The College of Business and Information Technology thanks and appreciates Dr. Armand Ash for his continuous yearly support of Alumni Week!

Dr. Paul Miklovich
Keynote Speaker
Dr. Paul Miklovich, DBA'14
Dr. Paul Miklovich is an executive in healthcare management and leadership with over 35 years of experience in the private, public, and governmental sectors. For the last 30 years, he has worked at the Cleveland Clinic in a variety of roles in both technology and operations management. His experience covers all facets of hospital administration and the development of health care delivery systems in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Caribbean region.
Date and Time | Course and Instructor | Alum Speaker |
Monday, March 14th | ||
5:45 p.m. | INT 7563 Agile Project Management, Kioumars Paryani | E. Jon Schnellbacher Portfolio Mgt & Project Mgt Methods |
5:45 p.m. | MGT 3033 International Trade, Eric Schneider | Donald Fenton International Trade |
5:45 p.m. | MBA 6043 Reflective Leadership, Jennifer Hitchcock | Sanad Affara |
Tuesday, March 15th | ||
9:30 a.m. | MKT 2013 Principles of Marketing, Swati Verma | Craig Rasche |
5:45 p.m. | INT 2103 Info Tech Mgt, Zahraddeen Gwarzo | Paul White Information Systems Planning |
5:45 p.m. | INT 4303 IT Capstone, Christopher J. Atkinson | Alex Gawura |
5:45 p.m. | MGT 3113 Operations Management, Srikant Raghavan | Terry Onica |
5:45 p.m. | MBA 7063 Project Management, Hassan Taleb | Michelle Baker |
Wednesday, March 16th | ||
11:30 a.m. | Keynote | Paul Miklovich |
5:45 p.m. | INT 3203 Computer Network I, Zahraddeen Gwarzo | Patrick Synor Networking Evolution with Cloud Computing |
Thursday, March 17th | ||
4:20 p.m. | HRM 3023 Human Resource Mgt, Matt Cole | Dr. John Cox |
5:45 p.m. | ECN 6023 Global Business Economics, Andrew Malec | Tiffany Nair |
7:10 p.m. | MGT 3103 Project Management, Srikant Raghavan | Talisha Rice |
Friday, March 18th | ||
11:00 a.m. | MGT 4113 Applied Decision Analysis, Massood Omrani | Ana Hernandez Munt Applied Decision Analysis |
Monday, March 21st | ||
2:00 p.m. | MGT 2113 Principles of Management, Jackie Stavros | Donald James |
Date and Time | Course and Instructor | Alumni Speaker |
Tuesday, February 16 5:45 p.m. |
MBA 6073 Global Strategic Management, Dr. Stavros | Dr. Patricia Malone |
Tuesday, March 2 5 p.m. |
INT 7243 Disaster Recovery & Business Continuity, Dr. Savka | Mr. Alex Gawura |
Monday, March 8 2 p.m. |
HRM 3023 Human Resource Management, Dr. Cole | Dr. Sheryl Mitchell Theriot |
Monday, March 8 2:30 p.m. |
MGT 4213 Strategic Management and Business Policy, Dr. Hattat | Ms. Michelle Baker |
Tuesday, March 9 9:30 a.m. |
MKT 2013 Principles of Marketing, Dr. Verma | Mr. Ted Bott |
Monday, March 15 5:45 p.m. |
MGT 3033 International Trade, Prof. Schneider | Mr. Don Manfredi |
Tuesday, March 16 5:45 p.m. |
MBA 7053 Managing a Global Workforce, Dr. Castelli | Dr. Chris Atkinson |
Tues, March 23 5:45 p.m. |
MGT 3113 Operations Management, Dr. Raghavan | Ms. Terry Onica |

Terry Onica, BSBA ’90
Keynote Speaker
Terry Onica, BSBA ’90
As director of Automotive at QAD, Terry is responsible for global marketing activities which include strategy and positioning, offering people knowledge, and field and sales marketing support for the automotive vertical. Terry works closely with customers to drive best practices and earn preferred supplier status. She is an industry leader in the development and global adoption of supply chain industry standards and best practices. Prior to joining QAD, Terry had worked at GM, Ford, and Johnson Controls. Throughout her 30 year career, she has been immersed in the automotive supply chain and technology space.
