Part-Time MBA Faculty

Jillian Alderman
Assistant Professor of Accounting

Dr. Jillian Alderman is an assistant professor of accounting at the Graziadio Business School at Pepperdine University. Her primary research interests involve the study of human behavior and decision-making, with a focus on topics such as investors' use of financial statements, auditor liability, and professional ethics. Since graduating with a PhD from the University of Central Florida in 2010, Dr. Jillian's award-winning research has been presented at over 20 conferences and workshops.

Jared Ashworth
Assistant Professor of Economics

Dr. Jared Ashworth’s research focuses on identifying pecuniary and non-pecuniary returns to investments in human capital, as well as understanding how these returns vary across individuals. Dr. Ashworth earned his PhD in economics from Duke University, where he also received his MA, and he holds a BA in economics from Brigham Young University. 

Alfonso Berumen
Practitioner of Decision Sciences

Alfonso Berumen is a full-time, Practitioner Faculty of Decision Sciences at the Graziadio Business School at Pepperdine University. Dr. Berumen has over 15 years of consulting experience where he has provided data-driven economic, statistical, and analytical support to law firms, Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, non-profit organizations, and private companies operating in a wide range of industries. 

Rob Bikel
Director of the SEER Program

Robert Bikel, MBA, DBA (‘21) is the Director of and Lead Faculty for the SEER (Social Ethical and Environmental Responsibility) Program at Pepperdine’s Graziadio School of Business. A faculty member since 2011, Bikel has taught various courses in the SEER program as well as Strategic CSR Executive Certificate classes. A Harvard graduate, he has a SEER-certified MBA from Pepperdine and has GRI (Global Reporting Initiative) certification. His doctoral research focuses on managing sustainability tensions at the corporate board level.

Heather Boren
Practitioner of Finance

Heather Boren first joined Pepperdine Graziadio Business School in 2017 and is currently a full-time Practitioner of Finance and the President of Estate Match Realty, a commercial real estate brokerage company. Previous positions included both chair and vice chair of the Southland Regional Association of Realtors Commercial and Investment Division, and vice presidential roles at American Commercial Equities, American Homes 4 Rent, Colliers International, and Jones Lang LaSalle.

John Buckingham
Practitioner Instructor of Marketing

Mr. Buckingham has been a successful corporate and entrepreneurial executive during his 35-year career, starting with creating a division for Colgate Palmolive while still an MBA student in Boston. He began teaching as an adjunct professor of Marketing with the Graziadio Business School in June 2004, becoming a full-time member of the marketing faculty in 2007

Mark Chun
Department Chair of Decision Sciences‚ Information Systems‚ and Strategy

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.

James di Lellio
Associate Professor of Decision Sciences

Dr. James A. DiLellio, is an associate professor of decision sciences in the Graziadio Business School at Pepperdine University. He holds a PhD in Applied Mathematics from Northwestern University and an MBA from Pepperdine. His current research interests are primarily in nonlinear optimization, simulation, and Kalman filtering techniques to model investment problems. The application of this research covers portfolio management, retirement planning, commodity price modeling, and the analysis of investment strategies. He has published papers in Energy Economics, Decision Sciences, Journal of Economics and Finance, Financial Services Review, and the Journal of Investing.

Levan Efremidze
Assistant Professor of Finance

Dr. Levan Efremidze joined the faculty of Graziadio Business School in 2011. Previously he served on the faculties and did research at Claremont Graduate University, UCLA Anderson School, and Pomona College. He has previously taught econometrics, financial economics, behavioral finance, and risk management courses to graduate students. 

Max Ellzey
Practitioner of Applied Behavioral Sciences

Dr. Max Ellzey has over 25 years of management, consulting, training, marketing, sales, and international experience. He has worked with large corporations such as AT&T, KIA Motors America, Mercedes Benz, McDonnell Douglas Federal Credit Union, and Symantec to small and medium-sized companies. 

Craig Everett
Assistant Professor of Finance

Dr. Craig R. Everett is an assistant professor of finance at Pepperdine University's Graziadio Business School and director of the Pepperdine Private Capital Markets Project. His teaching and research interests include entrepreneurial finance, private capital markets, business valuation, and behavioral corporate finance.

