Faculty Council

Kimberley W. Cole

Managerial Accounting

Kimberley W. Cole, MBA, Ph.D., CPA was born in New York City and began her career in Marketing in New Jersey prior to moving to Tennessee. She left her job as Product Manager for a subsidiary of SC Johnson & Sons to move to Florida and established her own public accounting practice, which was later sold. Then, Dr. Cole joined the Small Business Development Center of the University of South Florida (USF) in Tampa, FL. She remained at USF for over seven years during which time she worked with Facilities Planning and the College of Public Health. It was during this time that Dr. Cole joined the University of Phoenix, West Florida Campus and later online. Dr. Cole, a licensed CPA in the state of Florida, left USF to join Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton as Assistant Controller. In 2006, Florida International University (FIU) recruited her to join the Applied Research Center as the Associate Director of Finance and Human Resources. During her tenure at FIU, Dr. Cole assisted in the initialing budgeting process for the newly formed College of Medicine, served as Deputy Director of the Metropolitan Center of FIU, known as the "Think Tank" research center, and as Assistant Dean of the College of Education. Dr. Cole recently joined the School of Education of the University of California, Davis as the Assistant Dean for Finance and Administration.

Since joining University of Phoenix in 1998, Dr. Cole has facilitated numerous undergraduate and graduate courses in Accounting, Finance, Research Methods and Business Strategy. She has previously served as Area Chair for two local campuses. Dr. Cole currently serves as the Lead Faculty for Managerial Accounting and is a member of the Faculty Council.

Dr. Cole received her Bachelor of Science Degree, cum laude, from Kean University in Union, New Jersey. She began her MBA studies at Fordham University in New York City and completed her MBA at Tennessee Tech in Cookeville, TN. Dr. Cole earned a Ph.D. in Curriculum & Instruction - Higher Education Administration from the University of South Florida in Tampa, FL.

J. William Eshelman

Business Law

J. William Eshelman (Bill) was born in Birmingham, Alabama. He is a graduate of the University of Alabama (B.A.), Samford University (J.D.) and the George Washington University (LL.M. in Government Procurement Law).

He retired from the United States Air Force Reserve with the grade of Lt. Colonel. He and his wife, Ruth, live in the Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C. with two of their five children, two cats and one dog. Currently, Bill is a partner in, and practices law with, the Washington, D.C. office of the major Detroit, MI business law firm, Butzel Long. He also is the Practice Co-Chair for the firm's Aerospace & Defense Practice Group as well as a member of that firm's Israel Practice Group. His clients are located in Asia, Europe and the Middle East.

Bill's practice principally involves federal government contracts, white-collar criminal law and related policy questions as well as trade regulation. Additionally, he writes and provides internal firm seminars for the firm's lawyers, his practice groups and professional organizations regarding those areas. He is a frequent speaker and regularly presents at professional Conferences.

Early in his professional career, he began teaching as an adjunct professor at a state college. With some occasional interruptions by his military service, he has kept an active involvement with academia. Currently, he is on the Adjunct Faculty at the Columbus School of Law at Catholic University in Washington, D.C. and is an active member of the Online Faculty of The School of Business at University of Phoenix where he is Lead Faculty and Area Chair for Law and Ethics.

Melodi Guilbault

Marketing

Professionally, Melodi Guilbault is experienced in the areas of financial analysis and management, strategic planning, sales, market segmentation and development, marketing and statistics. Guilbault worked for AT&T for almost 20 years. She is a Professor and Chair of the School of Business at Warner University and teaches marketing and business statistics while also assisting with market research and development. Guilbault also does market research as an independent consultant.  She has been teaching for University of Phoenix since April 1999.

Shawn Harrs

Business Information Systems

Dr. Harrs has been a University of Phoenix faculty member since 2004. Currently, he serves as Area Chair/Lead Faculty for the Strategic Analysis & Planning content area in the School of Business at the Central Florida Campus and received the New Faculty, Faculty Member of the Year Award for 2005. He facilitates management, strategy, statistics, research, e-business and business information systems courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels and serves as a dissertation committee member in the School of Advanced Studies. In addition, Dr. Harrs has aided in the development of University of Phoenix curriculum at the undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral levels and serves in an academic governance capacity at the Central Florida Campus.

Dr. Harrs manages the Business Insight and Support department in the Risk Management division of The Walt Disney Company and possesses over two decades of experience in project and program management, engineering standards, business intelligence and analytics, managing strategic IT projects as well as managing high performance teams.