Supply Chain Best Practices
Supply chains in the automotive industry are critical in an industry where quality parts delivered on-time to the assembly plant are crucial. Terry will provide an overview of how global industry best practices combined with today’s technologies help to reduce inventory, skill gaps, costs, and risk. This combination will help supply chains transform their businesses in the coming years from the internal combustion engine to electric and autonomous vehicles.
Date and Time | Course and Instructor | Alum Speaker |
Monday, March 18th | ||
2:00 pm | MGT 4213 Strategic Mgt & Bus Policy, Carl Belczynski | Constance Bell |
5:45 pm | MBA 6063 Operations & Supply Chain Mgt, Sree Raghavan | E. Jon Schnellbacher |
5:45 pm | MKT 3063 Integrated Marketing Communication, Derine McCrory | Sheri Hunter |
Tuesday, March 19th | ||
9:30 am | MKT 2013 Principles of Marketing, Don Manfredi | Chuck Knight |
11:00 am | MGT 3033 International Trade, Eric Schneider | Craig Rasche |
2:00 pm | FIN 3103 Financial Management, Pavlo Tsebro | John Edwards |
2:00 pm | ACC 2013 Intro to Financial Accounting, Tony Zhang | David Campbell |
4:20 pm | HRM 3023 Human Resource Mgt, Matt Cole | John Cox |
5:45 pm | MGT 3113 Operations Mgt, Sree Raghavan | Tony Kelso |
5:45 pm | INT 2103 Info Tech Mgt, Steven Hsiao | Vladimir Rozovskiy |
Wednesday, March 20th | ||
11:30 am | KEYNOTE | Terry Onica |
5:45 pm | MBA 7063 Project Management, Kioumars Paryani | Sanad Affara |
5:45 pm | INT 6113 Database Modeling, Justin Ku | Venkata Rathna Anirudh Mamidipaka |
5:45 pm | INT 7623 Data Science for Business, Steven Hsiao | Varun Vikram |
Thursday, March 21st 5:45 pm |
MGT3103 Project Management, Hassan Taleb | William Moylan |
Monday, April 9th 5:45 pm |
INT 2103 Info Tech Mgt, Steven Hsiao | Jim Chasse |
Keynote Speaker
Ronald Muccioli, BSIM ‘69
Executive Director, Roush Industries
Senior Advisor to Dean for Transportation Design, Lawrence Technological University
Ronald Muccioli is Executive Director of Business Development at Roush Industries and a Senior Advisor and Adjunct Professor for LTU’s Department of Transportation Design. Ron has a wealth of international experience in the automotive industry. He began his career as an engineer with Ford Motor Company, where he worked on the first energy absorbing bumper system for which he has a co-patent.
After receiving his MBA he was promoted to Product Planning where he held various vehicle line positions, including Manager of Product Development in Brazil. Back in the U.S., he was involved in various sports car and motor sports functions, including Business Manager of the Ford Formula One team. Ron was also Chief Engineer for Mustang. He then moved to Fiat as Executive Director in Italy and the U.S. for 7 years, and at the same time was Managing Director for International Automotive Consultants, working with the CEOs/Presidents of several automotive suppliers on management organization, business development, and marketing. While at Fiat, Ron sold complete body shops to Ford Brazil, Ford Russia, Ford Turkey, and GM China. He joined Roush in 2003 and is responsible for the Global Ford account and all Roush business in China.
