Meet the Faculty

Direct:    503-821-1273
Grant is a 1987 Computer Science graduate of Oregon Institute of Technology, worked in the high-tech industry for 16 years before returning to OIT/Portland as the IT Program Director.  His industry career included stints as a network engineer and technical marketing engineer at Intel, and product marketing for home networking, DSL and broadband.  He holds an MBA from the University of Oregon.

Direct:    503-821-1249
Dr. Michael Kirshner has over 30 years of healthcare and information systems experience.  Michael founded and became president of Health Select, a health communications company that developed computer aided information and decision support systems. Michael was awarded a post-doctoral research fellowship at the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research, where he conducted and published health services and medical informatics research. Previously, Dr. Kirshner was the Assistant Director of Medical Informatics for Kaiser Permanente Northwest.

Dr. Kirshner holds a doctoral degree in Dental Surgery from the University of Southern California, a Master of Public Health degree from the University of Washington, and a graduate certificate in Medical Informatics from Oregon Health and Science University.

Co.:      Mt. Hood Coomunity College
Mike Callaghan graduated from the US Air Force Academy in 1989 and spent the next seven years installing and managing computer networks in the Air Force.  His last assignment was at Los Angeles AFB in support of the Titan IV Launch vehicle and MILSATCOM program, the fore-runner of today’s GPS satellites.  After leaving the Air Force, Mike moved to Oregon and worked in the IT Consulting/Telecommunications field.  He is currently the Director, Network Infrastructure & Telecommunications at Mt Hood Community College.  Mike was selected as a presenter at the Educause National Convention in 2009 for his presentation, “Social Networks, Mobile Computers, and Your College.” Mike is married and spends Fall months coaching his children’s soccer teams.

Co.:      Intel Corporation
Title:    Software Developer
Sean Hefty graduated with a B.S. in Computer Science and Math from Purdue. M.S. from Arizona State.  He has worked as a software developer with Intel since 1993, where he currently is the Linux driver developer and co-maintainer of the Infiniband networking stack.

Co.:      Hewlett Packard
Title:    Senior Firmware Quality Engineer
Michael graduated from OIT in 1989 with a B.S. in Computer Systems Engineering Technology.  He has worked for various hi-tech companies, focusing on software/firmware development for communications, factory automation, manufacturing, and embedded systems.  Currently Michael is a networking technologies firmware quality engineer for Hewlett-Packard Company.  He has been teaching as an adjunct instructor for OIT since 1996.  Michael is also a member of the OIT CSET Department Industry Advisory Board.

Suzanne Malek, MBA, PMP, is an independent consultant within the IT Project Management sphere with a focus on international projects. She has sales and management experience in both private and public sectors and has been employed as a program manager in the plastics industry (SPM), an account executive with Coca-Cola USA, a sales representative for surgical instrumentation with a division of Johnson & Johnson, an executive director of  the Portland Food Drive, a consultant and international educator on business economics in Kyrgyzstan, an Instructional Designer/Technical Writer and a Global Product Manager in IT at Intel Corporation.  She is a lecturer and adjunct professor in Information Technology, International Business, Project Management, e-commerce and Finance.

Suzanne Malek graduated with a degree in Marketing and Management from Indiana University, an MBA from Portland State University in International Business, has completed coursework in the Ph.D. program in Systems Science International Business at Portland State University, is currently enrolled in the Ph.D. program at Capella University and holds a Project Management Professional certification.   She has over twenty years of teaching and training experience in industry and within the MBA departments of nationally-recognized universities, primarily specializing in global business, information technology, project management and finance. She is also a partner in an e-commerce business venture, a Portland-based resume/interview and career path services company.

Co.:      Energy Trust of Oregon

Co.:      Schultz Associates
Title:    President
Karl Schultz is a 1962 Mechanical Engineering graduate of Western Michigan University. Over the past 40 years he has attended numerous professional seminars regarding technical and managerial education. He has worked many managerial positions before coming to OIT Portland as an Adjunct Professor in the Operations Management program in 2002.

Co.:      Captaris, Inc.
Title:    Manager, Technical Communications
Christian Stephens has a Bachelor's degree in English and Communication from Lewis and Clark College and a Master's degree in English from Idaho State University. He has been a technical writer, editor, and manager since 1991 in a variety of industries, most recently at Microsoft. Christian has been at OIT in Portland since 1996.

Bob Zahrowski has 30+ years of experience in management consulting, organizational development, coordination and facilitation of solutions to complex issues, and Senior Management coaching. He is involved in the participation and facilitation of the development of Strategic and Marketing Plans, Economic Development Plans and process redesign. Bob has an M.Ed., and a Ed.D. (ABD) from Oregon State University.