University of Michigan-Flint

Lee Berry has been active in the music industry in southeastern Michigan for over thirty years. He was a co-founder of Eclipse Jazz in the mid-70s, and presented such luminaries as Dizzy Gillespie, Charles Mingus and Ella Fitzgerald. He helped to launch Prism Productions in 1980, leading it from start-up into one of Michigan’s top music promotion firms, before selling to the market leader in 2000. There he presented shows by dozens of major artists (David Bowie, Bob Dylan, Bonnie Raitt, etc.) but he specialized in discovering new artists and developing them into major headliners, including REM, The Cure, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Nine Inch Nails and Phish.

He sold Prism in 2000 and joined Olympia Entertainment in Detroit as Senior Director of Marketing, overseeing advertising, public relations, and new media activities for all non-sports events at the Fox Theater, Joe Louis Arena, Cobo Arena and Comerica Park.

He came to the Michigan Theater in 2004 as Marketing Director, adding Director of Development duties in 2005. In 2008 he became Chief Operating Officer. He holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan and an MBA from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.

Thomas J. Blasen, JD, LLM, co-founder of the Zebra Network, Llc, received his Juris Doctor from the Thomas M. Cooley Law School and received his Master of Laws in Taxation at Wayne State University Law School. Tom is past Founder and President of Cambridge Group Investments, Ltd., as well as Blasen Brogan Asset Management. A serial entrepreneur, with extensive financial industry experience, Mr. Blasen has successfully developed and marketed businesses using online technology. His innovative creation, bondpage.com, was named by Barron's as one of the top online providers of fixed-income securities and was acquired in 2007 by J.W. Korth, www.shop4bonds.com .

Francine Cullari is a practicing attorney in the area of business formation and consultation, real estate, land use planning, and estate planning. She teaches Business Law and International Business Law at the University of Michigan - Flint. She has a Bachelor's degree in Chemistry and Sociology, a Masters in Planning, a Masters in Business Administration, a Juris Doctoris degree, and is a LL.M. candidate in International Business Law.

Francine has been awarded the George M. Bashara, Jr. Distinguished Alumni Award from her law school and a Chamber of Commerce Athena Award, among numerous awards. She has served on the State Bar Board of Commissioners, Representative Assembly, and several committees. She has been the president of the Genesee County Bar Association, chairperson of a township planning commission, and board and committee member of several community organizations, including strategic planning for four organizations.

In his forty years of business experience, Don Davis' passion for business continues to grow and he now enjoys helping others succeed in their businesses. He has developed a business strategy which involves enthusiasm, flexibility, and a willingness to change and adapt. He has the business philosophy that your business must change with the times through creativity, uniqueness and constantly staying current with the latest business trends.

Mr. Davis learned the art of entrepreneurship from his personal experience of owning several businesses for most of his life. At thirteen years old, he started his first business in lawn and gardening service. Thereafter, he started a lighting company at age seventeen. In his early twenties, Don became interested in alternative energy sources and decided to start his current business, Heat'n Sweep, which Mr. Davis has owned and operated since 1977. Since then, Mr. Davis has owned several other businesses, including a jet ski distributorship in the Caribbean, and has done business consulting for many years. Currently, Mr. Davis focuses his time on continuing to grow Heat'n Sweep which is a fireplace, spa, patio and outdoor living business.

Mr. Davis has been on several boards within the hearth, patio and barbeque industry. He served as President of the Williamston Chamber of Commerce for four years and has volunteered in the community over the years, such as helping young entrepreneurs in Junior Achievement. Mr. Davis has been featured in several publications, including Hearth & Home, and has been highlighted as an exemplary business leader in the Lansing Business Monthly.

Dr. Denison is also Professor of Management and Organization at IMD in Lausanne Switzerland. Previously, Dr. Denison was an Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management at the University of Michigan Business School. Professor Denison has taught and lived in Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East.

He received his Bachelors degree from Albion College in Psychology, Sociology, and Anthropology and his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in Organizational Psychology.

He has written several books, including Corporate Culture and Organizational Effectiveness, published by John Wiley in 1990. He has recently published the Denison Organizational Culture Survey and the Denison Leadership Development Survey based on this research. These surveys and the underlying models have been used by over 500 organizations. His writings have appeared in a number of leading journals including The Academy of Management Journal, The Academy of Management Review, Organization Science, Organizational Dynamics, The Journal of Organizational Behavior, Human Resource Management, and Policy Studies Review.