International Business Customs: Europe, South America, and Asia
Date and Time | Course and Instructor | Alum Speaker |
Monday, March 12 | ||
11:00 am | INT 2103 Information Technology Management, Professor Caushaj | Josue Diaz, What is Dimension Data? |
11:00 am | INT 2143 Database Systems I, Dr. Ku | Chuck Hill, Databases and What to Expect in the Real World |
4:20 pm | MGT 3113 Operations Management, Dr. Raghavan | Tony Kelso, Lean Operations |
5:45 pm | INT 7253 Visual Analytics, Dr. Ku | Chaitalii Desai, Importance of Visual Analytics in IT |
5:45 pm | MBA 6043 Global Leadership, Dr. Castelli | Martin Monte, Creating Ethical Culture |
Tuesday, March 13 | ||
9:30 pm | MKT 2013 Principles of Marketing, Dr. Verma | Chuck knight, General Management & Marketing: My Story |
4:20 pm | HRM 3023 Human Resource Management, Dr. Cole | John Cox, Emotionally Intelligent Teams |
4:20 pm | MGT 4213 Strategic Management and Business Policy, Dr. Zhu | Craig Rasche, My Ticket to Business from LTU |
5:45 | MBA 7053 Managing a Global Workforce, Dr. Castelli | Deborah Dicesare, Paradox and Leading Others |
Wednesday, March 14 | ||
5:45 pm | MBA 6053 Strategic Marketing Management, Dr. Zhu | Wadeeah Alshawi, Overview of Project Management Process and its Phases |
5:45 pm | MBA 7063 Project Management, Dr. Johnson | Michelle Baker, Digital Project & Program Management Applications |
Thursday, March 15: 11:00 am |
INT 4423 Data Science for Business, Dr. Hsiao | Aleksander Velkoski, Introduction to Artificial Intelligence |
Thursday, March 22: 5:45 pm |
MGT 3103 Project Management, Dr. Omrani | Wadeeah Alshawi, Overview of Project Management Process and its Phases |

Dr. Sheryl Mitchell, DBA '14
Dr. Sheryl Mitchell, DBA '14
City Manager of the City of Albion
Mitchell is the city manager for the City of Albion and chief administrative officer of the city, including management of a $14 million annual budget. She coordinates all city departments to implement the programs and policies of the City Council. Mitchell is focused on building a more vibrant community. Key components are economic vitality through job creation, and stabilizing and revitalizing the businesses and neighborhoods. Sheryl currently serves on the boards of the Greater Albion Chamber of Commerce, Summit Pointe, Calhoun County Health Commission, Regional Health Alliance, Albion Branch NAACP, and Ismon House. She began her municipal career working with the City of Detroit City Council for 13 years and then as Senior Analyst for the Oakland County Board of Commissioners for 17 years.
Sheryl Warren Mitchell received her Doctorate in Business Administration from Lawrence Technological University. She successfully defended her dissertation, An Exploratory Study of Priority Based Budgeting: Identification of Public Values and Public Priorities through Citizen Engagement in Government Budgeting Decisions, in 2014. She was also honored as one of two recipients of the 2014 Edward Donley Distinguished Graduate Award for excellence in academic, community, and campus leadership.
Learning to SOAR™: Changing Your Mindset to Change Your Position
Date and Time | Course and Instructor | Alum Speaker |
Monday, March 13 | ||
9:30 am | ACC 2023 Intro to Managerial Accounting, Dr. Tuo | DeLonda Courtland, Transitioning from Classroom to the Workplace |
11:00 am | INT2143 Database Systems I, Dr. Kohnke | Tim Balogh, Ford’s College Graduate Program |
4:20 pm | MGT 3113 Operations Management, Dr. Raghavan | Rose-Ellen Filthaut, Administration of Business Practices that Contribute to Efficiency |
5:45 pm | MGT 3103 Project Management, Dr. Omrani | Cedric Clark, Communication |
5:45 pm | MBA 6043 Global Leadership, Dr. Castelli | Martin Monte, Leadership Challenges with a Global Workforce |
Tuesday, March 14 | ||
9:30 am | Principles of Marketing, Dr. Verma | Ted Bott. Being Special |
9:30 am | MGT 3033 International Trade, Professor Deska | Shannon Dare Wayne, Middle East & Africa Automotive Overview |
2:00 pm | MKT 4013 Consumer Behavior, Dr. Verma | Ivan Garcia, Hotel Management/Consumer Needs |
4:20 pm | HRM 3023 Human Resource Management, Dr. Cole | John Cox, Working in Teams |
4:20 pm | MGT 4213 Strategic Management & Business Policy, Dr. Zhu | Tim McAra, Casting Vision/Leading Change |
5:45 pm | INT 7253 Visual Analytics, Dr. Ku | Megan Brunner, The importance of an open mind and effective communication when researching an existing function and effectively implementing change |
5:45 pm | INT 6043 Enterprise Information Technology, Dr. Hsiao | Rod Davenport, The Nature of Strategy in Enterprise IT |
5:45 pm | ACC 3053 Individual Income Tax,Dr. Tuo | Julie Gregory, Socio-Economic Status and Taxes |
