Dr. Bari is an Assistant Professor of Management at Northwestern State University.  Prior to joining NSU, he was a Research Associate in the Mechanical Engineering Department of Stanford University and a visiting assistant professor of Management at Louisiana Tech University.  He teaches courses in Operations and Supply Chain Management.  His research interests include optimization of supply chain logistics, impact of information technology on supply chains, and implementation issues related to IT.

Dr. Briscoe teaches Accounting. He received his Ph.D. and M.Acc. in Accounting from Florida State University; and his B.B.A. in Management from Memphis State University. He has prior work experience as an Assistant Professor of Accounting at the University of Tampa and also at the University of Arkansas. He also worked as a consultant for several CPA firms in the managerial and financial areas of Accounting. His areas of teaching and focus are Managerial Accounting and Financial Accounting.

Sue Champion is an instructor of business administration and coordinator of the Cooperative Education program at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana. Prior to her experience at NSU, she was a secondary education teacher and was coordinator of Cooperative Office Education for 33 years. She is certified in all business subjects and her areas of expertise include business communications, computer literacy, and word processing.

Ms. Champion earned numerous hours in computer-related professional development classes after being awarded a Master’s of Education from Northwestern State University in 1970; and a bachelor of science with a double major in business education and social studies from Northwestern State University in 1967.


She began her career in 1967 at Natchitoches High School as a typing teacher and advanced to coordinator of the cooperative office education program and department head in a few short years. She was recognized as an outstanding young education, held offices in professional organizations, served on numerous education committees and boards, and was adviser for the Future Business Leaders of America with many district, state and national winners.

Mr. Clark is an Associate Professor of Accounting and executive in residence.  He received his B.S. and M.Ed. from Northwestern State University.  He has twenty-seven years experience in management of Louisiana Sugar Mills and is also the president of the American Sugar Cane League.  His areas of teaching and focus are higher education professionalism, business resources, development/management, financial industry and executive/accounting.

I love the field of business.  My specialties are tax and financial planning.  Each semester I teach the basic accounting and finance courses at the NSU--Leesville Campus.  I am a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and a Certified Financial Planner (CFP).

I was raised on a farm and still live on a farm but I do not do much farming.  I usually raise a small garden and tend to some fruit trees.  In addtion, I raise catfish.  One of my hobbies has always been fishing and since I usually did not catch many when I went, I decided to build a pond and raise fish myself.  And now I have plenty of fish to catch and eat.

Dr. Elliott is professor of Finance, and the Kilpatrick Life Insurance Company Endowed Professor of Insurance.  He is the coordinator for Economics and Finance area.  Dr. Elliott has presented numerous papers at national and international conferences and published more than 60 papers in national and international refereed journals and proceedings.  He earned his Ph.D., M.B.A., and B.S. degrees in Finance from Louisiana Tech University.  He has experience in commercial banking, insurance, real estate, and as a forensic economic consultant.  Dr. Elliott holds a Louisiana insurance license and real estate license.  His area of teaching and expertise are: life, health, property insurance, real estate appraisal, real estate principles, money & banking, and specializing in insurance and investment research.

Marcelline Fusilier holds a Ph.D. from the Krannert Graduate School of Management at Purdue University.  Her research interests include employee health, e-commerce education, and behavioral and cultural issues in technology use.  She has published in the Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Internet Commerce, Journal of Behavioral Medicine, and others.

Mr. Gardiner is an instructor in business administration and marketing.  He received his M.B.A in Marketing from Wake Forest University and his B.B.A. in Management from Northeast Louisiana University.  He has prior work experience in sales, marketing, and management in Fortune 100 companies.

Mr. Gardiner has lived the majority of his life in Natchitoches where he owns the family business.  He is a member of the Krewe of Dionysos and the Mystic Krewe de St. Denis.  He is married to Julie Hobson of Martinsville, VA and has two beautiful daughters, Mackenzie and Madison.  In his spare time he enjoys hunting and coaching the girls in softball.

