Faculty

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

Marion Philadelphia has a background in in public relations, journalism, and marketing for the entertainment industry. Before joining Marshall, she was involved in the creative development of large-scale international projects for the leisure industry. She has edited and translated many works of non-fiction, contributed to Cal Tech's Einstein Papers Project, and is a published author. Originally from Germany, she is particularly interested in intercultural business communication and has expertise in addressing the needs of international, transfer and minority students. Other areas of interest include pedagogy, instructional technology, online learning, as well as professional development for faculty.

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

Jolanta Aritz specializes in intercultural business communication, small-group decision-making, and leadership communication. Professor Aritz is co-author (with Robyn Walker) of the book Leadership Talk: A Discourse Approach to Leader Emergence and co-editor of the Discourse Perspectives on Organizational Communication book which received the 2012 Distinguished Publication on Business Communication award from the Association of Business Communication. She received awards from the USC Fund for Innovative Undergraduate Teaching (2008), the USC Mellon Mentoring Grant (2006), the USC Advancing Scholarship in the Humanities and Social Sciences Initiative (2007), CIBER International Research Fund (2010), and the C.R. Anderson Research Foundation for Innovative Research in Business Communication (2011). Professor Aritz is a former Fulbright scholar and serves on the USC Advisory Committee on National and International Graduate Fellowships.

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.

PhD, MA, University of Notre Dame; BS, Miami University

Sandra Chrystal serves as Vice Dean for online learning and oversees Marshall's Centers of Excellence. She previously served as Director of the Center for Management Communication. She teaches management communication classes focused on technology-enhanced and community-based learning. She has received USC's Teaching with Technology and Teaching Has No Boundaries awards, and the Marshall School's Evan C. Thompson Teaching and Learning Innovation award and MSB's Dean's Award for Community. Before joining USC, she taught at Clayton State University, Georgia Tech, and Notre Dame, worked in corporate marketing, and owned her own business.

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.

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.

MA, New York University; BA, Occidental College

Clark Hansen, M.A., has been teaching “Advanced Writing for Business” (WRIT-340) for the BUCO since 2008. Clark's previous writing, editing, and business experience includes ten years as Art Director for the Association of Southern California Defense Counsel quarterly publication Verdict, and 14 years as Director of Communications at Pasadena Polytechnic School.  He holds an M.A. in comparative literature from New York University and 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. He has completed the first book in a fantasy eco-thriller series called Turtle Island Rising.

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; MA, BA, CSU-Los Angeles

Sharoni Little is an expert in management and leadership communication, organizational effectiveness, institutional diversity, and educational outcomes. Professor Little’s research centers on educational and organizational leadership, cross-cultural, interpersonal, and team communication, educational outcomes and student success. She has received an award from the USC Fund for Innovative Undergraduate Teaching, two Golden Apple awards, and USC’s Remarkable Woman award. An organizational consultant, executive coach, and educational/social advocate, Professor Little has presented both domestically and internationally to executives, educators, and organizations. She serves on the Los Angeles County Commission for Children and Families, sits on several boards of trustees, and partners with the Children’s Defense Fund.

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 Illinois; MILR, Cornell University, BA, Bryn Mawr College

Professor Pasztor’s research focuses on digital and mass communication, (media history, media economics, and the media industry, specifically television programming); gender studies (organizational representations, discourse, workplace and pay equity), and popular culture. Her pedagogical expertise in academia includes strategic professional communication, business case analysis, the media industry/history and fandom, and gender communication. She is the author of several book chapters on the media industry, social media/technology and audience engagement. Prior to academia, Dr. Pasztor was a Senior Strategic Management Consultant at Pricewaterhouse LLP and IBM, implementing global organizational, communication and training strategy for Fortune 500 clients.

PhD, University of Southern California

Greg Patton is an expert in communication, and interpersonal and leadership effectiveness. He has received numerous teaching awards, been ranked as one of the top three professors at USC, and helped USC’s Executive MBA Program achieve a #1 worldwide ranking by the Wall Street Journal for Leadership and Management skills instruction. Professor Patton has extensive international experience, has trained thousands of leaders worldwide, and has advised on several hundred consulting engagements throughout the Pacific Rim. He has held more than twenty leadership positions in national and international organizations and conducts applied research in behavioral skill development.

MA, Pepperdine; BS, University of Southern California

Kirk Snyder is nationally recognized as an expert on the contemporary workplace. The author of two critically acclaimed books The G Quotient and Lavender Road to Success, his work has generated attention from prestigious publications including the New York Times , Harvard Business Review, TIME Magazine, Fortune, and Publisher's Weekly. As a corporate speaker Professor Snyder has been sought out by organizations that include Cisco Systems, McDonald's, McKinsey & Company, Manhattan Chamber of Commerce, Morgan Stanley, Commonwealth Club of California, Unilever, and Warner Brothers.

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.

MBA, CSU- Fresno; BA, Fresno Pacific University

David Bacci teaches communication courses in both the Marshall School of Business and Leventhal School of Accounting. Of particular interest to David is bringing real world application and experience to the classroom. His communications background includes speechwriting for various members of Congress on the House Committee on International Relations, and Hollywood script development for major studio projects. Additionally, he has worked in private business and is an experienced manager. He continues to consult in the areas of strategic positioning, teambuilding and effective presentation.

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.

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.

MBA, BS, UCLA

Navdeep Mundi has over ten years of senior-level public relations/corporate communications and journalism experience. Navdeep was recently Director of Public Relations at ShoeDazzle.com, where her biggest wins included generating enormous media buzz, owning PR planning, development and brand activations, and agency management for strongly analytical environments. More recently, Navdeep assists smaller, resource-limited firms to do the same - raise the profiles of consumer and B2B tech startups. Additionally, she creates original, research-driven social and digital beauty content (for mainstream and niche media outlets) to amplify trending beauty conversations.  

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.