Executive DBA Faculty
Executive Doctor of Business Administration
The Pepperdine Graziadio Business School Executive Doctor of Business Administration program is led by faculty with both executive business and applied research expertise. Highlighted are the outstanding faculty who teach and advise in this academically rigorous program.
Nelson F. Granados, PhD
Academic Director, Executive Doctor of Business Administration
Professor of Information Systems and Technology Management
Dr. Nelson Granados' expertise is in the strategic and economic consequences of digital
innovation. Previously, Dr. Granados worked in the airline industry and at IBM. Dr.
Granados received his PhD in Information and Decision Sciences from the Carlson School
of Management where he also received an MS in Applied Economics and an MS in Business
Administration. He holds a BS in Industrial Engineering from Universidad de los Andes.
Jillian Alderman, PhD
Associate Professor of Accounting
Dr. Jillian Alderman is an Assistant Professor of Accounting at the Graziadio Business School at Pepperdine University. Prior to her academic experience, Jillian worked as an auditor at Deloitte, and is professionally licensed as a CPA (Florida) and Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE). She is a current member of the AICPA, IMA, CalCPA, ACFE, and AAA professional organizations and serves as Associate Editor for the Journal of Forensic Accounting Research.
Ann Feyerherm, PhD
Professor of Organizational Theory and Management
Dr. Feyerherm is professor of organizational theory and management at Graziadio. In her work, she is interested in increasing human capacity through strength-based approaches. Her work has been published in the Leadership Quarterly, The Graziadio Business Report, and several book chapters. She regularly presents at the Academy of Management.
Cristina Gibson, PhD
University Professor
Dr. Cristina Gibson's expertise is at the nexus of organizational science, international management, and cross-cultural psychology. Dr. Gibson strives for real world impact and is a prolific and highly accomplished scholar with over 18,000 citations to date. Dr. Gibson previously served as the Dean's Professor of Leadership and Teams at the University of California, Irvine where she also obtained her PhD in Organizational Behavior.
Kevin S. Groves, PhD
Professor of Organizational Theory and Management
Dr. Kevin S. Groves is a professor of management and president of Groves Consulting Group, which supports businesses with leadership and organization development solutions. Dr. Groves' research is currently focused on talent management and the ROI of leadership development practices. Dr. Groves holds a PhD in Organizational Behavior from Claremont Graduate University, where he also earned his MA in the same field.
Anthony Hatzimoysis, PhD
Visiting Professor of Philosophy and Epistemology
Anthony Hatzimoysis is an expert in epistemology. He has held academic posts at the University College London, the University of Manchester, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology; he is a visiting professor at Alliance Manchester Business School, and associate professor of contemporary philosophy at the University of Athens. Anthony is co-founder of the European Philosophical Society for the Study of Emotions, and has written extensively on the philosophy of values, and on the nature of self-knowledge.
Brian Jacobs, PhD
Professor of Decision Sciences
Dr. Brian Jacobs is a professor of decision sciences at the Pepperdine Graziadio Business School. He has over 20 years experience in business, mainly as a manufacturing manager and project manager in the primary metals and automotive assembly industries. His research interests and areas of expertise include sustainability and environmental operations, process improvement, operations strategy, and the financial/market value of operations strategies.
Dongshin Kim, PhD
Associate Professor of Finance and Real Estate
Dongshin Kim earned a BS in Engineering and an MS in Finance from Seoul National University. He also received an MS and a PhD in Real Estate from Robinson College of Business, Georgia State University. Dr. Kim's research focus is in the areas of commercial real estate, mortgages, real estate investment trusts and housing economics.
Clark Johnson, PhD
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.
Abraham Park, PhD
Professor of Finance
Dr. Abraham U. Park is professor of finance. Courses he has taught include Real Estate Investments & Finance and Corporate Finance at the MBA level. His current research is related to REITs and Corporate Real Estate. Dr. Park has over 12 years of experience in a variety of industries. They include law, a Silicon Valley technology start up venture, management consulting, hedge funds, and global real estate finance.
John Mooney, PhD
Professor of Information Systems Technology Management
Dr. John Mooney's expertise is in digital innovation and business analytics. Dr. Mooney is a co-founder of Realex Payments and served as a non-executive director until its acquisition in 2015. Dr. Mooney holds a PhD in Information Systems and Business Strategy from University of California Irvine, and a Master of Management Science with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science both from University College Dublin, Ireland.
Cole Short, PhD
Assistant Professor of Strategy
Dr. Short’s research explores how strategic leaders navigate disruptions to create value. This work examines topics such as the motivations and consequences of strategic decision making, how executive characteristics adapt and influence firm strategy, and the implications of natural language processing techniques on organizational research and practice.
Cristel Russell, PhD
Professor of Marketing
Cristel is a leading researcher at the intersection of entertainment and marketing. She is keenly interested in how people consume stories: narrative processing (including biometric studies to assess cognitive processing), narrative persuasion (the ability of stories, and messages therein, to persuade), the experience of narratives (how and why people enjoy reading and re-reading stories; or what happens when a narrative ends), and the use of narratives methodologically to understand lived experiences and identify processes such as resilience or addiction.
Jamie Salas, PhD
Practitioner of Marketing
Dr. Salas is a practitioner of marketing at Pepperdine Graziadio 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.
David Smith, PhD
Professor of Economics
Senior Associate Provost in IT and Online Learning and International Program Facilities
Dr. David Smith has had the privilege of working at Pepperdine for 20 years and most recently served as the 8th Dean of the Graziadio School. A labor economist with an applied focus, his research on credit unions has been used in arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court as well as in state legislative hearings.
Bobbi Thomason, PhD
Associate Professor of Applied Behavioral Science
Dr. Bobbi Thomason's research explores how individuals of traditionally under-represented social categories work and pursue their careers globally. Her work contributes to existing scholarship by focusing on how women overcome professional barriers to their career ascension. Dr. Thomason has worked in conflict management consulting and as a Research Associate at the Harvard Business School and the Harvard Kennedy School.
Dana Sumpter, PhD
Associate Professor of Organization Theory and Management
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. Across 10 Asia-Pacific nations, she has led live executive training and coached executives on people management skills and leadership.
Rick Walton, PhD
Assistant Professor of Finance
Dr. Richard Walton is an assistant 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.
Chris Worley, PhD
Research Professor Emeritus of Management
Dr. Chris Worley is a recognized leader in the field of organization development, agility, and organization design. His applied research and consulting practice is complemented by more than fifteen years of management experience in academic, for profit, and government organizations. Dr. Worley holds a PhD from the University of Southern California, an MS from Pepperdine University, and an MS from Colorado State University.
Testimonials
The scope of globalization, complexity, and competitiveness evident in business today is creating a need for executives who have higher levels of insight and deeper expertise. The DBA program provides intellectually curious executives a rigorous, research-based learning experience where students leverage their experience to develop new insights and facilitate their growth to become reflective, evidence-driven thought leaders who shape future business practice and impacts.
Professor of Information Systems Technology Management