Cyrus Aram

Lecturer

Cyrus Aram

MBA, UC Davis Graduate School of Management

Lecturer Cyrus Aram brings over 20 years of private and public sector experience in the areas of customer strategy, business transformation, planning, program, change and quality management. He has domain level expertise in customer strategy, business process transformation, lean sigma, program and change management, performance management and business controls, and thought leadership. He is also an adjunct faculty at the Sacramento State College of Business Administration.

Robert Smelick

Ciocca Visiting Professorship in Innovation and Entrepreneurship, 2014 Visiting Faculty, 2011 Robert A. Fox Executive-in-Residence

Robert Smelick

Managing Partner and CEO, Headland Ventures, San Francisco, Calif.

Adjunct faculty at the Darden School of Business, University of Virginia. Visiting lecturer at University of Washington; Harvard University; Georgetown University; the University of San Francisco; Duke University; and the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill.

Served on the boards of several private and public companies, including Kaiser Steel, Willamette Industries, King Broadcasting and The Wine Group (one of the world’s largest wine companies).

Workshops Taught

Leadership Series

Joe DiNunzio

Executive Director, Mike and Renee Child Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Adjunct Assistant Professor

Portrait of Joe DiNunzio

Master of Business Administration, Stanford University, 1988
Bachelor of Arts, Psychology, Harvard University, 1984

Research Expertise
Innovation, Entrepreneurship, Strategy, Operations

Mark Smith

Lecturer

Portrait of Mark Smith

Mark Smith is a UC Davis Graduate School of Management alum and director of public policy, Western Region for Ducks Unlimited (DU). 

Smith’s primary responsibilities included managing federal and state government relations in nine Western states (HI, AK, WA, OR, CA, AZ, NV, UT, ID). 

Brad M. Barber

Distinguished Professor Emeritus
AAAS Fellow

Brad Barber profile shot

Ph.D., University of Chicago, Booth School of Business
Ph.D., University of Maryland

Research Expertise
Behavioral finance, asset pricing, gender, and private equity.

Teaching Expertise
Financial Theory and Policy

Sharad Gupta

Lecturer

Portrait of Sharad Gupta

Master of Business Administration (MBA), UC Davis Graduate School of Management

Sharad Gupta is an executive leader with large-scale strategy and execution background in driving modern data and analytics and technology transformations in the healthcare industry. He is a tech-savvy leader and is an industry-recognized thought-leader with focus on applying data science, artificial intelligence/machine learning, data science, digital technologies, and modern architectures for business growth and transformations.

H. Rao Unnava

Michael and Joelle Hurlston Dean and Professor of Marketing

Dean H. Rao Unnava

Ph.D., The Ohio State University

Research Expertise
Advertising, brand management, promotions, international marketing and consumer behavior

Harold Schmitz

Senior Scholar

Headshot of Harold Schmitz

Ph.D., North Carolina State University

A 20-year veteran at Mars, Visiting Professor Harold Schmitz has been chief science officer since 2005. His responsibilities include strategy development, program alignment and quality control of the company’s multidisciplinary scientific research programs. He has previously held various positions within Mars in scientific and regulatory affairs, fundamental research, analytical and applied sciences and corporate functions.

Suzy Taherian

Lecturer

Suzy Taherian

Master of Business Administration (MBA), Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Management

Suzy Taherian has over 20 years of experience as a senior executive for international industrial companies. She started her career with Exxon and Chevron and transitioned to CFO of a mid-size company.

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