Dr. Denison's research, teaching and consulting focuses on organizational culture and the impact that it has on the performance and effectiveness of organizations.

He is currently involved in a large study of the impact of enterprise software systems on organizations and has done extensive research, teaching, and consulting on topics such as organizational change, leadership development, organizational design and product development.

Julius H. Giarmarco, Esq. is a partner and heads up the firm's Trusts and Estates Practice Group. Julius received his law degree (J.D.) from Wayne State University, and his master of laws (LL.M.) from New York University. His primary practice areas include estate planning, business succession planning, and wealth transfer planning.

Julius lectures frequently on a national basis, including speeches before the American Law Institute - American Bar Association (ALI-ABA) and numerous life insurance companies, brokerage firms and trade associations. Julius has published a number of articles on estate planning appearing in professional journals and is the author of the chapters on business succession planning in Advising Closely Held Businesses in Michigan and The Michigan Business Formbook published by the Institute of Continuing Legal Education (ICLE). He has also been selected by his peers as a Michigan "Super Lawyer" in estate planning.

Ken is a successful entrepreneur with more than 20 years of experience building businesses related to mobile computing, wireless communications, software and semiconductors. Prior to Ubidyne, Ken was CEO of NemeriX SA (Switzerland), where his team set the world record for low power GPS chipsets. Ken also founded iGo, an electronic device accessory firm, and led the company through seven consecutive years of more than 100% annual sales growth. iGo completed a successful NASDAQ IPO in 1999 and was later sold to Mobility Electronics. Ken's high-tech career also includes senior management positions at Venture Manufacturing Singapore (IPO on the SESDAQ in 1992), and Silicon Systems, Inc., the market leader in disk drive semiconductors (acquired by TDK in 1988). He recently served on the board of directors of Transactional Smartware that was successfully sold to Commercialware in 2002 and he currently serves on the board of advisors of NemeriX. Ken earned an MBA from Stanford University and a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Michigan.

Dr. John A. Helmuth is Professor of Finance at the School of Management at the University of Michigan-Flint. He has also served as the Dean of the School of Management. Professor Helmuth is an experienced teacher who blends an exciting combination of his considerable academic record along with his consulting experiences that emphasize creating value for the firm. He is the author of numerous academic articles on such topics as corporate finance, market efficiency, and regulation. He has also served on the editorial board on numerous professional academic journals, and he has served as the President and Vice President of the New York State Economics Association. Professor Helmuth has been a consultant for both the private and public sector. He has 20 years of experience in teaching executive education and even longer in premier graduate education. Professor Helmuth received his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of South Carolina. He did his post-doctoral work in Finance at the University of Rochester. His academic administrative accomplishments are numerous, with innovative curriculum programs, international initiatives, and building relationships with the business community as hallmarks of his work.

Professor Thomas A. Hemphill, assistant professor of strategy, innovation, and public policy, School of Management, University of Michigan-Flint, received his Ph.D. in Business Administration, Primary Field: Strategic Management and Public Policy (including Technology, Innovation and Entrepreneurship) from the Department of Strategic Management and Public Policy, School of Business, The George Washington University, in August 2005. Professor Hemphill previously worked as a financial analyst for the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, Division of Finance, where he was responsible for performing financial analyses and making recommendations regarding business loan (up to $500,000) and loan guarantee (up to $1,000,000) applications. He also worked as a business development consultant for STIA Systems and Associates in Newark, New Jersey, where he interviewed and selected candidates nominated for the company’s Entrepreneurial Training Program; taught accounting, finance, and law for entrepreneurs; and counseled participants in business planning and loan packaging. Professor Hemphill previously taught U.S. Small Business Administration affiliated Business Start-Up workshops and a Business Planning seminar for entrepreneurs at Mercer County Community College in New Jersey.

Professor Kandogan received his Ph.D. (Economics) from the University of Michigan in 2001. He has taught economics classes at the University of Michigan as well as University of Notre Dame. He is currently the Associate Dean of the School of Management at the University of Michigan-Flint, and associate professor of international business. He is also a research fellow at the Center for Russian and East European Studies of the University of Michigan, and frequent contributor to William Davidson Institute working paper series of Ross Business School at the University of Michigan. His research has been primarily on the international trade of East European countries, political economy of the European Union, immigration and trade, and role of culture on trade. He has publications at the Review of International Economics, Journal of International Trade and Economic Development, Journal of Applied Economics, Review of European Economic Policy, East European Economics, Comparative Economic Studies, Applied Economics, Journal of Economic Integration, Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Emerging Markets Review, Applied Economics Letters, Review of World Economy, and Journal of Business Ethics.

