Faculty

JD, Chapman University; BS, University of Southern California

Kevin Fields is the Academic Director of the Masters of Business for Veterans (MBV) program. He teaches business law and real estate law to Marshall’s undergraduate and graduate students. Professor Fields is a practicing attorney specializing in real estate and business litigation. He has tried real estate, employment and business cases in state and federal courts and administrative forums. He is also a licensed California broker. He has received several Golden Apple teaching awards as well as being named the Professor of the Year by Gamma Sigma Alpha (the National Academic Greek Honor society). He is an AV Preeminent rated attorney by Martindale-Hubbell. He is a co-author of several real estate law textbooks including Contemporary Real Estate Law 2nd Edition, and Essentials of Real Estate Law. Both textbooks are published by Wolters Kluwer Law & Business. He is currently completing a business law textbook scheduled for national release in 2020.

MBA, University of Southern California; BA, UCLA

Scott Abrams specializes in corporate finance, portfolio management, financial analysis and valuation, and microeconomics. He teaches these subjects in both the graduate and undergraduate programs at USC Marshall. In addition, Professor Abrams is the co-instructor for the MBA and Undergraduate Student Investment Fund classes. He is the 2016 Golden Apple Teaching Award Winner for the Full-Time MBA Core Program. Professor Abrams received his MBA from USC Marshall and is an alumnus of the SIF Program (2004). Prior to joining the faculty at USC Marshall, he worked in corporate finance at Sony Pictures and Warner Bros. In addition, he is an alumnus of Deloitte and is a licensed CPA.

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, MA, University of Rochester; BS, Fudan University

Baizhu Chen studies macroeconomics and international economics, with an emphasis on China. His work has been published in the Journal of Peace Research, European Journal of Political Economy, China Economic Review, Applied Financial Economics, Social Choice and Welfare, and Journal of Macroeconomics. He is Senior Researcher at the Institute of Finance and Banking at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, chief economist of Sino-Century Capital, a VC firm in Shanghai, and former president of the Chinese Economists Society. He is academic director for Marshall's GEMBA program, and a recipient of the Golden Apple Award.

PhD, University of Southern California; MPA, BA, BS, Brigham Young University

Michael Coombs specializes in strategic management, individual and organizational development, globalization, and negotiation. He is the recipient of the Outstanding Young Man of America and of the U.S. Navy Achievement Medal. He has consulted for a variety of organizations, including ARCO Transportation Company and The Aerospace Corporation.

PhD, University of Washington; BA, San Francisco State University

Professor DeFond is the A. N. Mosich Chair of Accounting, Leventhal School, University of Southern California. His research investigates issues in auditing, international accounting, and earnings management. He has served as Senior Editor of The Accounting Review and on the editorial boards of several leading academic journals. He is a recipient of the AAA’s Notable Contribution to the Auditing Literature Award, and a four-time MBA Golden Apple teaching award winner. He is currently the Associate Dean of Faculty at the Leventhal School. He received his PhD at the University of Washington and prior to that worked as an auditor with Deloitte (formerly Touche Ross).

Ph.D., Stanford University

Nathanael Fast studies the underpinnings of power and influence in organizations and society. His research examines the psychological determinants and consequences of hierarchy, social networks, and new technology adoption, with implications for the future of work. He directs the Hierarchy, Networks, & Technology Lab (HiNT Lab) at USC and is Co-Director of the Psychology of Technology Institute. He received his PhD in Organizational Behavior from Stanford University and has been recognized for both teaching and research, including USC’s Golden Apple Teaching Award, the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Research, and Poets & Quants "best 40 b-school profs under the age of 40."

JD, Chapman University; BS, University of Southern California

Kevin Fields is the Academic Director of the Masters of Business for Veterans (MBV) program. He teaches business law and real estate law to Marshall’s undergraduate and graduate students. Professor Fields is a practicing attorney specializing in real estate and business litigation. He has tried real estate, employment and business cases in state and federal courts and administrative forums. He is also a licensed California broker. He has received several Golden Apple teaching awards as well as being named the Professor of the Year by Gamma Sigma Alpha (the National Academic Greek Honor society). He is an AV Preeminent rated attorney by Martindale-Hubbell. He is a co-author of several real estate law textbooks including Contemporary Real Estate Law 2nd Edition, and Essentials of Real Estate Law. Both textbooks are published by Wolters Kluwer Law & Business. He is currently completing a business law textbook scheduled for national release in 2020.

