Meet the Faculty

Mark Ahalt joins the Management Faculty after years of teaching a variety of Business courses in secondary education. Prior to teaching, Mark was an entrepreneur and local business owner. His practical business experience on a local and regional level brings a relevant and realistic dimension to his classes. It is watching students grow in self confidence and succeed after graduation that keeps Mark invigorated by teaching. In everything he does, Mark exhibits a contagious enthusiasm. Currently, Mark is the Faculty Advisor for the Oregon Tech Student Management Association (OTSMA).  Mark holds a BS in Business Management and a Masters in Public Administration.

Richard Bailey, is a Certified Public Accountant and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. He enjoys teaching tax and financial accounting courses. This is where he feels the students gain valuable, relevant education for their futures in the accounting profession. Richard's interest in teaching comes from teaching an undergraduate accounting course while he was in graduate school. His professional work experience is in public accounting with the firms of KPMG and Peat Marwick. Having grown up in Canada, Richard loves the outdoors, backpacking, fishing, and travel, especially to Alaska. He and his wife Sandra have four grown children and two grandchildren.

Sandra Bailey has taught a variety of courses at Oregon Tech. Sandra's favorite courses are Accounting courses but she also teaches Small Business Management, Entrepreneurship, Organizational Behavior, and Business Presentations to name a few. She is particularly skilled at presentation design. It was her father who encouraged Sandra to teach. Helping students "write their story" is the thing she likes best about teaching. Having once lived in Hawaii, Guatemala, and Canada, Sandra loves to travel. Sandra holds a BS in Accounting from Utah State University with a minor is Business Administration. She has a Master's in Education from Oregon State University.

Don DaSaro; Graduated from the Missouri School of Mines at Rolla with a B.S. in Civil Engineering and completed an MBA (Finance) at Marymount University in Virginia. Retired from a 41-year career with Caterpillar in marketing, sales operations, various management levels and human resources in Asia (28 years), Latin America and Washington DC. Foreign languages include Indonesian, Malaysian and some Spanish. While in Washington, D.C. was an advisor on trade to various committees and business councils, including the U.S.-China Business Council, U.S.-Vietnam Business Council, Sustainability Forest Committee of the Smithsonian Organization (now called the Tropical Forest Foundation), the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Hearing on lifting the Vietnam Embargo and was part of the U.N.'s mine clearing effort on the ground in Cambodia.

Jeff Dickson comes to the Management Department with a background in Health Informatics. After graduating from Oregon Tech in 2006 with a B.S. in Management Information Systems and an M.B.A. from Southern Oregon University, Jeff worked as a Chief Information Officer in a medical practice. Jeff brings his industry experience back to Oregon Tech where he enjoys teaching students how the concepts learned in the classroom have practical applications in the workplace. Jeff’s desire to teach started in high school. The inspiration came from his grandfather who is a psychologist, educator and consultant. Fishing, hunting, photography, and gardening are among the list of things Jeff loves doing. 

Maggie Huntley started teaching 38 years ago and now holds the honor of Faculty Emeritus. Although "retired," Maggie continues to teach in the Management Department covering the principles of management as well as data base management and software applications. What started Maggie teaching was an exceptional experience during her own education with teachers who were inspirational mentors to her. What keeps Maggie teaching is the interaction with students. With every interaction Maggie says she learns something herself. Lately Maggie has taken onthe personal challenge of walking marathons. She has finished the Portland Marathon four years in a row. Add to that her 37 years of marriage and two grown children and you can appreciate what Maggie brings to the classroom.

Charlie Jones is the interim Dean for the School of Engineering and Management. He spent more than 20 years as an industrial engineer and manager, primarily at Weyerhaeuser Co. Jones, a registered Professional Engineer, holds an MBA from University of Puget Sound and a Ph.D. from Utah State University. In addition to his duties as dean, he continues to teach distance education courses for the Management Department.

Grant Kirby, a 1987 Computer Science graduate of Oregon Tech, joined the Management faculty after 16 years working in the high-tech industry. His industry career included working as a Systems Engineer and a Product Marketing Engineer at Intel. Grant brings his expertise to the classroom and functions as Program Director for Information Technology and Operations Management degrees in Portland. Grant loves teaching classes that engage the students in active participation. He says he enjoys seeing that "breakthrough" moment in the classroom. When not teaching, you can find Grant doing woodwork, landscaping or backpacking in the woods near his home. Grant holds an MBA from University of Oregon and is currently a PhD candidate in Systems Science at Portland State University.

Michael Kirshner once travelled around the world after graduating from Dental School. He then lived and practiced dentistry in the US Virgin Islands for eight years. Now, Michael is the Program Director for Health Informatics. Before joining Oregon Tech's faculty, Michael completed a Graduate Certification in Medical Informatics from Oregon Health and Science University and holds a Master of Public Health from the University of Washington. Education is a value instilled in Michael since childhood through his father and grandfather who taught him that "education is light, none is darkness." Michael teaches classes in the Health Informatics Program. His approach is to use project-centered assignments that take advantage of computer and information technologies. Working as an advisor, mentor, and facilitator of students' learning, is a rewarding aspect of teaching for Michael.

