Business Communication Faculty

Ed.D. USC, Rossier School of Education; M.A. University of Hamburg

Marion Philadelphia has a background in public relations, journalism, marketing, and the themed entertainment industry. Originally from Germany, she has edited and translated works of non-fiction, contributed to Cal Tech's Einstein Papers Project, and is a published novelist. A business communication and educational leadership expert, she specializes in pedagogy, curriculum, instructional design, and faculty professional development. She is a recipient of the USC Mellon Award for Excellence in Faculty Mentoring and the Evan C. Thompson Faculty Mentoring and Leadership Award.

PhD, University of Southern California; MA, University of Illinois - Chicago; BA, Vilnius University

Jolanta Aritz specializes in intercultural business communication, small-group decision-making, leadership communication and virtual teams. Professor Aritz is co-author of the book Leadership Talk: A Discourse Approach to Leader Emergence and co-editor of the Discourse Perspectives on Organizational Communication book. She serves as Vice-president for the Western region of the Association of Business Communication. Prof. Aritz is a former Fulbright scholar and recipient of multiple awards, including the Distinguished Publication on Business Communication, the USC Fund for Innovative Undergraduate Teaching, and the Mellon mentoring award.

Lindsey Bier teaches business communication strategy courses and leads the international commerce program to Japan. Specializing in public diplomacy and country reputation, she focuses her research on corporate diplomacy, citizen diplomacy networks, and international empirical analysis. Before joining USC, Bier taught public relations, mass media, organizational communication, and oral presentation courses in Tennessee; she developed an online intercultural communication course and served as a faculty mentor. Her professional experiences encompass reputation management, media relations, visual communication, and consulting in international/intercultural strategy and training. Bier has traveled to 30+ countries for professional and humanitarian purposes, including fellowships in Korea and Vietnam.

PhD, University of Southern California; MA, University of San Diego; BA, Claremont McKenna College

Stephen Byars has received the Outstanding Assistant Lecturer Award from the Writing Program at USC as well as the Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award from the School of Religion at USC. He also nominated in May 2010 by the USC Parents Association for its Outstanding Teaching and Mentoring Award. Since joining USC full-time in 1997, Professor Byars has spent considerable time in the teaching and administration of different versions of Writing 340, including Advanced Writing for Business.

PhD, Utah State University; MBA, Utah State University; BA, Brigham Young University

Pete Cardon teaches a variety of business communication courses. He researches team communication, role of technology in leadership communication, and intercultural business communication. Professor Cardon previously served as President for the Association of Business Communication. Prior to joining USC, Pete taught at the University of South Carolina for six years and Utah State University for three years. Before working in higher education, he held several marketing and management positions in the tourism and manufacturing industries. Along the way, he has worked in China for three years and traveled to approximately fifty countries for work and research. He is the author of Business Communication: Developing Leaders for a Networked World.

PhD, MA, BA, University of Iowa

Lee is an expert in rhetoric who has taught both of our main undergraduate courses, BUAD 302 and WRIT 340, and has coordinated our series of communication classes for doctoral students. Lee’s classes are noted for revolving around books and other readings on current issues that change year-to-year, such as the industrial food system, the water crisis in the United States, the financial crisis, and most recently the debt ceiling crisis. Lee has also become one of Marshall’s leaders in ethics instruction. He developed and for several years taught ethics seminars in various accounting courses, and worked on the revision of Marshall’s Ethics and Professional Communication undergraduate elective. Lee has made numerous service contributions over the years, including serving as a faculty advisor in various student case competitions.

MBA, University of Southern Califorina; BA, Loyola Marymount University

Maria Colman is the owner and founder of handmadeMaria®. The original business plan was part of her MBA at the University of Southern California, Marshall School of Business. Maria has over 30 years' experience in retail marketing, accounting management, direct sales, and education. Before joining USC, Maria taught at California State University, Los Angeles; Moorpark College; and Antelope Valley College. She brings her diverse business background, enthusiasm, and tangible experience to her classes. Her upcycled products and handmade art pieces are sold at brick and mortar and online stores.

MA, University of Southern California; BA, UC-Berkeley

Ellen-Linnea Dipprey's primary interests lie in creativity and innovation as problem solving tools, the communication challenges endemic to the management of creativity and innovation in the workplace, and managerial communication. Her interest in cross-disciplinary learning and other experimental pedagogical strategies has resulted in several teaching awards. She serves as a reviewer for the International Alliance of Teacher Scholars and has long provided pedagogical guidance for Marshall Faculty across the disciplines. She won the USC-Mellon Award for Faculty-to-Faculty Mentoring in 2007.