Dr. Harrs serves as an Advisory Committee Member at Employ Florida Banner Center for Financial and Professional Services. He is a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). He is also a member of the IEEE Computer Society (IEEE CS), the Association for Information Systems (AIS), the Eta Kappa Nu National Electrical and Computer Engineering Honor Society and the Upsilon Pi Epsilon International Honor Society for the Computing Sciences.

Dr. Harrs earned a Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering from the University of Central Florida and a Masters of Business Administration/Technology Management from the University of Phoenix. He completed the Ph.D. program in Information Systems at the Graduate School of Computer and Information Sciences at Nova Southeastern University. His ongoing research is focused on information retrieval systems and enterprise risk management.

Pam Hill

Project Management

Pam Hill was born and raised in Richmond, Virginia. Her educational background includes a Ph.D. in Human Resources, Training and Performance Improvement from Capella University, an undergraduate degree and MBA from Averett University. Hill also earned the Project Management Professional certification from the Project Management Institute.

Professionally, she has worked as a business and information systems project manager for over 20 years in the public and private sectors. Hill has also functioned as a project leader, systems analyst and systems developer for over 15 years. She has an extensive passion for business and information systems project management.

Hill served as Vice President of Membership for the Project Management Institute (PMI) local Virginia chapter. PMI is a worldwide organization that is committed to promoting professional project management standards and practices. As Vice President of Membership, she was tasked with designing and promoting the local chapter’s membership plan throughout Virginia. That included presenting the mission, vision, goals and project management standards and practices to many organizations. Her spare time is spent with her two lovely daughters.

Raymond Ho

Financial Reporting

Raymond Ho started his accounting firm in 1984 in the Bay Area. He is a Certified Public Accountant and a Certified Management Accountant. He holds a Doctorate degree of Business Administration in Accounting and a Master of Business Administration in Taxation. He has been teaching financial and management accounting at graduate levels for University of Phoenix since 1994.

Before opening his own accounting practice, he was the controller for San Francisco Redevelopment Agency which is a government agency with an annual budget of $250 million. His responsibilities included monitoring of municipal bonds, preparation of budgets, and management of the accounting department.

He also serves as a technical reviewer for the California Tax Education Council, which is a government agency that monitors tax preparers’ qualifications and educational programs in California.

Besides working full time at his accounting practice and teaching part time, he frequently enjoys playing tennis since it gives him a chance to be outdoors. Another recent hobby he has picked up is golf. He has three beautiful children; his oldest daughter is 29 years old, the second daughter is 26 and his son is 25.

Alemayehu Lirenso

Quantitative Analysis

Dr. Lirenso has been teaching at University of Phoenix since October 1999. He currently teaches both ground and online research classes in the graduate and undergraduate programs of the School of Business.

Dr. serves as an Area Chair and Lead Faculty for Quantitative Analysis and Research in the School of Business. He has made significant contributions to the School of Business graduate level course development and curriculum reviews and received the Outstanding Faculty Award in 2009 from College of Graduate Business and Management (Bay Area Campus).

Dr. Lirenso joined University of Phoenix with extensive teaching experiences in other academic institutions. He had served as an assistant professor at Addis Ababa and National Universities and taught at California Community Colleges including Ohlone College in Fremont, CA; Cabrillo College in Aptos, CA; and Mission College in Santa Clara, CA where he currently teaches Global Studies/Global Economics at Mission College. 

Besides teaching, Dr. Lirenso has well-developed international research and consulting expertise in the areas of globalization, international investment, food security, vulnerability mapping, sustainable development, economic reforms and market liberalization. He was a Senior Researcher at the Institute of Development Research of Addis Ababa University and a Visiting-Scholar at the former Food Research Institute of Stanford University. He served as a consultant to various international development agencies including The World Bank, Wood Food Program/The UN, Inter-Governmental Agency on Drought & Development, Action Aid/UK, and The World Bank. Over the past years, he has obtained four international research awards, presented the research findings in more than 15 international conferences and workshops, and has published more than ten articles in academic journals.

Dr. Lirenso earned a Ph.D. in International Development from University of East Anglia (U.K) in July 1994.

Dr. Bob Sherman

Finance

Dr. Bob Sherman was educated in Liberia, West Africa and the United States. He received a B.A. in Economics from Cuttington College in Liberia, a Master of International Management from Thunderbird School of Global Management in Glendale, Arizona, an MBA and Ph.D. in Business Administration with a Finance Major from Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona.