William Habig is an instructor of Marketing and Salesmanship. Mr. Habig’s friends call him Phil, which comes from his middle name, Philip. Mr. Habig was born and raised in Long Beach, California and lived most of his life in a small beach community called Belmont Shore. He retired from IBM after a very successful thirty year career in sales and marketing. After retiring he spent some time in a high level marketing position with a start-up company, and he and his wife opened a very successful retail store that they operated for eight years. He was about to begin a second career at California State University in Long Beach when his wife talked him into selling everything and moving into a motorhome and traveling on a full-time basis. This proved to be the most fun he had ever had. Some things changed and the adventure was cut short, so he settled in Natchitoches in August of 2005. He arrived just in time for Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita and discovered quickly that hurricanes do different things than earthquakes.

Mr. Habig and his wife have four children, two girls and two boys, ranging from 27 to 19 years of age.

The reason Mr. Habig moved to Natchitoches has become less obligating so he and his wife opened another small retail store which is doing very well. Mr. Habig loves to travel and thoroughly enjoys his vacations and other adventures. Mr. Habig also loves to go on family trips and include as many of his children as he can. Some of Mr. Habig’s other interests include water skiing, snow skiing, boating, woodworking, working on cars, and “puttering” around the house.

Dr. Hanson is an Associate Professor of Business Administration and Office Information Systems.  She received her M.A. from NSU in Higher Education Administration and her B.S. in Business Education at NSU.  Dr. Hanson earned her Ph.D. in Vocational Education through the School of Human Resource Education and Workforce Development at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.  Her research has been published in refereed journals and she has made numerous presentations internationally, nationally, regionally, and locally.  Her areas of teaching and expertise are: management, business education, and office administration.  She has prior work experience in insurance, banking and as a business teacher in Louisiana, Florida and Michigan.

Marcus Jones, J.D. is Vice President for University Affairs and an associate professor in the College of Business.  He earned his law degree from Southern University Law Center, Baton Rouge, LA and a master’s degree in International Business and Trade from Grambling State University.  Since beginning his career at NSU, he has taught courses in Business Law, Int’l Business, Public School Law, Microeconomics, and Personal Finance.  Marcus has numerous refereed journal publications and has presented his research at international and national conferences.

Dorothy Jones is an Instructor of Economics.  She received her M.B.A. in Finance at the University of Wisconsin and her B.S. in Management at Southern University.  She has prior work experience at the NSU Small Business Development Center as a business consultant, and as an instructor of Economics and Finance.  Her areas of teaching and expertise are Economics, Personal Finance, Business Entrepreneurship, business plan development, and cash flow projections.

Bob Jones is an Associate Professor of Economics who has taught economics and finance courses for the College of Business since 1994. Prior to joining NSU he taught at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama, and McNeese State University in Lake Charles, Louisiana.

Bob received his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) and his MS and BS in economics from Texas A&M University where he graduated summa cum laude.

Bob became interested in economics as a freshman when he realized that the economic way of thinking gives you insights into how the world works. He was (and still is) fascinated by the role that market forces play in coordinating the plans and actions of millions of producers and consumers, who are each focused primarily on what is in their own individual self-interest.

In addition to reading about economics (which focuses on identifying the consequences of pursing various actions), Bob also enjoys reading about theology (which deals with values and morals) and epistemology (which deals with how we know what we know).

Bob enjoys teaching Econ 2000, the first economics course students take, because of the challenge of seeking more effective ways to enable students to recognize, understand, and respond effectively to the economic forces which will affect them every day of their lives.

Dr. Margaret Kilcoyne is an Associate Professor in the Business Administration area and director of Business programs.  She received her M.S. in Business Education and B.S. in Business and Distributive Education at NSU and has earned a Ph.D. from the School of Human Resource Education and Workforce Development at Louisiana State University.  Her work has been published in refereed journals and she has made numerous presentations internationally, nationally, and regionally.  Her areas of teaching and expertise are Office Information Systems, Communications, Microcomputer Applications, and Cooperative Education.