PhD, MA University of Bamberg; BA, EM Strasbourg

Carolin Fleischmann specializes in research topics at the intersection of technology, international management, and business communication. She is particularly interested in how firms support their internationalization processes by digital media communication and how multicultural virtual teams communicate using advanced digital communication platforms. For her work with the VBP project, she received the Evan C. Thompson Teaching and Learning Innovation Award. Her professional experiences include consulting projects on international business and intercultural communication. Currently, she mostly works with startups on preparing for pitches and planning for internationalization.

MA, BA, CSU-Fullerton

Stacy Geck is an expert in organizational communication effectiveness, intercultural communication, managerial communication (written, oral, and interpersonal), executive presence coaching, effective mentoring techniques, and the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) as a certified facilitator and practitioner. Her research has been published in Journal of Cooperative Education, the Western Speech Communication Association, and the American Society of Trial Consultants. Outside of USC, she frequently works as an independent management consultant specializing in executive effectiveness and organizational change.

PhD, University of Southern California; JD, Loyola Law School; BA, University of Massachusetts

Jerry Giaquinta is an expert in strategic communication, marketing, and operational analysis. He has over 25 years of executive-level corporate and agency experience and has advised Fortune 100 and start-up companies. His recent work has been in public-private partnerships. He is the founder of The Giaquinta Group, a strategic communications and marketing consulting firm whose clients included Visa, Netflix, MGM, Lexus, Daimler, Sony, World Expo, and Grocery Manufacturers Association among others. Before founding The Giaquinta Group, he held senior executive positions in the marketing area at Sony Pictures Entertainment, Toyota, Silicon Graphics, and Chiat Day Communications.

Dr. Guo’s research focuses on organizational and intercultural communication in business. She is particularly interested and specialized in identity development and strategic negotiation in various international organizational contexts. Her research has appeared on top-tier journals that examined topics such as organizational culture, conflict management, emotion management, communication technology use in business (e.g., social media, mobile), and leadership communication. Professor’s pedagogical expertise in academia includes organizational communication, communication strategies in business, leadership communication, business and professional communication, communication in non-western culture, and persuasion. Prior to academia, Dr. Guo held program and event coordinator positions in Chinese and U.S. multinational companies, specializing intercultural business communication.

MA, New York University; BA, Occidental College

Clark Hansen, M.A., has been teaching Advanced Writing for Business (WRIT 340) since 2008 and Communication Strategy in Business (BUAD 302) since 2017. Clark has been an art director for the Association of Southern California Defense Counsel and Director of Communications at Pasadena Polytechnic School. As a communication professional at UCLA Medical Center, he won two awards in healthcare marketing. He is the translator of The Empire's Old Clothes (Pantheon) by Ariel Dorfman of Chile and Cuzcatlan, Where the Southern Sea Beats (Aventura/Vintage) by Manlio Argueta of El Salvador.

PhD, UCLA; MA, University of Southern California, BA, Occidental College

Lucy Lee specializes in workplace communication strategies and development of professional writing, speaking, and interpersonal communication skills. Her doctoral work at UCLA focused on organizational change in higher education and the link between service learning curricula and levels of student civic engagement. Prior to joining Marshall, Professor Lee worked as a network news editor/producer and held several positions in media and public relations at nonprofit organizations in Los Angeles and New York City. Her teaching has been recognized with the Golden Apple Award (2008) and the Evan C. Thompson Award for Teaching and Mentoring (2005).

PhD, Indiana University; Ed.D., USC; MA and BA, California State University, Los Angeles
Angeles

Sharoni Denise Little, Professor of Clinical Business Communication is an award-winning teacher, researcher, and mentor. A renowned author, global facilitator, and media commentator, Sharoni’s research and expertise centers on organizational leadership, strategic communication, and diversity, equity, and inclusion. She is completing her forthcoming books, The Perpetual Surveillance of Black Men (2019), and Diapers and Dissertations: Women, Education, and Work (2019), and is the recipient of the USC Faculty Mentoring award, two Marshall School of Business, “Golden Apple” teaching awards, and the USC Remarkable Woman award. An educational and social advocate Sharoni is a member and Immediate Past Chair of the Los Angeles County, Policy Roundtable for Childcare and Development Commission and sits on several boards of trustees. Throughout her career, she has partnered with numerous community leaders and organizations, including the Aspen Institute, Obama Foundation, Children's Defense Fund, and the Compton Human Trafficking Task Force.