5:45 pm | MBA 6073 Global Strategic Management, Dr. Marx | Michael Sage, DTE’s Strategic Management |
Wednesday, March 15 | ||
5:45 pm | MBA 7063 Project Management, Dr. Johnson | Rajiv Shah, Project Management |
5:45 pm | MBA 6053 Strategic Marketing Management, Dr. Zhu | Michelle Baker, Non-traditional ways of delivering a marketing message |
5:45 pm | INT 7593 Information Technology Integration, Professor Caushaj | Joshua Olvera, Ford’s College Graduate Program |
Thursday, March 16 | ||
5:45 pm | ECN 6023 Global Business Economics, Dr. Marx | Jeffery Creighton, Always Under Construction! |
5:45 pm | INT 6123 System Analysis & Design, Dr. Kohnke | Greg Rourk, Enterprise Architecture |

Mr. David Johnson BSBA '92
Keynote Speaker
Mr. David Johnson BSBA '92
Vice President of Customer Service & Marketing at DTE
David L. Johnson, is the vice president of Customer Service & Marketing for DTE Electric,an electric utility serving 2.1 million customers in Southeastern Michigan, and DTE Gas, a natural gas utility which provides service to 1.2 million homes and businesses in Michigan. Both are operating units of DTE Energy (NYSE:DTE), a diversified energy company involved in the development and management of energy-related businesses and services nationwide. The DTE Energy portfolio also includes non-utility energy businesses focused on power and industrial projects, natural gas pipelines, gathering and storage, and energy marketing and trading. Johnson is responsible for leading day to day customer service operations which includes call centers, business offices, billing and meter reading services, credit and collections, and theft. He is also responsible for customer marketing, major account services and customer research. Johnson joined DTE Energy in 1999, and has served in a variety of progressively more responsible roles. He previously served as director of revenue management and protection. He has over 20 years of leadership experience in customer service, working previously as vice president of customer service for San Antonio Water System and as senior manager at AT&T.
Sheryl Warren Mitchell received her Doctorate in Business Administration from Lawrence Technological University. She successfully defended her dissertation, An Exploratory Study of Priority Based Budgeting: Identification of Public Values and Public Priorities through Citizen Engagement in Government Budgeting Decisions, in 2014. She was also honored as one of two recipients of the 2014 Edward Donley Distinguished Graduate Award for excellence in academic, community, and campus leadership.
Leveraging Relationships in Business: Attributes that Leaders look for in Employees
Date and Time | Course and Instructor | Alum Speaker |
Monday, March 14 | ||
9:30 am | Intro to Managerial Accounting, Dr. Tuo | John Edwards, Innovation and the role of finance |
11:00 am | Database Design, Dr. Ku | Chuck Hill, Over 20 years of database experience. |
4:20 pm | Operations Management, Dr. Raghavan | Shannon Dare, Operations Management – Automotive |
5:45 pm | Telecommunications and Networks, Dr. Dillard | Mark Noble, Wireless Communications |
5:45 pm | Strategic Management and Business Policy, Dr. Omrani | Nicholas Elliott, Corporate Governance |
5:45 pm | Human Resource Management, Dr. Castelli | Patrice Banks, Staffing, Performance Management, Training and Development |
5:45 pm | Global Strategic Management, Dr. Taj | Thomas Namovich, Defining one's self with new skills, and applying this to successful global opportunities |
Tuesday, March 15 | ||
11:00 am | HRM 3023 Human Resource Management, Professor Swiantek | Patrice Banks, The importance of training and development and how mentoring and coaching strengthens a good team |
4:20 pm | HRM 4023 Organization Development and Change Management, Dr. Cole | Patrice Banks, Organizational Structures, Performance and Productivity, Quality Improvement, Organizational culture |
5:45 pm | MBA 6043 Global Leadership, Dr. Marx | Jeffery Creighton, "Always Under Construction" |
5:45 pm | MBA 6063-01 Operations and Supply Chain Management, Dr. Raghavan | Cedric Clark, Introduction of a quality used for complex root cause analysis |
5:45 pm | MGT 3103 Project Management, Professor Drommi | Rajiv Shah, Project Management |
Wednesday, March 16 5:45 pm |
MBA 7063 Project Management, Professor Drommi | Meghan Brunner, Project Management in Health Care |

Fred VanderVoord, MSIO '99
Keynote Speaker
Fred VanderVoord, MSIO '99
Fred VanderVoord has spent the last 20 years of his career at the Chrysler Tech Center in Auburn Hills, now owned by FCA (Fiat Chrysler Automobiles).