Dr. Lomerson is an Associate Professor of Accounting at Northwestern State University.  He holds a Ph.D. from the University of North Texas and an MBA with an accounting emphasis from the University of Texas at Austin.  He currently teaches accounting and statistic courses.  His research interests are directed at performance assessment of IT systems and e-commerce/web development pedagogical issues.  His publications include several journal articles and numerous conference proceedings. Bill is Past President and current Executive Board member of the Southern Association of Information Systems, a regional affiliate of AIS.  Prior to his academic career, he held a variety of systems development positions in industry.  Early in his career he was a consultant with the accounting firm of KPMG.

Dr. Lomerson is married with 4 children and three grandchildren.  While he was most recently at Appalachian State University in Boone, NC, Bill and his wife spent most of their lives in Texas, a large portion of which was in Fort Worth.  Given the opportunity, he enjoys sailing and golf.

Anna Maples is a CIS (Computer Information Systems) Instructor, Faculty Advisor for AITP (Association of Information Technology Professionals), Webmaster for the College of Business web site and Operations Manager for the College of Business

She teaches CIS 3100 (Information Systems and Technologies in Business) which is a required course for all business majors.  At UL Lafayette, she also taught all applications in Microsoft Office, an advanced Excel course, Introduction to Programming, Networking, Systems Analysis & Design, and served as the Internship Coordinator for CIS.

As Operations Manager, she is responsible for managing various projects for the Dean in addition to all College of Business events such as the J. Walter Porter forum and COB Homecoming activities.  One of her most recent accomplishments for the university was serving as the Camp Director for the inaugural Cyber Forensics Camp hosted by NSU.  This camp was sponsored and marketed by the CIC (Cyber Innovation Center) in Bossier City, LA.  Anna is working closely with the CIC to standardize all camp documents as NSU is one of three universities in North Louisiana to host a Cyber camp.

Prior to teaching, she worked in three industries (Insurance, Telecommunications, Utilities) as a Systems Analyst and Project Manger in IT.  She also worked as a consultant for large organizations such as AAA, Broadwing Communications and Marsh & McClennan.  Her professional career started in Insurance as an Underwriter with promotions to Management and then IT.

Education

• Master of Business Administration, Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio, Texas
• Bachelor of Business Adminstration (Marketing), Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas

Dr. Maples earned his Ph.D. in MIS from the University of North Texas. He also received an MBA (University of Dallas) and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering (Texas A&M University).  In addition to these degrees, Dr. Maples also has extensive course work in Management Science.

His real world experience includes years of outside technical sales, design, and implementation of Information Systems.  He has earned numerous professional certifications in programming, database, networking, and quality management.

Dr. Maples teaches courses in programming, networking, statistics, and database.  His research interests include pedagogy, the application of technology to business, and service quality, which was the focus of his dissertation.

Dr. McDonald is an Associate Professor in the Business Administration area.  She received her M.S. and B.S. in Business Education from NSU and has earned a Ph.D. from the School of Human Resource Education and Workforce Development at Louisiana State University.  Her work has been published in refereed journals and she has made numerous presentations nationally, regionally, and locally.  Her areas of teaching and expertise are Business Communications, Microcomputer Applications, Business and Vocational Education, Office Information Systems, Computer Literacy, and Word Processing.  She has prior work experience in Natchitoches Parish Schools as a secondary business education teacher and has owned and operated two businesses in Red River parish.

Charlie Penrod is currently an Assistant Professor of Business Law at Northwestern State University.  He graduated summa cum laude and with highest distinction from the Louisiana Scholars’ College at Northwestern State University in 2000.  Mr. Penrod wrote and defended a senior thesis while at the Louisiana Scholars’ College entitled, “An Economic Analysis of Casino Gambling in Shreveport/Bossier City, Louisiana”.  Mr. Penrod obtained his J.D. from LSU Law School in 2004 and was named to the Order of the Coif, an honor reserved for those graduates who place in the top 10 percent of the graduating class.  After spending four years as an attorney, working both in the private sector and for the Court, Mr. Penrod joined the faculty at Northwestern State University as an Assistant Professor of Business Law in 2008.  Mr. Penrod currently teaches Business Law II, Cyber Business Law and Legal Essentials for Small Businesses.