Andrew (AJ) Ogilvie teaches courses in business writing and communication. Dr. Ogilvie has designed and taught university writing and communication courses at the undergraduate and MBA level for nearly a decade.His primary research interests are writing development, knowledge transfer, and communication curriculum in higher education. His publications include articles on contemporary liberal arts education as well as writing curriculum in general education courses. Prior to academia, Dr. Ogilvie worked in strategic communications at Booz Allen Hamilton where he developed stakeholder outreach initiatives for the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security.

MPW, University of Southern California; MBA, Columbia University; BA, Bates College

James J. Owens is an expert in professional management communication. He has published 100+ articles in national and international publications. Professor Owens has appeared on CNN and has interviewed numerous Fortune 500 CEOs. He worked in the UK, France, Germany, Saudi Arabia, and Africa for companies including Bain Consulting, Agfa-Gavaert, Coco-Cola, and Louis Vuitton, and consults with corporations on topics ranging from communication to leadership. He is Founder and CEO of The World is Just a Book Away, a non-profit literacy organization. Since 2008, WIJABA has launched programs for 25,000+ children with 40,000+ books through libraries and mobile libraries.

PhD, University of Southern California

Greg Patton is an expert in communication, interpersonal and leadership effectiveness. He has received numerous teaching awards, been ranked as one of the top teaching faculty at USC and helped USC Marshall achieve numerous #1 worldwide rankings for Communication and Leadership skill development. Professor Patton has extensive international experience, has trained, coached and mentored thousands of leaders worldwide, and created scores of successful leadership programs. He has advised on several hundred consulting engagements throughout the Pacific Rim, serves as a keynote speaker and has held more than twenty leadership positions in national and international organizations.

MA, Pepperdine; BS, University of Southern California

Kirk Snyder is nationally recognized as an expert on the contemporary workplace. His new book, Finding Work You Love: 3 Steps to Getting the Perfect Job After College (Penguin Random House, 2020), is written specifically for college students navigating a brand new world of work. He is also the author of two critically acclaimed books, The G Quotient and Lavender Road to Success. His work has been featured in publications that include the New York Times, Harvard Business Review, TIME Magazine, Fortune, strategy + business, and Wall Street Journal . He is the recipient of two USC Marshall Golden Apple Awards as well as a USC Mellon Mentoring Award.

PhD, MS, University of Utah; MBA, University of Phoenix, BA, Boise State University

Robyn Walker studies communication and decision making in teams. Her research has been published in the American Communication Journal, International Journal of Diversity in Organizations, Communities, and Nations, International Journal of Knowledge, Culture and Change Management, and Business Communication Quarterly. In 2005-2006, she was a Mellon Fellow.

PhD, University of Texas at Austin; MA, CSU-Los Angeles; BS, Portland State University

Naomi Warren specializes in communication issues related to diversity, equity, and inclusion, with a particular emphasis on race, gender, social class, media representations, politics, and policy. Her teaching, research, and consulting are informed by her professional experience as an accountant in the transportation, manufacturing, health care, service, retail, entertainment, and legal sectors and her doctoral research in communication studies, rhetoric, race, and the politics of representation. She was honored with a Golden Apple Teaching Award in 2005 and 2010. Service commitments include advising Marshall’s international case competition teams and serving on the University Diversity Committee.

MPW, BA, University of Southern California

Janna Wong is a professor of Business Communication courses in the Center for Management Communication. She has coached MBA and IBEAR students as well as Marshall employees on presentation skills. She has edited book manuscripts, written magazine articles on a variety of topics and worked in the film industry on such projects as Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and The Day After. She spent years as a story analyst for studios and production companies and has written more than 150 menu decks for movies and television series on DVD for Universal Pictures Home Entertainment. She also blogs for a host of entertainment websites.

PhD, Northwestern University; MA, BA, Texas Tech University

Doug Andrews specializes in accounting-environment communication issues, writes about those issues in accounting journals, and helps corporate clients (IBM, KPMG, PwC, Exxon, Deloitte, Chevron, GE, Mars, SEIU) and smaller firms. His teaching, research, and consulting sensibilities are tempered by a range of experiences: two and a half years as Associate Dean of Marshall's undergraduate business program, 17 years as department chair, 30+ years of classroom teaching, four Vietnam-era years in Special Forces, four years as a truck driver and bowler, three summers on a Midwestern crop harvesting team, eight years as a sales specialist for a publisher, and a PhD from Northwestern.

