has taught at Kitakyushu University in Japan and the University of San Carlos in the Philippines. Dr. Honeycutt is associate editor of Industrial Marketing Management and he serves on the editorial review boards of Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management and Journal of Sales and Major Account Management. His fourth book, Sales Management: Shaping Future Sales Leaders, was released by Pearson Prentice Hall in November 2008. Dr. Honeycutt received Elon's Distinguished Scholar Award for the 2007-2008 academic year.
Gregory A. Lilly, Gregory A. Lilly, associate professor of economics, taught at Wake Forest University before joining the Elon faculty in 1990. His areas of interest include bounded rationality, experimental economics, exploratory data analysis and assessment of student learning. He received a bachelor's degree from Washington and Lee University and a doctorate from Duke University.
Susan L. Manring , associate professor of business administration, spent 20 years as an organizational consultant before joining the Elon faculty in 1996. Her areas of interest include large-scale systems change, organizational learning, high-performance teams and contingency models of leadership. A major focus of her research, consulting and published work involves the motivation, retention and productivity of technical professionals. She has a bachelor's degree from Ohio State University, a master's degree from Kent State University and a doctorate from Case Western Reserve University.
Calvert "Buck" McGregor , associate professor of accounting, was a senior accountant on the audit staff of a global accounting firm and later worked as the audit partner in a smaller firm before becoming an educator. His interests include the analysis of cost behavior, professional ethics, organizational-professional conflicts and the factors that make students attractive to employers. He has conducted several review programs to help candidates prepare for professional certification exams. Buck received his doctorate from Virginia Tech and has been teaching in Elon's bachelor of science in accounting and MBA programs since 1990. He is a certified public accountant and a member of the American Institute of CPAs.
Brian Nienhaus , associate professor of business administration, received a doctorate from the University of Michigan. His academic interests are in business and managerial communication, and his primary research interest is in the development and measurement of human capital resources. He has taught a Winter Term course on the history of Mayan commerce in the Yucatan peninsula. Before coming to Elon, he held management positions in the music industry and with English language instruction agencies in Valencia, Spain.
David Noer , Frank S. Holt, Jr. Professor of Business Leadership and professor of business administration, is President of Noer Consulting, Inc. in Greensboro. He has been the senior vice president for both the Center for Creative Leadership and the Commercial Credit Company. He is recognized as a leading authority on downsizing. He received a bachelor's degree from Gustavus Adolphus College, a master's degree from Pepperdine University and a doctorate from George Washington University.
Kevin J. O'Mara is a professor of business administration. His primary teaching responsibilities are in the areas of strategy and process technology management. His research interest is mass customization. He recently taught in London for a semester. Before entering academia, he worked as an operations analyst for a major oil exploration company in Houston. He has an MBA from the University of Houston and a Ph.D. from North Carolina State University. He also holds the Certified Management Accountant designation.
Robert M. Pavlik, Associate Professor of Finance, worked in the securities industry for fifteen years. Since joining academia, he has published numerous articles in finance and served as a referee for three finance journals. His research interests include share marketability, initial public offerings, and employee stock options. He selected the data streams and services available in the Reed Finance Center and currently serves as its director. Before coming to Elon he taught at California State Fullerton and Texas State University at San Marcos. He has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago and a master’s degree, and PhD from the University of Houston.
Jennifer Platania , assistant professor of economics, received a bachelor's degree from West Virginia University and master's and doctoral degrees from Florida State University. She taught at the University of West Florida before coming to Elon.
Linda L. Poulson associate professor of accounting, teaches and conducts research in financial accounting and taxation. She has taught at Regis University in Denver and St. Louis University. A licensed CPA, she has extensive Big 5 public accounting experience with Pricewaterhouse Coopers and Ernst & Young. She also managed her own accounting practice for several years before entering academia. She is a member of the American Institute of CPAs, the American Accounting Association and the Colorado Society of CPAs. She has a bachelor of science and a master of taxation degree from the University of Denver and a doctorate from St. Louis University.
Douglas B. Redington , associate professor of economics, came to Elon in 1995 after teaching at Colgate University, Virginia Commonwealth University, and Franklin and Marshall College. His main fields of interest are environmental economics and applied econometrics. He received his bachelor's and master's degrees from Indiana University, and a doctorate from the University of Wyoming.
Tonya Riney , lecturer of business administration, served as a business professional for 10 years before returning to academia to seek a masters in communication studies from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Her concentration is in workplace communication: her work developing nonprofit, welfare-to-work programs highlighted the discrepancies and disadvantages of "non-natives" working with business English and the nonverbal behaviors predominant in the business culture. Ms. Riney taught communication studies at UNCG for four years before being hired as a lecturer at Elon's Love School of Business, where she has been teaching business communication since 2004.

Elizabeth "Betsy" Stevens is associate professor of business administration and chair of the business administration department. Her academic interests are business and management communication, business ethics, international communication and hospitality management. An active researcher, she has published more than 20 articles in journals such as the Journal of Business Communication, Business Communication Quarterly and the Journal of Business Ethics. She earned her bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Cincinnati and a doctorate from Wayne State University. As a Fulbright Scholar, she taught university classes in Tomsk, Russia, and has been on the faculty of the Australian International Hotel School in Canberra, Australia.
Richard "Barth" Strempek , Doherty Professor of Entrepreneurial leadership and associate professor of business administration, held executive positions with major transportation, consulting and information technology companies for 15 years before coming to Elon. He served as director of corporate planning for CSX Corp. His areas of academic interest include entrepreneurship, strategic management and leadership. He has a bachelor's degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He earned an MBA from Harvard Graduate School of Business and a doctorate from Virginia Tech.
Wonhi Synn , professor of finance, teaches corporate finance and investment in the undergraduate and graduate programs. His areas of academic interest include enterprise valuation, performance evaluation, market innovations, and business education. He has recently published articles on government sponsored enterprises(GSEs), online stock trading, bankruptcy prediction, and various business curriculum and pedagogical issues. He taught winter term courses on global markets in London and in China/Hong Kong. He received a bachelor's degree from Seoul National University, an MBA from University of New Orleans, and a Ph.D. from University at Buffalo, The State University of New York.
Thomas K. Tiemann is Elon's Jefferson-Pilot Professor of Economics. His research interests include urban economies and the effects of market structure on economic performance. He has served as director of Elon's General Studies program and teaches a Winter Term course in Central Europe on emerging economies. He has a bachelor's degree from Dartmouth College and a doctorate from Vanderbilt University.
Matthew Valle , professor of management, is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy and former Air Force pilot. He received an M.S. in Operations Management from the University of Arkansas, an M.B.A. from the University of Massachusetts, and a Ph.D. in Business Administration from Florida State University. He has more than 60 refereed publications in journals such as Human Relations, the Journal of Managerial Issues, the Journal of Management Inquiry, the Journal of Social Psychology and the Journal of Management Research. He has consulted with Boeing, Raytheon, Bombardier Aerospace/Learjet, Gates Rubber Co. and Conagra. His research interests include organizational politics and political perceptions, leadership and process design issues.
Alexander Y. Yap , associate professor of business administration, has held several positions in the House of Representatives Secretariat in the Congress of the Philippines. He received a bachelor's degree from the University of the Philippines, master's degrees from Williams College and the University of Exeter and a doctorate from the Copenhagen Business School. He taught previously at Virginia Commonwealth University. His research and publications focus on e-commerce activities.