Currently, Dr. Sherman is President at the AMI Group, a consulting firm based in Phoenix, Arizona. Dr. Sherman has collaborated with the World Bank, IMF, African Development, UN Economic Commission for Africa, Arizona Department of Commerce, African Business Roundtable, US Department of Commerce, Energy, State, Agriculture, Labor, Treasury, USAID, EX-IM Bank, OPIC, UN Development Programme (Africa Bureau) and numerous private and public entities to organize the Annual Conference & EXPO on Trade and Investment Opportunities in Africa. This conference takes place in Phoenix, Arizona.

Previously, Dr. Sherman was Assistant Professor of Finance & Banking at Thunderbird School of Global Management in Glendale, Arizona. He is also the former Assistant Minister for Banking for the Republic of Liberia.

At University of Phoenix, Dr. Sherman is Lead Faculty for Finance and Global Business, Content Area Chair for Financial Planning and Control at the Phoenix Campus and Faculty Council Member for Finance. Dr. Sherman has participated in the development or revisions of more than two-dozen courses in the undergraduate, graduate and doctoral programs. He currently teaches MBA and doctoral courses.

Dulcelina A. Stahl

Management

Dulcelina A. Stahl, Ph.D. has more than 15 years’ experience as an executive in business, management and health care administration including positions as Corporate Vice President and Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at for-profit organizations. Passionate about teaching, she held faculty positions for more than 10 years at Chicagoland universities teaching in the MBA and Master’s in Health Services Administration programs. As one of the first faculty hired by the University of Phoenix Chicagoland Campus, she has been a Lead Faculty and Area Chair, Undergraduate Management Program and was one of the first recipients of the University of Phoenix Faculty Ambassador Award for teaching effectiveness. She is an author of many published articles and books and a seminar/workshop presenter at national conferences and conventions.

Academically, Dr. Stahl received her Bachelor of Arts, Summa Cum Laude, Master of Arts, Master of Science, and Ph.D. degrees from De Paul University in Chicago, Illinois. She also received De Paul University’s Distinguished Alumni Award.

Metodija Stojanovski

Operations Management

Metodija Stojanovski was born in a small country in South East Europe where he spent his childhood along with his parents and two older sisters. In 1976, he entered the university located in the capital, from which he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering.

His first job was with a mining company—a subsidiary of the greatest utility firm in the country. He spent almost 16 years in positions ranging from entry-level engineering to the upper-level management. As he grew professionally, the company grew as well, reaching the list of the ten most efficient utility companies in Europe.

As a manger, he was attempting to answer the question: What makes an excellent manager? The search for that answer lead him to an MBA and soon after to a doctoral degree in the field of management.

Stojanovski married his wife 28 years ago and together they have two wonderful sons. His older son is pursuing his Ph.D. in microbiology. His younger son is now enrolled at the USC College of Medicine. Their accomplishments make both him and his wife very proud.

Stojanovski has been teaching undergraduate and graduate management and business courses in the USA since 2001. He received the 2007 Teacher of the Semester Award and 2010 STAR Performer from the Remington College.

Dr. Ethel Vesper

Organizational Behavior

Dr. Ethel Vesper's Ph.D. in Cultural/Social Anthropology and Linguistics was supported, in part, with fellowships from the National Science Foundation and a two-year National Defense Foreign Language Fellowship in Malayalam. She did extensive fieldwork examining the social organization of cultures and how they impact the international business world, particularly in Micronesia. Ethel’s dissertation focused on the relationship between language, culture and semantics. Her international fieldwork experience includes Asia/Pacific areas, Southeast Asia and Eastern Europe researching language and culture issues and the impacts they have on those living, working and operating businesses in these cultures. She earned two M.A. degrees, one in Linguistics and one in Ministry plus a B.S. in Education. In 1999, she was Dept. of Corrections Volunteer of the Year.

Ethel’s business experience includes 16 years at The Boeing Company working with organizations and all levels of management as an Organizational Advisor and Coordinator of the Employee Development Program. While at Boeing, she focused on developing programs on change and social issues impacting organizations and corporations including ways of helping employees adapt to the changes. She designed and developed programs for managers as part of their own development. As Program Coordinator, part of her responsibilities included helping employees find suitable courses and schools for pursuing their educational goals. She assisted Boeing management working in international areas to find suitable educational opportunities for themselves and for their employees, all foreign nationals. Currently, Ethel serves as owner and manager of a farming operation in Western Kansas where she engages in dry land farming.