PhD, MA, University of Southern California; BA, University of Rochester

Paul Frommer, the linguist who developed the Na'vi language for James Cameron's film Avatar, is a former director of the Center for Management Communication. His teaching at USC included Advanced Writing for Business and an undergrad elective he co-created, "Cross-cultural Business Communication for Non-native Speakers." Prior to joining Marshall, he lived and taught in Malaysia and Iran, and spent ten years in the business world. Since Avatar, Professor Frommer has been working with a worldwide community of Na'vi enthusiasts dedicated to expanding the use of the language. He also developed Barsoomian, the Martian language for the Disney film John Carter.

MPW, University of Southern California; BA, UC-Santa Barbara

Jim Gosline's areas of expertise include persuasive business writing, public speaking and business presentations, communication for accountants and tax professionals, and training in U.S. business communication customs and protocol. He has consulted for a variety of organizations, including Intel, Korea Telecom, KPMG, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Southern California Gas Company, Sandy Corporation, and Transamerica Corporation. Professor Gosline's corporate background as a communication coach allows him to bring practical experience in persuasive writing and public speaking to the classroom. His interests focus on techniques to increase persuasion by using communication strategy and critical thinking.

PhD, MA, California School of Professional Psychology; BA, San Diego State University

Dr. Cynthia Alt has over 25 years of experience consulting in the areas of organizational and leadership development. Her expertise resides in her ability to align individual and organizational goals in order to maximize productivity and obtain desired results.  Dr. Alt's approach focuses on partnering with clients as they work together to achieve goals.  She has extensive experience helping clients improve communication on a personal and organizational perspective.  Past research focused on encouraging team creativity, profit sharing in organizations, and identifying factors leading to employee engagement and performance.  Dr. Alt has been teaching for the CMC since 2014.

MPW - USC

Having started as a newspaper journalist, Holly has forged a career as a writer, editor, and speechwriter. In charge of presidential communications at USC for 12 years, she also oversaw dozens of video productions. She established and led USC’s first unit dedicated to new media and visual communications and taught a USC Freshman Seminar on public speaking. Holly also founded and leads an award-winning nonprofit, Picture Alternatives, which uses creative media to educate about and advocate for alternatives to violence in both interpersonal and political arenas. She holds a master’s in professional writing from USC and an M.A. in theology.

B.S., University of Southern California / M.S., EML, University of Southern California

Cesar Armendariz specializes in strategic communication, leadership and team-building. He has a diverse professional background, having served in the private, public and non-profit sectors, both here in the U.S. and in Mexico. Cesar is currently the Community Integration Executive at Adventist Health White Memorial in Los Angeles, where he oversees the Population Health strategies of the hospital, serves as the public information officer, and fosters strategic collaborations with key community stakeholders and partners. He is bilingual (Spanish), bicultural (Latin American protocol), and enjoys traveling and spending his free time with his two collegiate children, Zaira and Aramis.

EdD, Pepperdine University; MBA, University of Redlands; BA, Chapman University

Kevin is a Manager of the Acquisition Planning and Compliance Section at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He completed his doctorate in Organizational Leadership at Pepperdine University. He received an MBA from the University of Redlands, is a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) and is fluent in Italian. Kevin has over 25 years of business experience including diplomatic missions for the United Nations. Additionally, Kevin is a professor in the University of Southern California, Marshall School of Business and has published several articles on leadership.

MBA/BS UCLA

Navdeep Mundi has taught at the Marshall School of Business for 10 years, with a focus on the challenges of managing big brands in the age of social media. She draws on her experience in growing startup businesses, particularly in adtech & ecommerce. Prior to USC, Nav held senior level PR/Comms roles focusing on media practices & performance. Today, she consults with early seed stage startups & Fortune 500 companies in the U.S./Southeast Asia on how to leverage real-time media & technology. This work speaks to the challenges & opportunities students face as they transition to a world where Comms is evolving into a data-oriented, algorithmically-driven function.

BA, Yale University

Andrew Murr currently works as a freelance writer and photographer covering such topics as California's economy, community organizers, nuclear plant safety and L.A.'s urban campers. In addition, he has conducted writing classes at L.A. County's Juvenile Halls with the Inside/Out Writers program. Andy has more than 25 years of experience reporting and writing in highly competitive news environments. His experience includes assignments with Newsweek as a presidential campaign political reporter, Los Angeles correspondent and Los Angeles Bureau Chief. Andy is also a co-author of two books: Quest for the Presidency 1992 and Back from the Dead.