Begoña Pérez-Mira is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor of Computer Information Systems at Northwestern State University.  She graduated summa cum laude from Northwestern State University in 2003 in Business Administration and Computer Information Systems.  She holds an MA in English from NSU as well.  She is currently finishing her doctoral studies at Louisiana State University E.J. Ourso College of Business, Information Systems and Decision Sciences Department.  She defended her dissertation proposal in May 2009 and plans to graduate in May 2010.  Before NSU, Mrs. Perez-Mira worked at the Louisiana School for Math, Sciences, and the Arts – Louisiana Virtual School for 11 years. At LSMSA-LVS she taught Web Design, Digital Graphics and Animation, and Spanish.  Last year, Mrs. Perez-Mira was awarded Louisiana Online Teacher of the year by the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB).  Mrs. Perez-Mira currently teaches Intro to Information Technology, Information Systems and Technology in Business, and Introduction to Information Security.  Her research interests include E-Commerce metrics, Search Engine Optimization, and technology supported disaster management.

Dr. Pollacia teaches courses in Computer Information Systems.  She received her Ph.D. and M.S. in Computer Science at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.  She also received her M.S. and her B.S. in Mathematics at Northwestern State University.  She has prior work experience as an instructor of CIS at NSU Fort Polk Campus and as a mathematics teacher and department head at Leesville High School.  Her areas of teaching and expertise are internet and electronic learning, visual programming, information technology, and database theory and technology.

Mrs. Russell is an Instructor of Information Systems.  She received her M.S. in Computer Science from the American Technological University.  She has prior experience as a programmer/analyst where she developed financial tracking systems using COBOL, CICS, VSAM and ADABAS .  Her areas of teaching and expertise are: business programming logic, COBOL, and Visual Basic.

Dr. Russell is a Professor of Computer Information Systems and primarily teaches the systems analysis and design course and the advanced systems development course.  In addition, Dr. Russell teaches the structured program design course and the collaborative projects course.

Dr. Jack Russell is the 2006 recipient of the “Information Systems Educator of the Year.”  This international award comes from the Association for Information Systems Professionals EDSIG.  Currently he is the Morrison Professor in Computer Information Systems at NSU.  Dr. Russell holds a Ph.D. from the University of North Texas and an M.S. in Computer Science from Florida Tech. He holds the CCP (Certified Computer Professional) from the Institute for the Certification of Computer Professionals (ICCP).

Prior to coming to NSU Dr. Russell was a Regents Professor with the Texas A&M University System and was named one of the top ten (10) professors in the State of Texas by the Minnie Stevens Piper Foundation.  Dr. Russell has published several works in various business journals and proceedings; and is the author of two leading texts on the subject of Business Programming Logic and Design.  Dr. Russell has served as Regent with the AITP National Education Foundation and as a Director for the Institute for Certification of Computer Professionals (ICCP) Education Foundation.  He has coached and sponsored numerous national student winners in various computer-related events over the course of his teaching career – the most notable at NSU with 5 straight national championships in the Systems Analysis and Design competition at the AITP National Collegiate Conference competitions.  Dr. Russell’s prowess and information technology “love” as a teacher has been in the area of integrated computer-aided systems engineering, structured methods and information engineering during the 90’s.  In the past few years Dr. Russell teaches Object-Oriented Analysis and Design and the Advanced Systems Development capstone CIS course.  His teaching emphasis is the business model design of three-tier business solutions using OOA&D methods and the Unified Modeling Language (UML) and structured analysis.

Dr. Russell is the recipient of a number of prestigious teaching awards that include: the Ben Bauman Award of Excellence by the Association of Computer Information Systems (IACIS); the NSU Alumni Association Excellence in Teaching Award, the Piper Professor of Texas Award by the Minnie Stevens Piper Foundation, The Jack and Louise Arthur Distinguished Faculty Award (Tarleton State University, Texas A&M System), Texas A&M Regents Professor Service Award, and the Distinguished Service Award (AITP EDSIG).

Dr. Russell’s hobbies include: woodworking, golf, working in the yard, and grandkids.