Dr. "Peeth" Kartha is the David M. French Professor of Quantitative Methods at the School of Management University of Michigan - Flint. He has taught and conducted research at several universities including the University of Notre Dame, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the University of Toyko and Toikai University - Japan, the Madrid Business School - Spain, and the Indian Institute of Management - Bangalore, India.

His research interests include statistics, management science, operations management, experimental designs, Taguchi methods, statistical quality control, with a more recent focus on total quality management and international quality standards. His professional experience has included involvement in community stabilization and revitalization projects as well as training businesses for ISO/QS900 documentation preparation.

Joe Kreder currently is the President of High Stakes Entertainment, LLC as well as Kreder & Associates. HSE owns and produces the HSE Golf Tour, which began in 2007 and aired on the ESPN Network. HSE successfully produced two, profitable TV programs in its first year of existence. HSE has negotiated to play the HSE Golf Tour both internationally and within the USA.

Kreder & Associates partially owns and operates the Watch Dog Media / BarVision Network in the Chicago marketplace. Watch Dog Media is an Out-of-Home digital Network residing in bars and restaurants. Kreder & Associates currently represents VistaLink, Inc., and RCI, Inc. in a sales capacity. VistaLink is the U.S. arm of RCI Industries, a manufacturing, printing / sourcing company located in New York, Hong Kong and China.

Mr. Kreder was Vice President of ABC National Television Sales in New York. There he was responsible for the management of the National Sales organization for the ABC Owned television stations. He has enjoyed 20+ record-setting years in Sales Managemnt within the TV industry.

Joe also consulted for Comcast Cable in the sales area. There he was responsible for the development of a new movie distribution model as well as educating advertisers on the Comcast's New Media platforms.

With over 20 years of experience in direct response and database marketing, Tom Link has consulted with Fortune 500 and small, fast-growing B2B and B2C marketers on effective lead generation, direct marketing strategies, predictive modeling, and CRM. As Managing Partner of Sullivan Direct, Link lead the direct response agency to the Inc. 500 list of fastest growing privately held companies 3 years in a row. He has provided direct marketing services for clients such as LexisNexis, Time Warner, AT&T, Procter & Gamble, Oracle, IBM, ATA Airlines, and Cincinnati Bell, among others. Prior to his agency experience, he directed consumer marketing for several magazine publishers including Time Magazine and Ziff-Davis (PC Magazine) both in the US and Europe. He currently continues to serve clients as direct marketing consultant and recently launched Mercury Leads to provide custom end-to-end lead generation services for B2B companies. Tom is the proud father of two children, enjoys coaching, cycling, and fly-fishing, and is a private pilot.

Dr. McGraw is currently an adjunct professor at the University of Michigan-Flint. Rod previously was the Interim Dean of the School of Management at The University of Michigan Flint for three years. Prior to that Rod was the Director of both the BBA and MBA programs at Flint. He was also an adjunct professor at the Ann Arbor campus.

Rod received his doctorate in management working under the direction of the Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Department at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor while he was employed by the Ford Motor Company. His dissertation was in the field of Executive Education and focused on leadership. His dissertation was the first of some thirty two dissertations that helped validate the Competing Values Model of Leadership under the direction of Dr. Robert E. Quinn, then the Chair of the OBHRM department at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. At the time of his dissertation Rod was the Director of Ford's LEAD program, a joint program with the Executive Education Department of the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor's Business School that targeted 3000 of Ford's middle management group on a global basis. Rod teaches Human Resources, Labor Relations, Organizational Behavior and Strategy subjects. Rod has published articles relating to organizational development and change in publications as the Journal of Human Resources and has consulted to a number of private and public sector organizations. He recently presented and a paper is being published entitled "Ethical Leadership a Management Oxymoron or a Competitive Advantage in Negotiations?"