Steven Ferraro
Professor of Finance

Dr. Ferraro is a professor of finance at Pepperdine University and teaches Corporate Finance, Mergers and Acquisitions, Valuation, and Financial Statement Analysis, all at the MBA level. Dr. Ferraro holds a PhD from Louisiana State University, an MBA from Brigham Young University, and a BA from the University of Utah. Professional designations earned include Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) granted through the CFA Institute and Certified Cash Manager (CCM) granted through the Treasury Management Association. He is also a registered real estate broker in the state of California.

Virginia Green
Practitioner of Applied Behavioral Science

Dr. Virginia Green serves as a dedicated practitioner faculty member in the fields of Applied Behavioral Sciences and Entrepreneurship within both the MBA and BS in Management programs at the Graziadio Business School. With previous teaching experience at NYU and her current role at Pepperdine, she is renowned for her hands-on approach to learning, integrating real-world practical experiences into her classroom instruction.

Kevin Groves
Professor of Organizational Theory and Management

Kevin S. Groves, Ph.D., is professor of Organization Theory and Management at Pepperdine Graziadio Business School, and president of Groves Consulting Group, LLC. Dr. Groves teaches master’s and doctoral graduate courses on organization design and strategic alignment, executive leadership, and talent management across the Graziadio School’s Executive DBA, MBA, MS in Human Resources programs.

Maretno Harjoto
Professor of Finance

Dr. Maretno Agus "Augus" Harjoto received his PhD in economics from the University of Kentucky in 2002. Dr. Harjoto and colleagues were the recipients of 2021 Inaugural S&P Global Academic ESG Research Award.  Dr. Harjoto received the 2009 Moskowitz Prize Award and the 2019-2021 Denney Chair Professorship. He was awarded the Howard A. White category 2 teaching award in 2011.

Lisa Herzog
Practitioner of Business Law

Lisa Herzog is a licensed California attorney with over 24 years of professional legal experience in the fields of business and real property, employment, contracts and civil rights litigation as well as business entity formation and drafting transactional business agreements. She is a full-time practitioner at the Pepperdine Graziadio Business School where she taught for 13 years (starting as an adjunct professor).

Sean Jasso
Practitioner of Economics

Sean Jasso is commencing his 20th year teaching and writing in two distinct fields—management and political economy. His management portfolio includes expertise in leadership development, strategic management, strategic marketing, corporate governance, entrepreneurship, and ethics. His political economy portfolio includes expertise in international relations, competition, global politics, American politics and institutions, micro and macroeconomics, and public policy analysis. 

Clark Johnson
Assistant Professor of Marketing

Dr. Clark Johnson’s current research interests are at the intersection of consumer and organizational behavior. He enjoys pursuing problem-focused research and studying issues that he has experienced first-hand. He is currently studying topics such as the impact of artificial intelligence on business research, digital marketing, intercultural negotiation and sales, cross-cultural advertising, and the nature of employee commitment, engagement, and job embeddedness. 

Jozefina Kalaj
Assistant Professor of Economics

Before joining the Pepperdine faculty, Dr. Kalaj served as both an Adjunct Professor of Economics and the Program Coordinator for the Globalization, Economics, and Business cohort of the Women's Leadership Program at the George Washington University. Prior to pursuing her doctorate, she worked in the financial services industry. She holds a BA in Economics and Political Science from University of Michigan and a graduate degree in Economics from the George Washington University.

Charles Kerns
Professor of Applied Behavioral Science

Dr. Kerns has more than 30 years of business, management and consulting experience. He has taught in nearly every program at the Graziadio School and served as the associate dean of academic affairs. In his work he strives to integrate his consulting, teaching, and writing. He is an expert in designing and implementing high-performance, positive-oriented work cultures.

Kenneth Ko
Associate Professor of Decision Sciences

Dr. Ko is associate professor of decision sciences and department chair of Strategy‚ Information Systems Technology Management‚ and Decision Sciences. Dr. Ko has worked as a product manager for Hewlett-Packard, a business manager for PricewaterhouseCoopers, and a management consultant for Strategic Decisions Group where he is currently an outside consultant. Dr. Ko graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with honors, and Stanford University with a PhD in Management Science and Engineering.

Erik Krogh
Practitioner Lecturer of Information Systems Technology Management

Dr. Erik Krogh has been a full-time member of the Pepperdine Graziadio Business School faculty since 2014 and became the academic director of the business school's MS in Business Analytics program in 2017. He holds a PhD in Information Systems from Claremont Graduate University, an MBA from the University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business, and graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science in Management from the Pepperdine Graziadio Business School.

