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.
Mark Chun, PhD
Associate Professor of Information Systems Technology Management
Mark Chun is an Associate Professor at Pepperdine's Graziadio Business School. He recently served as the Interim Associate Dean of Executive Programs. He earned a PhD in Information Systems from the University of Colorado at Boulder. He received an MBA from the University of California, Irvine. He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree with an emphasis in management information systems from the University of Hawaii. He has worked for companies such as Intel Corporation, Pepsi Co. / Taco Bell, Coopers & Lybrand, and the Bank of Hawaii.
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
Associate Professor of Decision Sciences
Dr. Brian Jacobs is an associate 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. He has published in leading academic journals, and is currently serving in editorial roles for the Journal of Operations Management.
Dongshin Kim, PhD
Assistant 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.
Zhike Lei, PhD
Professor of Applied Behavioral Science
Dr. Zhike Lei is a professor of Applied Behavior Science and director of the Center for Applied Research at the Pepperdine Graziadio School. Dr. Lei is an award winning scholar in research areas of psychological safety, team adaptation, and managing and learning from errors. She holds a PhD in Organizational Behavior from Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Lei has taught executive programs and PhD graduates across the globe as well as undergraduates and MBA graduates.
Abraham Park, PhD
Associate Professor of Finance
Dr. Abraham U. Park is associate 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. Dr. Park holds a PhD from University of Cambridge, M. Phil. from University of Cambridge, JD from U.C. Berkeley, MPP from Harvard University, and a BA from UC Berkeley.
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.
Kyle Murphy, DBA
Practitioner Faculty of Strategy
Dr. Kyle Murphy has over 20 years of management experience with a variety of companies, from the Global 1000 to start-ups. His areas of specialization include strategy, branding, technology and operations management. Murphy received his Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) from Alliance Manchester Business School at The University of Manchester. Murphy's research is multidisciplinary and focuses on strategy, behavioral economics/finance, innovation, and branding.
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.
Jim Salas, PhD
Assistant Professor of Marketing
Dr. Jim Salas has more than 12 years of industry experience. His main research is focused on the implementation of service infusion strategies among traditional industrial manufacturers and was sponsored by the Center for Services Leadership at Arizona State University, where he won several teaching awards. In addition to teaching, Salas leads an international research team working extensively with a leading European technology company in implementing service infusion strategies.
David Smith, PhD
Associate Professor of Economics and Associate Provost for Online Programs
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. With extensive experience in both academia and business, Dr. Smith aims to translate the complexity of economics into the language of business.
Bobbi Thomason, PhD
Assistant 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. She is the International Researcher for Sheryl Sandberg's book, Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead. Dr. Thomason and her work have been featured in national and international media.
Mark Tribbitt, PhD
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, 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 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.
Executive DBA Program Chair