Rod's thirty year career at Ford included a number of key Human Resources managerial positions such as the Director of the LEAD program, the previously referenced organizational leadership empowerment program for Ford's middle managers, HR manager of Ford's large Cleveland Engine Plants and the Engine Division's Labor Relations Manager. In the later job, he was responsible for negotiating agreements that led to self directed business teams at the Engine Division's plants in Romeo, Dearborn, Lima, Cleveland and Chihuahua, Mexico.

Anthony (Tony) Menyhart is an Indiana native and a graduate of Purdue University. Through the 70's Tony pursued his dream of playing international rugby football and lived for six years in England, Australia and New Zealand. His career choices since have included banking, coaching, teaching and serial entrepreneurship.

Tony has started managed, and sold several companies in the graphic arts field and in commercial real estate. He has consulted for many franchises and has been a franchisee in mobile services.

He worked with the EMU Center for Entrepreneurship for many years. His current civic involvement is with the Ann Arbor Chamber, Rotary, Michigan Rugby and SPARK.

Tony and his English wife, Jocelyn, are active members of the community of Tecumseh, Michigan. They have hosted ten Rotary exchange students and raised three independent children.

Tony especially enjoys a good conversation about business and politics and loves new technology.

Professor Moreland received his Ph.D. (Business Administration) from the University of Cincinnati in 1992. He also has an MBA (Finance) from the University of Cincinnati and a BBA (Accounting) from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. He is a CPA, registered in Michigan and holds a Certificate in Management Accounting (CMA).

Prior to joining the University of Michigan-Flint faculty in 1994, he served on the accounting faculties at Xavier University and Canisius College and worked in public accounting and industry. In addition to his faculty position at UM-Flint, he has served as the SOM Associate Dean (2004 - 2006) and Director of Academic Programs (1999 - 2000). He has taught a wide variety of accounting classes at the graduate and undergraduate level: Financial Accounting and Reporting; Managerial Accounting; Auditing; and Governmental Accounting. He is the recipient of several awards for outstanding teaching.

His research has been primarily on the role of auditing in financial reporting and capital markets, the effects of regulation on auditors and their roles in financial reporting, evaluation of alternative forms of financial reporting, accounting education issues, and development of instructional and pedagogical materials to promote students' critical and integrative thinking about financial reporting and professional accounting.

He has publications in Auditing: A Journal of Practice and Theory, Research in Accounting Regulation, The CPA Journal, Issues in Accounting Education, and other research outlets. And he is a frequent media commentator on issues related to finance and the auto industry.

In October 2007, Sexton was appointed corporate director of strategic communications and planning - a role that encompasses Oakwood's marketing initiatives and campaigns, communication vehicles, market data analysis and certificate of need regulations. Together with Oakwood executive leadership, Sexton has supported the development of Oakwood's recently launched Mission, Vision and Values initiative.

Sexton received his masters of business administration from the University of Michigan - Flint in 2007, a masters of arts from Ohio State University in 1997 and a bachelor of arts degree from Wabash College in Indiana. Sexton is a Rhodes scholar finalist and a resident of Saline, MI. He has been with OHI since 2000.

For more than 25 years, Vince served as the CFO of a diversified holding company with operations in manufacturing, distribution, service businesses as well as real estate and other investments. These enterprises ranged from early to mid-life stage businesses. During this period, he worked with the management of these diverse businesses to improve the value of the various enterprises. He was also managed or was involved in numerous transactions, totaling fifty or more, related to the various businesses including acquisitions, disposals, financing as well as public stock offerings. His extensive corporate financial background, training, and knowledge of the public and private capital markets has prepared him to offer specialized planning services to business owners. Vince works with business owners to develop strategies to grow and prepare their business for a successful realization of the value created.

Vince is has been a Certified Public Accountant since 1974. He has served on the boards of three public corporations and has a practice providing business valuation services as well as financial consulting. Other areas of practice are exit planning consulting and performing Cost Segregation Studies.

He is a member of the The Michigan Association of Certified Public Accountants, The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Business Valuation and Forensic & Litigation Support Section, and The Institute of Business Appraisers .He has served on the Litigation & Business Valuation Task Force and the Mergers and Acquisitions Task Force of The Michigan Association of Certified Public Accountants. In addition, he is a member of the American Society of Cost Segregation Professionals.