Marla Miller holds a M.S. degree in Managerial Communication from the University of Portland and a BS in Business Administration from Southern Oregon University. Before teaching, Marla worked in health care administration for nearly 20 years. She brings her health care management experience to the classroom where she teaches courses in health care management, and total quality management. As a certified professional in human resource management (PHRM), Marla also teaches courses in, organizational behavior, leadership, and controversial issues in management. When not teaching, Marla enjoys camping with her husband, reading, hiking, and hanging out with her four cats. Currently, Marla is the Management Department Chair.

Carmen Morgan is a graduate of Portland State University where she earned her MBA. Her areas of expertise are in accounting and finance. Carmen says the accounting is easier to learn when someone takes the time to explain the concepts and how it's done. This is something she's always done to help students learn. Teaching was always in the picture for Carmen, but she expected to be teaching high school math. It was through a set of circumstances that led her to be teaching at Oregon Tech and she has been here ever since, some twenty plus years. Carmen has a history of athletics. She once played college volleyball and basketball for Oregon Tech and is now the Faculty Athletic Representative for Oregon Tech. All of her four children picked up the athleticism and play multiple sports. You can guess how Carmen spends her spare time.

Hallie Neupert enjoys teaching economics and research methods. She says since the economy changes daily there is always something new to discuss in class. In research methods Hallie watches as the students make the connection between the classroom and real life. They get to see statistics in action. Hallie earned a Bachelors degree in economics from Wellesley College and a Master's degree is in Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics from University of Arizona. It was through Hallie's perseverance that the Management Department was able to complete accreditation activities and become an accredited department through the International Assembly for Collegiate Business Education (IACBE) in 2007. When not working, you are likely to find Hallie enjoying the company of friends and family over a home cooked meal.

Jane Perri teaches both in the Management and the Allied Health Partnerships departments. She is responsible for teachings courses in marketing, senior projects and polysomnographic technology. Her Ph.D. is in International Business and she is a certified online instructor. Other degrees include a Masters in Education, and undergraduate degrees in Psychology, History and Photography.

Pat Schaeffer joins Oregon Tech's Management department with experience in Industrial and Systems Engineering. As a business professional, Pat worked as Business Process Director for UnitedHealth Group and Six Sigma Director at Seagate Technology responsible for a global group in Asia, Europe, and North America. Pat has worked as a consultant in Lean Six Sigma and process performance improvement to such companies as Sony, Apple Computer, DuPont and Sutter Health. In addition to his Masters in Industrial Systems and Engineering, Pat is a certified Master Black Belt in Six Sigma. He teaches courses in Operations Management, Lean Management, Business Research and Decision Support Systems. Pat is happily married for over 20 years, is an accomplish guitarists and enjoys skeet shooting.

Maureen Sevigny holds an MBA from New York University and a PhD in Economics from the University of Maryland. Teaching has been something Maureen has always wanted to do, but after graduate school she got a job working in the snack food industry. The opportunity to teach as an adjunct at Florida Institute of Technology presented itself and she was hooked! Projects-oriented classes are her favorite. She says "You never know where the project will lead so it's a voyage of discovery for me as well as for each student." It's not uncommon to see Maureen bicycling to and from school. She once cycled cross-country from Seattle to New Jersey. Her love of cycling led to successful grant writing to fund much needed improvements on the OC&E Woods Line State Trail including four miles of paving and trailhead development.

Kristy is employed as an instructor with Oregon State University Klamath Basin Research & Extension Center (KBREC). She holds a Master of Arts from Thomas Edison State College and a Bachelor of Science in Business Management/Marketing from Oregon Institute of Technology. She also graduated from the Defense Information School (DINFOS) at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana with a rating in journalism and broadcast journalism. Prior to teaching at Oregon Tech, Kristy served as a public affairs representative at Kingsley Field Oregon Air National Guard where she managed an in-house advertising agency. Kristy brings her Marketing expertise to the classroom where she teaches Marketing courses. When not working, Kristy spends time with her two children and her husband who is the Chief Pilot for Jeld-Wen Aviation.

John Jackson joined Oregon Tech with 19 years of high-tech and entrepreneurial experience. His industry specialization is research, development, and design of original software and systems for plant automation, digital communications, machinery controls and systems integration. John has traveled nationally and internationally developing and implementing complex OEM systems. He was a regular guest speaker and panel member at industry trade shows and conventions. After his industry stint, John started a successful consulting business and co-founded a successful small business. John holds an MS in Statistics and Industrial Engineering from Texas A&M University and a BBA in Computer Science and Quantitative Analysis from Baylor University. He taught Statistics, Computer Science, and Information Technology at Arizona State University, Grand Canyon University, and Maricopa Community Colleges before joining Oregon Tech.