Gary Mangiofico
Executive Professor of Management and Leadership

Dr. Gary L. Mangiofico is recognized as a strategic and iconic thought leader and who is “a role model and true believer in change.” Dr. Mangiofico has led strategic development, operations management and integration, and turnaround operations solving complex challenges as a CEO, COO, general management executive, and as a consultant for both start-ups and Fortune 50 companies. 

Jaclyn Margolis
Associate Professor of Applied Behavioral Science

Dr. Jaclyn Margolis holds a PhD in Management with a concentration in Organizational Behavior from Drexel University. She received her MBA from Drexel University and her BS in Finance and Economics with a minor in Psychology from Lehigh University. Dr. Margolis’s teaching focuses on organizational behavior, teamwork, leadership, and personal development. Her primary research interests include teams, leadership, motivation, and social comparison processes. Dr. Margolis worked in the financial services industry prior to pursuing her doctorate.

Brian McGilvray
Practitioner of Business Law

Dr. McGilvray currently teaches courses in leadership and ethics, business law, employment law, and negotiation and conflict resolution at Pepperdine University’s Graziadio Business School. Dr. McGilvray spent 25 years as a practicing attorney, specializing in the areas of business and corporate law, business planning and formation, business operations, employment law, and real estate.  His business experience includes executive positions in human resources and operations. 

Kyle Murphy
Practitioner Lecturer of Strategy

Kyle Murphy is a full-time practitioner faculty of strategy for both the MBA and BS in Management programs at the Graziadio Business School. He brings over 25 years of management experience with a variety of companies, specializing in mid-market and start-up technology companies with an emphasis on growth and innovation. He holds an MBA from Pepperdine University and a DBA from Manchester Business School.

Lynda Palmer
Practitioner of Marketing and Director of Education to Business (E2B)

With over 25 years of strategic marketing experience in varying industries including automotive, financial services and healthcare, Lynda Palmer brings a practitioner perspective to her teaching. Lynda Palmer currently serves as a strategic advisor to Liehr Marketing & Communications, a boutique marketing agency serving primarily automotive and healthcare related clients. 

Steve Ralph
Practitioner of Organization Theory Management

Dr. Steve Ralph serves as a faculty member with Pepperdine University’s Graziadio Business School, where he teaches courses in creativity and innovation, leadership, and team dynamics. Dr. Ralph’s consulting practice focuses on delivering customized workshops and retreats for organizations, applying his expertise in fostering ingenuity within individuals and teams, building innovative organizational cultures and utilizing the creative problem-solving process.

Samuel 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.

Dana Sumpter
Associate Professor of Organization Theory and Management

Professor Dana Sumpter is an Associate Professor of Organization Theory and Management. Previously, she was tenured professor at CSULB, and a Vice President of Human Resources at Citigroup based in New York and Singapore. Professor Sumpter's vision is to make work and workplaces more humane.  Her research employs a cross-cultural lens in understanding social behavior at work, studying topics including energy, mindfulness, power, work/family systems, support, and work relationships. 

Steven Swafford
Practitioner of Organization Theory and Management

Dr. Swafford is a full-time Practitioner of Organization Theory and Management at Pepperdine University’s Graziadio Business School. For more than 30 years, Dr. Swafford has worked with a variety of businesses, trade associations, and education-focused organizations in areas of strategy, leadership, emotional intelligence, communication, and c-suite coaching. 

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. 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.

Rick Walton
Associate Professor of Finance

Dr. Richard Walton is an associate professor of finance at the Pepperdine University Graziadio Business School. He earned a PhD in finance from the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University, an MBA from London Business School and a BA in philosophy, politics and economics from Oxford University. His research interests are primarily in the realm of empirical corporate finance with a focus on corporate governance, corporate takeovers and behavioral finance. 

Gia Honnen-Weisdorn
Practitioner of Business Law

Professor Honnen-Weisdorn is a Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science with a concentration in Public Law from Claremont Graduate University (PHD), a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar honors graduate of Columbia Law School (LLM), graduated magna cum laude from the University of San Diego School of Law (JD), and holds an MBA with a finance concentration from Pepperdine University.