AMBA Faculty

The Americas MBA faculty is comprised of experts from each of the four Americas Alliance Schools. These select faculty members provide expert insight and instruction in the classroom, drawing from their innovative research and extensive experience. During the program, they'll serve as mentors, friends and hosts. Later they can become part of your career network.

Alfredo Behrens

Professor of Leadership and Cross-Cultural Management (FIA)

Professor Behren’s recent book, Culture and Management in the Americas, was voted the best Época Negócios. Behrens also wrote the chapter on Brazil for the London Business School’s The Software Industry in Emerging Markets: Origins and Dynamics (Elgar, 2005). Behrens is a member of the Editorial Board of Thunderbird International Business Review, writes regularly for America Economia and was awarded the McNamara Fellowship by the World Bank, the Hewlett Fellowship by Princeton University, The Boa Vista Bank award and the Jean Monet Fellowship by the European University, Fiesole, Italy.

Michael Burcham

Clinical Professor of Entrepreneurship; President, Nashville Entrepreneur Center (Vanderbilt)

Michael Burcham has over 20 years of extensive experience in health care innovation, entrepreneurship, and startup venture coaching. He is a highly successful three-time entrepreneur–most recently President of ParadigmHealth, a $300-million disease management firm. In addition to his post at Vanderbilt, Michael serves as President of the Nashville Entrepreneur Center.

Jeremy Hall

Associate Professor (SFU)

Dr. Jeremy Hall is Fellow of The Centre of Innovation Studies and Latin American Studies. Prior to joining SFU in 2007, Hall was on faculty at the Haskayne School of Business at the University of Calgary, where he was also the associate director of the International Institute for Resource Industries and Sustainability Studies and a Fellow of the Institute for Sustainable Energy, Environment and Economy and the Latin American Research Centre. At SFU Business, Jeremy teaches strategy and business ethics and his research interests include sustainable development innovation, stakeholder ambiguity, radical technology development, entrepreneurial learning and inter-firm innovation dynamics.

David Owens

Clinical Professor of Business Strategy and Innovation; Faculty Director, Executive Development Institute (Vanderbilt)

David Owens’s research has been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, the London Guardian and NPR’s Marketplace. His work in the area of business strategy, innovation process and product development has included engagements with NASA, LEGO, and Bristol-Myers Squibb. He has also performed product design consulting work for a variety of firms including Daimler Benz, Apple Computer, and Coleman Camping. Most recently, while on leave from Vanderbilt University, Owens served as CEO of Griffin Technology Inc., the largest consumer electronics firm in the MP3/iPod accessory market space.

Daniel Shapiro

Dean and Lohn Foundation Professor (Simon Fraser University)

Daniel M. Shapiro is an educator and researcher in areas of managerial economics, strategic analysis, international business strategy and business and government. His extensive body of work has appeared in Strategic Management Journal, Academy of Management Journal, Journal of International Business Studies, and Journal of Industrial Economics, among others. He has designed and delivered executive programs to managers in the private and public sectors, both in Canada and abroad (including Russia, Guyana, Indonesia and China) and has served as a consultant to various organizations in the public and private sectors in the areas of foreign investment, mergers, competition policy, strategy and industrial policy.

David C. Thomas

Professor of International Management; Director of the Centre for Global Workforce Strategy (SFU)

David Thomas is the author of eight books including Cultural Intelligence: Living and Working Globally. His bookCross-Cultural Management Essential Concept was the winner of the R. Wayne Pace Human Resource Development book of the year award for 2008. In addition, he has recently edited (with Peter B. Smith and Mark Peterson) The Handbook of Cross-Cultural Management Research. His research on cross-cultural interactions in organizational settings has appeared in such journals as the Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, and Journal of Organizational Behavior, among others. He is currently the Associate Editor of the International Journal of Cross-Cultural Management.

Rosalie L. Tung

Ming and Stella Wong Professor of International Business (SFU)

A Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, the Academy of Management, and the Academy of International Business, Rosalie Tung won the 1998 Vancouver YWCA Woman of the Year award in Management, the Professions and Trades; in 1997 she won the American Society for Advanced Global Competitiveness Research Award. Dr. Tung joined SFU Business in 1991 after serving on the faculties of the University of Wisconsin and the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. She has been a visiting professor at universities around the world, including Harvard, has served on the United Nations’ Task Force on Human Resource Management, and published widely on the subjects of international management and organizational theory.

James T. Coulter Wright

Professor of Strategic Management and Technology Forecasting (FIA)

Professor Wright currently heads FIA’s Future Studies Program, as well as the number–one ranked International Executive MBA in Brazil. He has professional experience in industrial project management in Brazil and in Africa, and has done extensive consulting work for international companies, trade associations, research institutes, the Brazilian government and the World Bank in areas such as energy, transportation, information technology, financial services, R & D management and environmental studies. Coulter has garnered numerous awards in both teaching and research, including the Thunderbird Prize Award 2007 for best paper presented at the Congress Business Association of Latin America.