Faculty Profile | UC Davis Graduate School of Management

Profile

Elizabeth Pontikes

Professor

Ph.D., Stanford Graduate School of Business

Research Expertise
Category strategy, market evolution, stigma in markets

Elizabeth Pontikes is a professor of management at the University of California, Davis, which she joined in 2019. She was formerly on the faculty of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business as an associate professor and was a visiting associate professor at the Kellogg School of Management. She is an associate editor at Management Science and a senior editor at Strategy Science.

Pontikes studies market categorization, innovation, and technological change. She

Noah Gift

Profile

Noah Gift

Lecturer

Master of Business Administration (MBA), University of California, Davis
Master of Science (M.S.), Cal State Los Angeles
Bachelor of Science (B.S.), Cal Poly San Luis Obispo

Noah Gift is lecturer and consultant at UC Davis Graduate School of Management in the MSBA program. He is teaching graduate machine learning and consulting on Machine Learning and Cloud Architecture for students and faculty. He has published close to 100 technical publications including two books on subjects ranging from Cloud Machine Learning to DevOps. He is also a certified AWS Solutions Architect and has an MBA from

Chih-Ling Tsai

Profile

Chih-Ling Tsai

Distinguished Professor of Management (Emeritus)

Ph.D., University of Minnesota

Research Expertise
Regression analysis, model selection, high-dimensional data, time series, biostatistics, application of statistics in business.

Teaching Field
Statistics

Professor Chih-Ling Tsai is a recognized expert in the practical application of statistics in business, including regression analysis, model selection, high-dimensional data, time series and biostatistics. He has had more than 100 research papers published in academic journals relating to statistics, marketing, finance and biostatistics. He teaches courses on forecasting and managerial

Hollis Skaife

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Hollis Skaife

Professor Emerita

Ph.D., University of Iowa

Research Expertise
International financial reporting issues and corporate governance, including the role of internal control and auditing in the development of high-quality financial information.

A former practicing Certified Public Accounting (CPA), Hollis Skaife earned her master's and Ph.D. in accounting from the University of Iowa. She has taught various accounting courses at the undergraduate, master's and Ph.D. levels and currently teaches financial accounting to Master of Professional Accountancy (MPAc) and Master of Business Administration (MBA) students

Marc Lowe

Profile

Marc Lowe

Continuing Lecturer

Master of Business Administration (MBA), University of California, Los Angeles
Bachelor of Science (B.S.), Genetics, UC Davis

Research Expertise
Product Management, New and Small Business Ventures, Business Planning

Marc Lowe is managing partner and founder of Praxis Ventures, a consultancy advising high-potential technology companies on strategy development, venture capital financing and M&A transactions. Praxis Ventures has been instrumental in raising more than $200 million in venture capital financing for its clients and has advised on M&A transactions and initial public offerings

Hemant Vaidya

Profile

Hemant Vaidya

Lecturer and Director of Biotechnology Industry Immersion

Ph.D. Microbiology, Sardar Patel University, India
Post Doctoral Fellowship in Clinical Chemistry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis MO

Research Expertise
Healthcare, In Vitro Diagnostics, product development, executive management, Healthcare Biotechnology

Hemant Vaidya, who has a Ph.D. in microbiology is a lecturer and director of the Biotechnology Industry Immersion program at the UC Davis Graduate School of Management. Until 2021 he taught Entrepreneurship Clinic at the same school. He is also an independent consultant in the In-Vitro Diagnostics (IVD) space and a

Daniel Kennedy

Profile

Daniel Kennedy

Lecturer

Master of Arts (M.A.), University of Toronto

Research Expertise
The development of persuasive, professional speaking and writing skills for business, and the use of critical thinking protocols that optimize decision making.

Lecturer Daniel Kennedy was director of marketing operations for the 1980 national census within the Promotions Office of the U.S. Census in Washington, D.C. He received a Silver Anvil award from the Public Relations Society of America for the best nonprofit or government national promotion campaign that year. He later became the national director of information services

Nick Briscoe

Profile

Nick Briscoe

Lecturer

Master of Science (M.S.), UC Davis

Nicholas Briscoe is Chief Economist at Briscoe Economics Group, Inc. He provides valuation consulting and expert witness testimony in a wide variety of economic and financial matters. He teaches as the UC Davis Graduate School of Management as part of the adjunct faculty. Briscoe’s prior positions include manager in the forensic services division of the accounting firm Crowe Horwath, LLP, as well as Senior Economist at Cohen | Volk Economic Consulting Group.