Fred was hired into the Product Design Office and has spent his entire time in that branch of the company. Fred spent 19 years fulfilling roles in operations within the Design Office and most recently moved to Planner for Dodge and Ram Studio. In this new role he has become responsible for workforce engineering, projecting future product budgets for the Product Design Office, and arranging development activities that support the design and styling of future vehicles for Dodge and Ram design studios. Previously he was the Manager of the Milling, Digitizing, Rapid Prototype department which accomplished all industrial operations necessary in the world of automotive design and styling for Chrysler. Before joining Chrysler, Fred served 4 years in the United States Marine Corps, honorably discharged as a sergeant, and spent 10 years as the Photogrammetric Mapping Manager of Air-Land Surveys in Clarkston, MI.
Mr. VanderVoord holds a B.S. in Applied Mathematics from Ferris State University.
Keynote topic: Where we were - Where we are - Where we are going: Attempting to bring awareness to how the framework of our present and past influences our future characteristics.
Date and Time | Course and Instructor | Alum Speaker |
Monday, March 16 | ||
11:00 am | MKT 4013 Consumer Behavior, Professor Kiani | Carrie Devone, Market Trends |
11:00 am | INT 3803 Database Design, Professor Ku | Timothy Balogh, Jon Bezak, Ford's College Graduate Program |
5:45 pm | MBA 7063 Project Mgt, Professor Phillips | Gene Gutt, Visibility vs Meetings |
5:45 pm | INT 4013 Telecom & Networks, Professor Martella | Paul Benvenuti, Ford's College Graduate Program |
5:45 pm | MBA 6073 Global Strategic Mgt, Professor Marx | Tracey Boltik, Opportunities After Graduation |
6:15 pm | MGT 4213 Strategic Mgt, Professor Omrani | Gene Gutt, Organization Structure |
6:45 pm | MBA 7063 Project Mgt, Professor Droomi | Gene Gutt, Visibility vs Meetings |
Tuesday, March 17 | ||
11:00 am | HRM 3023 HR Mgt, Professor Egleston | Althea Hale, Training & Development |
11:00 am | MGT 4113 Applied Decision Analysis, Professor Paryani | Gene Gutt, Assumptions |
5:45 pm | MGT 3103 Project Mgt, Professor Phillips | Gene Gutt, What vs How |
Wednesday, March 18 | ||
5:45 pm | INT 3103 Info Tech Mgt, Professor Alexandris | Jon Bezak, Alex Zarembo, Ford's College Graduate Program |
5:45 pm | MBA 6053 Strategic Marketing Mgt, Professor Mathur | Gene Gutt, Critical Focus |
6:15 pm | INT 3603 eBusiness Strategy, Professor Montgomery | Gene Gutt, Defined for Use |
5:45 pm | MBA 6043 Global Leadership, Professor Marx | Michelle Baker, Global Project Leadership |
5:45 pm | INT 6113 Database Modeling and Administration, Professor Ku | Aleksandar Velkoski, Big Data & NoSQL Databases |
Thursday, March 19 | ||
11:00 am | MGT 4113, Professor Paryani | Aleksandar Velkoski, Decisions Under Uncertainty in the Real World |
5:45pm | INT 3203 Technical Infrastructure, Professor Sanford | Josh Olivera, Ford's College Graduate Program |
5:45 pm | INT 4303 IT Business Strategy, Professor Neary | Craig Rasche, From LIT through 35 Years in IT |

Rosemary K. Bayer, CIMBA '03
Keynote Speaker
Rosemary Bayer is Chief Inspiration Officer of ardentCause L3C, a nationally-recognized technology company serving the nonprofit and education industries with software solutions that achieve better outcomes through data collection, mining, analysis, visualization and communication of results. The company provides unique capabilities for improving organizational performance and enabling effective collaboration and community impact through cross-organizational information sharing.