Mark Schaub is the Capital One Bank Endowed Professor of Finance at Northwestern State University of Louisiana.  He has been teaching for more than 15 years and has several years of experience running and consulting for small businesses.  As an academic, Dr. Schaub has published more than 60 articles in over 30 different national and international journals since 2002 in the areas of consumer finance, international investments and stock market efficiency.  He is also responsible for pioneering the Finance major at Texas A&M University—Texarkana.  His doctorate in Finance was earned from Mississippi State University in 1998.

Dr. Larry E. Short received his bachelor and masters degrees from Texas Tech University and his doctorate from the University of Colorado.  Prior to his university career, he was employed by the U.S. Government for ten years (in Washington, D.C., South Korea, Japan, and Colorado) in positions in Human Resource Management.  Dr. Short’s university experience includes 15 years at Drake University as a professor of management and MBA director, 8 years at Central Connecticut State University as the dean of business, and 11 years at the University of Louisiana at Monroe as the dean of business (6 years) and as a professor of management (5 years). He joined the faculty of the College of Business at Northwestern State University as a professor of management in August 2008.

In his academic career, Dr. Short has traveled extensively in Asia and Europe developing cooperative agreements with foreign universities and conducting management education and training programs for students, faculty members and business practitioners.  One of his most challenging assignments was helping educate business oriented faculty members at Wroclaw Technical University in Poland as they transgressed from a communist state to a capitalistic economy.  Dr. Short’s current research interests include issues in entrepreneurship and human resource management.

Dr. Swanstrom is an Assistant Professor of Finance. He received his Ph.D. in Finance from Texas Tech University in 2000. He also has an MBA from Emory University, an MA in Economics from The University of Texas at Arlington, and a BBA in Marketing and Management from Baylor University. He has prior experience working with small businesses including a theater company, an accounting firm, and a real estate firm. He has been at Northwestern State University since the Fall of 2000. His areas of teaching and research include Corporate Finance, Corporate Governance and Compensation, and Mergers & Acquisitions.

Dr. Krist Swimberghe is the Barry Smiley endowed professor of Marketing at Northwestern State University.  Dr. Swimberghe holds a Doctorate from Louisiana Tech University, a MA in Applied Economics from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium, and a BA from the Katholieke Universiteit Brussel in Belgium.

Prior to coming to NSU Dr. Swimberghe was employed for almost twenty years as an international sales and marketing manager in the automotive and defense industry, both in the United States and in Europe.  As a native from Bruges, Belgium Dr. Swimberghe not only speaks his local Flemish dialect but also speaks, reads and writes Dutch, French, and German.

As an academician Dr. Swimberghe’s two main research interests include the study of the relationship between religion and different aspects of consumer behavior and the examination of the work-family interface on salespeople.  He has published articles in numerous journals such as The Journal of Consumer Marketing, The Journal of Business Ethics, The Journal of Organizational Leadership and Business, Issues in Innovation, etc…  He also has made numerous presentations at the Academy of Marketing Science Annual Conference, the Association of Collegiate Marketing Educators Annual Conference, etc…

In his free time Dr. Swimberghe enjoys travelling and spending time with his wife, Candace and two sons, Jan and Luc.  He also coaches soccer at the club level and the local public high school.

Dr. Tarver is an Assistant Professor of Office Information Systems. He received his Ph.D. in Administration & Supervision from the University of Southern Mississippi, M.Ed. in Supervision & Administration, and M.Ed., in Educational Technology both from Northwestern State University. He has prior work experience as Coordinator for Carl Perkins Programs at NSU, faculty member in the Sabine Parish School System, and program director in commercial broadcasting. His areas of teaching and expertise are: online/distance education course development, microcomputer applications & office information systems, business and vocational education, and computer literacy certification.

