Faculty and Staff Profiles
The exceptional teaching from faculty and staff are what stand out in the Lundquist Center for Entrepreneurship. Our faculty and staff embody the passion, dedication, and excellence at the core of the center’s philosophy. In addition, the center has nationally recognized and committed tenured faculty who specialize in innovation and entrepreneurship. Faculty include full-time research professors and numerous instructors and advisors drawn from all Lundquist College departments. The following are general introductions to center staff and affiliated faculty members. For more detailed profiles, click on their names.
CENTER STAFF
Managing Director, Business Innovation Institute, Special Assistant Dean
A member of the Lundquist College since 1986. Swangard has been involved in a number of ventures in ownership, investment, and advisory roles. He serves as a consultant to private and public companies as well as on the boards of entrepreneur and business development organizations. He has taught entrepreneurship, small business management, and venture creation courses and has been director of the undergraduate entrepreneurship program, Strategic Planning Projects, and the Technology Entrepreneurship Program. He has earned several teaching and service awards, and in 2007 the Portland Business Journal named him one of Oregon's top fifty business leaders.
Undergraduate Coordinator of Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Sloan has been a mentor and advisor to Lundquist Center for Entrepreneurship students since 2004. He became the center’s undergraduate coordinator for innovation and entrepreneurship in 2007. Prior to joining the center, he was vice president of operations and business development for Miracor Diagnostics, Inc.; held various executive positions with start-up and turn-around medical device and service companies; was a marketing manager with the IVAC division of Eli Lilly; and an international product marketing manager with Baxter International. Sloan received his MBA from the University of Chicago and BS from the University of Illinois.
Venture Launch Pathway/Technology Entrepreneurship Program Coordinator
Upson has co-taught New Venture Planning and Venture Launch and been the Technology Entrepreneurship Program coordinator since 2004. A PhD chemist, he retired from the chemical industry after twenty-seven years in 2002, holding technology management positions at Eastman Kodak and Sterling Winthrop Pharmaceuticals, and executive positions at Molecular Probes and The Willamette Valley Company. He is currently operations liaison for the UO Venture Development Fund, cofounder LandSavvy, Inc., and serves as a consultant to several companies and one professional society.
Industry Outreach Coordinator
Amy Fortuna began working for the Lundquist Center for Entrepreneurship in 2008. Having graduated from the University of Oregon, she went on to work as a human resources representative for PeaceHealth for several years. She has a background in office and event management, and she and her husband started and have operated a local business for the past fourteen years. Fortuna supports the activities of the center, as well as the staff, students, faculty, and the center's community business partners.
AFFILIATED FACULTY
Assistant Professor of Finance
Atanassov research interests are in the areas of corporate finance and technological innovation. Among his current projects, he investigates how the threat of hostile takeovers affects the innovative output of U.S. firms. Another of his studies analyzes how a firm's choice between arm's length and bank financing is related to the creation of novel innovations. He received his PhD from the University of Michigan and joined the Lundquist College of Business in 2006.
Senior Instructor of Accounting
Henney teaches courses in auditing, taxation, financial accounting and entrepreneurial accounting. She joined the faculty in 2004 after twenty-two years as a practicing certified public accountant. During her professional career, she worked for accounting firms of all sizes, including running her own practice for nineteen years. Her clients ranged from "mom and pop" enterprises to multimillion dollar corporations. Henney holds a masters of taxation from Golden Gate University and a PhD in accounting from the University of Oregon.
Associate Professor of Management
Howard-Grenville studies processes of organizational and institutional change and has explored the role of routines, issue selling, and culture in enabling and inhibiting change. She is the author of Corporate Culture and Environmental Practice, which documents her in-depth study of a high-tech company, and coauthor or editor of two other books on industrial ecology. Howard-Grenville received her PhD at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, her MA at Oxford University, and her BS at Queen’s University, Canada.
Professor Emeritus of Management
Meyer has made significant contributions to the center's research reputation through several National Science Foundation grants. Meyer's research focuses on corporate venture investing and the emergence of the nanotechnology investing community. He previously served as academic director for the center, and is regarded for his expertise on disruptive technologies and changes in the structure of industries, leading to the formation of cross-industry alliances and generating new organizational forms.
Associate Professor of Decision Sciences
Murthy received his PhD and MA in business administration, as well as an MS in mechanical engineering, from The Ohio State University. His prior work experience includes faculty positions at Michigan State University and the Georgia Institute of Technology. He has consulted with several Fortune 100 firms and taught in both general and custom executive education programs. His areas of expertise include supply chain management, new product development, revenue management, and operations planning and control
Assistant Professor of Management
Nelson focuses on the evolution of knowledge diffusion networks, the commercialization of university research, and the measurement of innovation. With Tom Byers (Stanford University) and Dick Dorf (University of California, Davis), Nelson is the author of Technology Ventures. His doctoral dissertation on technology transfer won several awards and was named one of five inaugural Kauffman Foundation junior faculty fellows for promising research in the field of entrepreneurship. Nelson holds a PhD from Stanford University, an MS from Oxford University, and a dual BA from Stanford
Donald A. Tykeson Senior Instructor of Business
Phelps has been engaged in the private practice of law since 1975. His areas of research and interest include the law as it relates to international business, entrepreneurial organizations, and sports marketing. Phelps is a member of the Oregon State Bar Association and has served as a municipal judge, city attorney, and legal counsel to numerous business organizations. He is also a small business owner.
Lundquist Professor of Sustainable Management
Russo is a renowned expert on sustainable and environmental business practices. He has published prolifically and his general research interests include entrepreneurship, mission-driven companies, technology and sustainability, and strategic certification. He has also worked as an energy planner specializing in commercialization of wind and solar energy. He holds a PhD and MBA from the University of California, Berkeley, an MS from Stanford and a BS from Columbia.
Assistant Professor of Management
Stanko teaches in the areas of organizational behavior, management, and leadership. Her research revolves around the use of technology in organizations and the role it plays in virtual work, the management of multiple identities, and leadership in organizations. Recently, her research has been supported by the University of California, Irvine's Center for Organizational Research, the Center for Research on Information Technology in Organizations, and the American Association of University Women.
Instructor of Accounting
Tomcal joined the Lundquist College in 2006. He previously worked on the floor of the Chicago Board of Trade, for Mid-America Commodity Exchange, and for Arther Anderson & Co. He holds a master of accounting degree from the University of Oregon and a masters of education from Oregon State University. He teaches courses on entrepreneurial accounting and is a post-baccalaureate advisor.
Senior Instructor of Marketing
Wilson teaches courses in marketing, entrepreneurship, business planning, and strategy. He is the founder of DL Wilson Consulting, providing consulting and management services to companies ranging from start-up ventures to Fortune 500 corporations. Areas of expertise include the high-tech and professional services industries. He and his wife also own two business ventures in the areas of retail and agriculture. Wilson's past experience includes thirteen years with AT&T/US West Communications, and he was vice-president of sales and marketing for Palo Alto Software.
Associate Professor of Management, Lundquist Center for Entrepreneurship Research Director
Ziedonis previously served on faculty at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business and the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan. She earned her PhD in business and public policy from University of California, Berkeley, and an undergraduate degree in economics from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Her research examines the value and strategic use of intellectual property, as well as broader aspects of technology and innovation management. Her studies have been published in top academic journals.