Briscoe has earned a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree from UC Davis as well as has obtained

Nicole Woolsey Biggart

Profile

Nicole Woolsey Biggart

Research Professor and Professor Emerita

Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley
Chair, Social, Political and Economic Sciences section of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Research Expertise
Economic and organizational sociology, firm networks, industrial change and social bases of technology adoption.

Course Taught
Strategic Innovations in Energy Efficiency

Fast Facts
One of the School’s founding faculty members, and an alumna of UC Davis
Influential in shaping the School’s community, values and learning environment through her teaching and leadership

Nicole Woolsey Biggart joined the Graduate School of

Suzy Taherian

Profile

Suzy Taherian

Lecturer

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.

On June 1, 2021, Taherian became CFO at Xpansiv, a global online exchange for ESG-inclusive commodities. She previously served as CFO of Wrightspeed, a World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer company, and continues to serve on their board of directors. She also serves on the board of directors of

Harold Schmitz

Profile

Harold Schmitz

Senior Scholar

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.

Schmitz joined the Graduate School of Management community in August 2013 to focus on business innovation in food and agriculture

H. Rao Unnava

Profile

H. Rao Unnava

Michael and Joelle Hurlston Dean and Professor of Marketing

Ph.D., The Ohio State University

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

Dean Unnava’s research focuses on issues related to brand loyalty, consumer response to advertising and sales promotions and consumer memory. His work has appeared in the Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Consumer Research, Marketing Letters, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Journal of International Consumer Marketing and Advances in Consumer Research. He is on the editorial review boards of the Journal of Consumer Research and Journa

Sharad Gupta

Profile

Sharad Gupta

Lecturer

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.

Gupta is currently the senior vice president, chief data & analytics officer at

Brad M. Barber

Profile

Brad M. Barber

Distinguished Professor Emeritus | AAAS Fellow

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

Distinguished Professor Emeritus Brad Barber is an internationally recognized authority on investor psychology, stock analyst recommendations, online trading, and mutual fund performance. His research includes the effect of expenses on money flowing into mutual funds, gender-related overconfidence in stock trading, the impact of coordinated trading by individual investors, and how

Mark Smith

Profile

Mark Smith

Lecturer

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).

As a member of DU’s government relations team, Smith’s primary duties include policy advocacy with federal, state, and local elected officials, appointees, and regulatory bodies (Department of Interior, Natural Resources Agencies, Fish and Wildlife departments, others), managing DU’s coalition engagements, and

Joe DiNunzio

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Joe DiNunzio

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

Master of Business Administration (MBA), Stanford Graduate School of Business, 1988
Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), Psychology, Harvard University, 1984

Research Expertise
Innovation, Entrepreneurship, Leadership, Management Consulting, Entertainment & Media, Technology

Areas of Expertise
Operations Management, Management & Organizations, Technology Management

Joe DiNunzio serves as an assistant adjunct professor at the UC Davis Graduate School of Management, where he teaches MBA and undergraduate students and authors case studies in innovation and entrepreneurship. DiNunzio also serves as the

Carissa Bouwer

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Carissa Bouwer

Lecturer

J.D., University of Pacific McGeorge School of Law

Carissa Bouwer is an associate at DLA Piper LLP in Sacramento. Bouwer assists clients in selecting, registering and protecting their trademarks and trade dress. She also advises clients on copyright issues, IP licensing, advertising, social media, sweepstakes, contests and gift card laws. Bouwer received her B.A. from George Washington University in Washington D.C. and her J.D. from University of Pacific McGeorge School of Law. She is on the Boards of the Sacramento County Bar Intellectual Property Section and Women Lawyers of Sacramento.

Robert Smelick

Profile

Robert Smelick

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

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

Degrees

MBA, Harvard Business School

Cyrus Aram

Profile

Cyrus Aram

Lecturer

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.

Aram has 18 years of experience working with progressively responsible

Paul Bianchi

Profile

Paul Bianchi

2019 & 2020 Robert A. Fox Executive in Residence

Masters in Management, University of Kent, Canterbury
B.S., Managerial Economics, UC Davis

Paul Bianchi is an experienced and successful human capital executive and consultant with over 25 years of high-technology leadership experience from innovative companies like NeXT, Apple, Ask Jeeves, PeopleSoft and Illumina.

Bianchi is an alumnus of UC Davis and serves on the Graduate School of Management’s Dean’s Advisory Council and has been a mentor for students and spoken to students at career workshops and events, including a panel of prominent business leaders addressing ethics and values-based