Faculty and Executive Coaches
Our Executive MBA faculty members are among the leading authorities in their respective
disciplines. In addition to their superior academic credentials, they continue to
accrue significant experience as corporate executives and board members. They are
also successful entrepreneurs, and respected executive mentors.
Mark Chun
Professor of Information Systems Technology Management
Dr. Mark Chun is a professor of information systems technology management at Pepperdine University's Graziadio Business School. He recently served as the Interim Associate Dean of Executive Programs. Dr. Chun earned a PhD in Information Systems from the University of Colorado at Boulder, received an MBA from the University of California, Irvine, and holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree with an emphasis in management information systems from the University of Hawaii.
Charlie Kerns
Professor of Applied Behavioral Science
Dr. Kerns has more than 30 years of business, management and consulting experience. He joined Graziadio as an associate professor of applied behavioral science and has taught in nearly every program at the Graziadio School and served as the associate dean of academic affairs. Dr. Kerns is a diplomate and holds ABPP certifications in both industrial-organizational psychology and organizational and business consulting psychology.
Clemens Kownatzki
Associate Professor of Finance
In 2010, Dr. Kownatzki joined Pepperdine University and is currently Associate Professor of Finance. In 2020, he became the Department Chair of Accounting, Finance and Real Estate. During his tenure, he was Academic Director of the MS Applied Finance program from 2017-2019. In 2016, he received a prestigious research grant from the Chicago Mercantile Group Foundation. Dr. Kownatzki’s primary research interest focuses on the important question of how risk and market volatility affects investment returns.
Jaclyn Margolis
Associate Professor of Applied Behavioral Science
Dr. Jaclyn Margolis is a management scholar with a PhD in Organizational Behavior from Drexel University, where she also earned her MBA. Her teaching and research focus on leadership, teamwork, and motivation, drawing on both her academic expertise and prior experience in the financial services industry.
Brian McGilvray
Practitioner of Business Law
Brian McGilvray currently teaches courses in leadership and ethics, business law, employment law, and human resources management at Pepperdine University’s Graziadio Business School. McGilvray previously taught at California State University, Northridge, and has guest lectured on ethics and family business issues at UCLA’s Anderson Graduate School of Management. McGilvray currently serves as the Chair of the Master of Science in Business Program in the Graziadio Business School. McGilvray earned his Juris Doctor degree from the Pepperdine University Caruso School of Law, and his MBA degree and Bachelor of Science in Management degree from the Pepperdine University Graziadio Business School.
Roger McMahon
Professor of Marketing
Dr. Roger McMahon's MBA teaching duties at Pepperdine Graziadio Business School have focused on the areas of Marketing Management, B2B Marketing, and Marketing Consulting. In addition, he has served as the lead marketing faculty member for the full time MBA program and currently sits on the EMBA committee. He holds an MS from Pepperdine University and a DBA from Mississippi State University.
Jaime Salas
Practitioner of Marketing
Dr. Salas is a practitioner of marketing and has more than 12 years of industry experience. His main research is focused on the implementation of service infusion strategies among traditional industrial manufacturers. His research was sponsored by the Center for Services Leadership at Arizona State University, where he won several teaching awards.
Samual Seaman
Professor of Decision Sciences
Dr. Samuel L. Seaman is professor of Decision Sciences in the Graziadio Business School. He teaches graduate courses in applied statistics and evidence-based decision analysis and has an applied research agenda that focuses on the use of mathematical models to solve dilemmas in economics, finance, healthcare, and marketing. He holds an masters of education from Stetson University and a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Florida.
David Smith
Professor of Economics
Dr. Smith is a professor of economics at the Pepperdine Graziadio Business School, where he has taught over 1,000 students during his 20-year tenure. In addition to his teaching, he has held several leadership roles, including department chair, senior associate dean, and, most recently, the 8th Dean of the Graziadio Business School.
Mark Tribbitt
Associate Professor of Strategy
Dr. Tribbitt comes to academia with more than 14 years of experience within the financial services industry. During that time he has held a variety of management positions in retail, commercial and wholesale banking. His teaching focuses on strategic management, entrepreneurship, and management of technology and innovation. Dr. Tribbitt's primary research interest deals with the intersection between corporate governance and corporate entrepreneurship. He is a member of several academic associations. He earned a Ph.D. in strategic management from Drexel University, an MBA from Villanova University, and a B.S. in finance from the University of Delaware.
Michael Williams
Associate Professor of Information Systems Technology Management
Dr. Williams is an associate professor in the Information Systems and Technology Management Department, where he also serves as Chair of Online Programs. A recipient of Pepperdine’s Howard A. White Award for Teaching Excellence, his research has been featured in leading journals such as the European Journal of Operations Research and MIS Quarterly Executive.
Demosthenes Vardiabasis
Professor of Economics
Dr. Vardiabasis has over 25 years of experience as a professor, entrepreneur, executive, and consultant. He has founded several companies and has served as a chairman and CEO of the IQ Now Corporation, which was acquired by a public company and of Health Windows, which provided services to such companies as American Express, Hilton, Yamaha, and Honeywell. He holds a master of arts from the University of Essex and a PhD from the University of Southern California.
Executive Mentor
The Pepperdine EMBA and PKE MBA programs are the first and only Executive MBA programs to feature an executive advisor. Considered as important as the faculty, the class advisor remains with your class cohort throughout the duration of the program. They bind the class together, acting as chair and mentor to provide help in individual and group situations. They read and grade papers, mediate conflict within and among groups, and maintain continuity throughout the program. Our Executive Mentors are all “doctorally trained” as all mentors are required to have a doctoral degree or be pursuing one.
Jim Emerick
Executive Mentor, Executive MBA Programs and Adjunct Professor of Leadership, MSML,
MSHR, MSGM
Mr. Emerick's varied experience as an executive, consultant, instructor and coach ensures that EMBA121 students will receive current and pertinent information relating to all facets of successful business ventures, whether entrepreneurial or corporate.
Testimonials
Students in the EMBA program not only learn from professors who have business leadership experience, they also develop relationships with other professionals in their cohort supported by a dedicated Executive Mentor from day one. From a values based curriculum to experientially driven learning, students are prepared to more deeply become best for the world executive leaders.
Executive MBA Program Chair