For more than 25 years, Mr. Turner served in a variety of positions in the accounting area in the University of Louisiana System.  These positions included comptroller, Vice President of Business Affairs, and Accounting Manager for the Region 3 area.  He was the Vice President for Business Affairs at McNeese State University for 18 years and then for the University of Louisiana at Monroe for 5 years.  These positions required him to budget, conduct risk analysis, perform internal auditing, and supervise year-end closing activities.  Complimenting his extensive professional experience, Mr. Turner has authored several edition of accounting textbooks and supplemental workbooks.  In addition to his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business, Mr. Turner has twelve hours of post-masters academic course work.

Education

• MS, 1964, Northwestern State University
• BS, 1961, Northwestern State University

Mrs. Vienne is an Instructor of Accounting and Finance.  She received her B.S. in Accounting with a minor in History and a concentration in Computer Science from Northwestern State University.  She received her M.B.A. from Louisiana Tech University.  She is a Certified Public Accountant.  She has twenty-six years experience in public accounting.  Her areas of teaching and focus are accounting, personal finance, small business and non-profit consulting.  
Mrs. Vienne is married with 4 children.  She has lived most of her life in Natchitoches Parish on Cane River Lake.  She enjoys teaching and advising her students and spending time with her family.

Dr. Jerry L. Wall is Dean of the College of Business and a Professor of Management at Northwestern State University of Louisiana.  His doctorate is from the University of Missouri—Columbia and he holds earlier degrees from East Carolina University and Oklahoma State University.  He also holds advanced accreditations in Human Resources Management.  He is a graduate of Leadership Louisiana, was a member of the Louisiana Data Base Commission, LIDEA, and the CABL Tax Institute among other activities.  He has served as the President of the national Association for University Business & Economic Research (AUBER); and on the national board of directors of the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA), a 370,000 member organization.  He served as President of the 225 member Downtown Monroe Rotary Club and has been very active in Rotary for over 25 years.

In his previous job as Director of the Center for Business and Economic Research (CBER) at the University of Louisiana at Monroe, Dr. Wall collected, processed, analyzed, and disseminated information on northern Louisiana, the region and the state and was frequently called upon by statewide and national media for commentary on economic and business events.  CBER operated the Louisiana Electronic Assistance Program (LEAP)—an Internet data base providing information about Louisiana to the world and compiled the Louisiana Parish Profiles.  CBER also operated a Survey Center which made thousands of telephone calls monthly concerning health related and other studies for various clients.  CBER conducted the statewide Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Study for the Louisiana Office of Public Health and the U. S. Centers for Disease Control for over 15 years.

Dr. Wall’s teaching has included graduate courses in International Business, and Research & Presentations and undergraduate courses in Human Resources and Strategic Management among many others.  Dr. Wall has had extensive experience in small business development and consulting and served six years as the Director of a Small Business Institute.  Over the last thirty years he has conducted numerous management development seminars and acted as consultant for private, public and non-profit organizations.  He is the author/co-author of over one hundred articles, papers and books and at various times has served as the editor of four different publications.

Dr. Wall retired in 1995 as a Colonel in the Army Reserve after spending thirty-one years assigned to the intelligence field.  However, he finished his duty with a five year tour as Comptroller for the 412th Engineer Command--a job that involved monitoring financial operations on four continents.

Dr. Wall is biographed in various issues of Marquis's Who's Who in the World, Who's Who in America, Who's Who in the South & Southwest and Who's Who in American Education.

John Williams is a full professor of business law. He received his J.D. at Tulane School of Law.  He has prior work experience at Judge Advocate General's Office of the United States Marine Corps, a private law practice in Natchitoches, and as first assistant district attorney for the Tenth Judicial District Court of Natchitoches.

Mrs. Wright currently teaches Microcomputer Applications I and E-Commerce.  She received her BS in Mathematics from NSU and has completed her MS degree in CIS from Nova Southeastern University.  Sarah has worked for Lewis & Ellis, an actuarial firm in Dallas, developed databases for school districts and a 3D graphic program using VRML for a Louisiana State Department of Education online initiative.  Sarah has also developed several online courses for the University and enjoys learning more about online course development and new ways to present material.  She began a PhD program but took some time off to become a mother.  She plans to continue working towards a PhD and completing it in the next few years. Sarah lives in Many, Louisiana with her husband and daughter.