BBA, Loyola Marymount University; MBA University of Southern California; MSBA University of Southern California

Christopher J. Harrer is a successful entrepreneur and educator with over 30 years experience in the finance, real estate, and service industries. He is an Adjunct Professor at the USC Marshall School of Business and has been teaching at the Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies since 2002 and has won the student-voted Golden Apple Teaching Award. An accomplished entrepreneur in the hospitality and information management industries, Harrer was the founder of United Document Storage LLC and Pacifico’s LLC prior to successfully selling both companies.

MBA, BS, University of Southern California

Knapp is the Academic Director of the Master's of Science in Entrepreneurship and Innovation and an Associate Professor of Clinical Entrepreneurship in the Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies. His teachings encompass all facets of entrepreneurial studies including Venture Management, Feasibility Analysis, Business Planning and Launching. Knapp developed the “E”-Challenge and a new course for students involved in a family firm: Entrepreneurial Family Business. A three-time Golden Apple Award winner for outstanding teaching as voted on by the student body. Knapp is founder of Club Sportswear and Honolua Surf Co, an Action Sports Industry leader, and partner in Blue Jay Bay Ventures a real-estate investment firm.

PhD, MS, UC-Berkeley; BS, UC-Davis

Kyle Mayer studies how firms govern relationships with other firms, with particular attention to the contract and its role in establishing a framework for the relationship. His research has been published in Organizational Science, Academy of Management Journal, Management Science, and Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization. He served on the editorial board of Academy of Management Journal, Organization Science, Academy of Management Review, and Strategic Management Journal. He received a Golden Apple Award in 2003, Marshall's Educator of the Year Award in 2006, and a Mellon Mentoring Award from USC in 2006.

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

Julia Plotts specializes in financial analysis and valuation, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate finance. She has received numerous teaching awards including the Golden Apple Award for Teaching Excellence (11 times). Before joining USC, she worked in the investment-banking group of Banc of America Securities, where she was involved in the execution of M&A and capital raising via private/public offerings of equity and debt. She has consulted on shareholder value creation for a variety of firms.

Ph.D., Stanford; B.S., University of Michigan

Smrity Randhawa is an Accounting scholar whose area of expertise spans financial accounting, managerial accounting, valuation, disclosure and corporate governance. Smrity holds a PhD in Business from the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University. In her research, she has studied the effect of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act on small public companies. At Marshall School of Business she has taught classes ranging from Introductory Accounting for undergraduate students to Financial Statement Analysis for graduate students. In addition to her faculty duties, she also provides consulting services related to: bankruptcy analysis; fair value accounting measurements and valuations; and provides opinions on the analysis of other experts.

PhD, NYU

Violina Rindova teaches and studies strategic innovation -- how firms create value, intangible assets, and new market opportunities through unconventional strategies across a variety of industry contexts. Her work has been published in the premier management journals and has been covered frequently in the business media, including the Economist, the New York Times, and the Washington Post. She is the recipient of multiple grants and awards, including the “Thought Leadership” award from the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management (2009), and the award for outstanding scholarly contribution from Strategic Organization (2012). She served as an Associate Editor of the Academy of Management Review and is currently part of the leadership team of the Behavioral Strategy Interest Group of the Strategic Management Society.

PhD, MS, Utah State University; MS, BS: Lebanese American University

Abbass Sharif’s specialty is in the field of statistical computing and data visualization. Professor Sharif has developed and published new multivariate visualization techniques for functional data and currently he is developing visualization techniques to study brain activity data collected via the near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) technology. Professor Sharif teaches statistics courses that range from introductory statistics to data analysis for decision-making through to advanced modern statistical learning techniques.

PhD, University of Pittsburgh; MAcc, The Ohio State University; BA, Oberlin College

S. Mark Young studies management control system design in entertainment. He has published in JAR, TAR and JMAR. His book, The Mirror Effect: How Celebrity Narcissism is Seducing America, is a New York Times Best Seller. He has received the Lifetime Achievement Award in Management Accounting, the Notable Contributions to the Accounting Literature Award, and the Notable Contributions to the Management Accounting Literature Award (three times). He is the Official Historian of the USC Men’s Tennis Team and author of, Trojan Tennis: A History of the Storied Men’s Tennis Program at the University of Southern California. Young is also a distinguished fellow of the Center for Excellence in Teaching.