USC Marshall School of Business

John M. “Mitch” Dorger is the principal in his own consulting practice which specializes in helping small to mid-size corporations with board governance, strategic planning, and organizational performance improvement. He also works with senior executives in organizational problem analysis, leadership development and executive mentoring.

Prior to establishing his consulting practice, Mitch served for 10 years as the Chief Executive Officer of the Pasadena Tournament of Roses. In this capacity, he led a 30 member staff supporting the volunteer members of the Association in producing two of the most recognized events in the country: the Rose Parade and the Rose Bowl Game – plus numerous smaller events. The annual combined television viewership of these two major events exceeds 100 million viewers around the globe. He also directly supervised the preparation for and implementation of three Bowl Championship Series national championship games.

Prior to joining the Tournament of Roses, Mitch served as the chief staff officer for the prestigious Claremont Colleges consortium in California and as the Chief Executive Officer of the central programs and services that supported all seven colleges in the group.

His prior experience included 26 years as a career Air Force officer with experience at all levels of the Air Force from the operational squadron level to Headquarter Air Force. He flew 150 combat missions in Vietnam, and concluded his career as the Chief of Staff and later Vice Commander of the United States Air Force Academy.

Mitch holds a B.S. Degree from the United States Air Force Academy, an M.A. in International Relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, an M.A in Management and an Executive MBA from Claremont Graduate University. He is also a distinguished graduate of the Air Forces Command and Staff College and was a National Security Research Fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Mitch is married to Barbara, a career flight attendant with United Air Lines and the author of a book on her career experiences entitled, Turbulent Skies. They have two grown children Scot and Trinity.