At ardentCause, Rosemary is CEO and leads product development. Before ardentCause, Rosemary spent 25 years in information technology at Sun Microsystems, Amdahl and Control Data Corporation; as systems engineer/inventor; engineering management; and General Management of a large global division.
Since August, 2012, Rosemary is also the lead instructor for the Michigan Inforum ACTiVATE® program, a 10 month educational program originally created with the support of the National Science Foundation, designed to help women start technology companies and leverage technology transfer from research universities in the U.S
Rosemary co-founded the Michigan Council of Women in Technology and its Foundation, providing support for girls and women pursuing technology careers and interests.
Be a Master Builder (don't follow the instructions)
Date | Course | Alum Speaker |
Monday, March 17 | ||
INT 6043 Enterprise Information Technology | Craig Rasche, BSBA'79 | |
INT 7233 Network Security | Terry Hall, MSIS'09 | |
MBA 6073 Global Strategic Management | Martin Monte, MBA'11, BSET '98 | |
Tuesday, March 18 | ||
MGT 3113 Operations Management | Patrice Banks, MBA'12 | |
INT 5024 Business Application Programming | James Ureel, MSIS'05, MSCS'05 | |
MBA 6073 Global Strategic Management | David Broome, MSIS'96 | |
INT 6123 Systems Analysis and Design | Paul Benvenuti, BSBA'90 | |
INT 6123 Systems Analysis and Design | Tim Balogh | |
MBA 7063 Project Management | Wafa Bunney | |
Wednesday, March 19 | ||
MGT 3103 Project Management | James Baumgartner, MGLM'13 | |
INT 7513 Business Analytics and Data Mining and MBA 5013 Business Application of Statistics | Aleksandar Velkoski, DBA'12, MBA'08, BSBA'06 | |
MBA 6043 Global Leadership |
Jeffery Creighton, MBA '12 | |
Thursday, March 20 | ||
INT 6113 Database Modeling & Administration | John Bezak and Alex Zarembo | |
INT 6043 Enterprise Information Technology | Paul Benvenuti, BSBA'90 | |
Tuesday, March 25 | MBA 6053 Strategic Marketing Management | Robert Stempien, MGLM '13 |
Thursday, March 27 | HRM 3023 Human Resource Management | Keith Schweizer, MGLM '13 |

Cary Wood, MSIO'96
Keynote Speaker
Our Keynote Speaker for the week is Cary Wood, MSIO'96. Cary will be giving a presentation on Thursday, March 21st at 12:15 pm in the Marburger Auditorium as part of LTU's Blue Devil Entrepreneurial Venture Series. His topic will be 21st Century Product Development & Manufacturing.
Cary is President & CEO of Sparton Corporation, and is on the College of Management Board of Advisors. Cary will also be speaking to our FIN 6013 & GLM 6353 classes in the evening after his keynote address.
Date | Course | Alum Speaker |
Monday, March 18th | GLM 6063 Managing a Global Workforce | Tony R. Lyons, DMIT |
Tuesday, March 19th | MIS 6123 Analysis & Design | Linda Puzey, MSIS'09 |
OPM 3113 Operations Mgt | Josue Diaz, MSOM'11 | |
INT 3503 Project Mgt in IT | Stephen McCue, BSIT'09 | |
MGT 2203 Mgt & Supervision | Robert Bruttell, BSBA | |
MKT 6013 Marketing Mgt | Quincy Jones, MBA'11 | |
Wednesday, March 20th | HRM 6023 Human Resource Mgt | Chris Kurowski, BSIM'71 |
MGT 6043 Ethics & Business in Society | Eric Yeaster, MBA | |
INT 4303 IT Business Strategy | Mike Dawwas DMIT'10 | |
Thursday, March 21st | GLM 6343 Business Sustainability | Jeffrey Creighton, MBA'12 |
MGT 6153 Project Mgt | Richard VanCleave, BSIM'84 | |
HRM 3043 Organizational Development | Georgine Fogel, DBA'11 | |
MGT 1213 Introduction to Business | Fadi Baradihi, DBA'12 |