Dale Tuttle is a Director of the Michigan Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership and lecturer of Strategic Management and at the University of Michigan-Flint. During his 17 year academic career, he has taught courses at the MBA and undergraduate levels, including Ethics, Human Resource Development, and Strategic Management. In 2001, Dale left his full-time faculty position at UM-Flint to serve as Vice President of Strategic Management at Cambridge Group Investments. While at Cambridge, he helped to develop an online bond trading business, bondpage.com, that was successfully sold in 2007. In addition, Dale is a co-founder of the Zebra Network, an online shopping network (www.shopzebra.com) that is designed to generate funds for individuals and non-profit organizations. Currently Dale is returning to full-time service at UM-Flint to teach Strategic Management and to help develop an Entrepreneurship program of study.

Betty Velthouse is the Interim Dean for the School of Health Professions and Studies.

Dr. Velthouse joined the faculty at the University of Michigan-Flint as an Assistant Professor in 1990 and was promoted to Associate Professor, with tenure, in 1996. She also served as Area Coordinator and Director of Academic Programs for the School of Management and most recently completed an appointment as the Senior Advisor to the Chancellor.

Since joining the faculty at the University of Michigan-Flint, Dr. Velthouse has served on the School of Management's Executive Committee, Undergraduate Committee, Dean Search Committee, Academic Review Committee, the University's Faculty Council, Honors Program Advisory Council, Academic Affairs Advisory Committee, Blue Ribbon Commission, Physical Therapy Advisory Committee, Business Priorities/Chancellor's Advisory Committee, and many others too numerous to mention.

Dr. Velthouse received her R.N. at Henry Ford Hospital School of Nursing, Detroit, her B.S.N. at Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana, her M.S.N. at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and her M.B.A. and Ph.D. at the University of Pittsburgh.

Dr. Velthouse is an outstanding teacher with years of student evaluations at both the undergraduate and graduate level consistently falling in the highest quartile. Her research in the area of empowerment has been viewed as leading edge by her colleagues and faculty in her field and her research in the area of ethics has brought added stature to both the school and university.

Michael D. Witt, PharmD, JD, is presently the Entrepreneur in Residence and Lecturer in the School of Management at University of Michigan's Flint Campus. Witt is a frequent advisor to medical technology companies and internationally recognized expert in the field of technology commercialization and entrepreneurship.

Dr. Witt is an experienced early-stage biomedical technology executive. Over the last 25 years, he has addressed many complex issues, ranging from negotiating international corporate transactions and license agreements, to building companies and raising money. He has worked in health care and life science policy development, biomedical ethics, FDA regulations, hospital and health care management, venture capital development, and non-profit corporation administration. He is an experienced organizational manager, particularly in university medical technologies and the life sciences industry. Among his accomplishments are the growth and development of 1 immunotherapy cancer treatment company, 1 gene therapy company, 1 venture capital firm, 1 genomics company, 9 NCEs, 1 trade association, 1 international health care information dot com, 1 diagnostic manufacturing facility, and numerous early stage university and company-derived invention development projects. He serves as Principal Investigator on 1 USDA-funded alternative fuels grant, and Project Manager of 1 DOD/TATRC medical device project.

From 2003-2006, Dr. Witt was Executive Director of MichBio, the industry trade association dedicated to growing the life science industry in the state of Michigan. Under Dr. Witt's leadership, the association flourished, growing its membership from 70 to over 200 members, tripling the staff of the organization and more than doubling its operating budget.

Witt has served as CEO of vCure.com, Inc, a healthcare information and software company (Flint, MI), and CEO of Technology Enterprise Development Co., Inc., a medical technology development company. He taught Business Planning and Strategy, Organizational Behavior and Practical Management Skills, and Human Resource Development to undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Michigan's Dearborn campus for 6 semesters.

He serves on the Board of Directors of Performance Genomics, Inc., Mid-Michigan Global Link, LLC, TEDCo, Inc., Corporate Counsel to Security Packaging, Inc, and a member of the Policy Cabinet at Luke M. Powers Catholic High School. He is a Governor Granholm appointee to the New Technology Assessment Committee (NEWTAC) of the Michigan Department of Community Health's Certificate of Need Committee. Dr. Witt was previously a healthcare attorney at Cox, Hodgman & Giarmarco of Troy, Michigan, and Warner & Stackpole, of Boston, Massachusetts.

Dr. Witt holds a PharmD from University of California, San Francisco School of Pharmacy and a JD from Case Western Reserve University School of Law. He is licensed to practice law in Massachusetts, California and Michigan.