Ethel has taught online for University of Phoenix for the past 11 years. Currently she facilitates the cultural diversity course MMPBL/560, which she helped design. She also facilitates MMPBL/500 plus HRM/531 and LDR/531. Ethel is a Lead Faculty/Area Chair for the School of Business.

Ethel is a member of the American Anthropology Association, Academy of Management Organization where she served as an Abstract Reviewer for the 2010 meetings in Montreal in the area of organizational behavior and international organizational behavior/management. She attended the 2009 and 2010 meetings of AOM, Society of Language and Culture and the American Association of Behavioral and Social Sciences where she presented a paper in February, 2010. In Mid-October 2010, her most recent peer reviewed article, Cultural Behavior and Attitude Differences Found in Excerpts of Micronesian Folklore: Their Relevance for Global Organizations was published in the October issue of the Journal of Psychological Issues in Organizational Culture, published jointly by the John Wiley Publishing Company and University of the Rockies.

Dr. David Kenneth Waldman

Public Administration

David was educated in the United States and in Uganda and Kenya, where he gained Special Consultative Status for the Economic & Social Council of the United Nations in 2006. Dr. Waldman has professional experience in multiple sectors including education, non-profit, business and government, which have led to his capability to develop close collaborative relationships with government ministries, local government leaders, community leaders and community-based organizations. David is proficient at driving social change through uniting people at the grass roots level and influencing top government decision makers. His expertise includes advising on sustainable educational development policy for girls and implementing a working model to advance that mission in the field. David's unique competitive advantage is as a versatile educator with extensive background in public policy, international relations, educational consulting, curriculum development, publishing and direct classroom instruction.

Background includes writing and publishing journals, curriculum, children's books as well as training educators, consulting with education specialists, curriculum directors and educational publishers to tailor curriculum to their specific needs. David's core competencies are teaching, creating programs for sustainable educational development opportunities for girls, research and developing gender justice policy.

Dr. Waldman's academic credentials include a Master's Degree in International Relations and a Ph.D. in Public Policy & Public Administration with a specialization in International, Non-Government Organizations. Presently, David serves on the Faculty Council for the School of Business at University of Phoenix and as an online associate faculty for University of Phoenix.

Donna B. Wyatt

Human Capital Management

Donna has been in the human resources field for more than 25 years, having started in 1983 at The Mennen Company, which was later acquired by Colgate-Palmolive.  She was Manager of Employee Relations before leaving Colgate in 1997 to join CIGNA HealthCare as Director of Human Resources.  She later joined Kaman Industrial Technologies as the head of their OD and HR Support Services group in 2003.

Throughout her professional life in human resources Donna has been extensively involved in large-scale change initiatives, team development, leadership development, performance management, training, compensation, and staffing/recruiting.

She completed her Ph.D. in Human and Organization Systems at The Fielding Graduate University in May, 2002.  She also holds a Masters in Human Development from Fielding, a Masters in Counseling, Human Services and Organizational Leadership from Montclair State University, and a B.S. in Business Administration from Montclair.  She has a lifetime certification as a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) from the Certification Institute of the Society for Human Resource Management. 

Donna has been teaching online at the University of Phoenix for over nine years.

Xiaodong Wu

Economics

Xiaodong Wu has a diversified background across several disciplines and received her education from the top schools across three continents. She started her undergraduate studies as a math major at Beijing (Peking) University in Beijing, China. She then transferred to Adelaide University in Australia for an undergraduate degree in Economics. Wu received my bachelor's degree in Economics and Statistics with a first class honor at the Australian National University. Finally, she received her Ph.D. in Economics from Princeton University in May 2000.

Wu also has a diversified experience in teaching and research. She has been teaching at the Department of Economics at UNC Chapel Hill since fall 1999. Before that, she had also taught at Princeton University and the Australian National University as an instructor and a lecturer, respectively. Wu now is also a consultant for the Law School at Duke University.

She joined University of Phoenix at the Raleigh Campus in 2007. Now, Wu teaches several economics, management and research courses both on ground and online. She taught at the Charlotte Campus in 2008-2009. She is also a member of the Faculty Council since 1999 in the area of Economics.

Wu was a pastor's wife at the Winston Salem Chinese Christian Church from 2007 to 2010 and she served as the Church secretary to oversee the church administration. Now, Wu and her husband are campus ministers serving the three universities (UNC Chapel Hill, Duke University and NC State University) in the Triangle Area in North Carolina. She is also a seminary student completing her Master of Christian Studies degree with counseling major and has only two more courses to go.