Doctor of Business Administration
Class of 2024 - In-Person Program
Will Cook
QED Analytics
Will Cook is co-founder and CFO of QED Analytics, a privately held defense contractor
that specializes in engineering, acquisition, business operations, and research in
the social sciences. He has more than over 20 years’ experience in manufacturing,
operations, financial management, and data analytics. In addition to his corporate
roles at QED, Cook directly supports government clients conducting supply chain risk
analysis for large-scale U.S. Department of Defense systems.
Cook previously held executive management roles in three small companies and senior management roles at the Boeing Company. He served as a U.S. Navy pilot for seven years. Cook enjoys working on complex problems whose solutions derive from multiple disciplines ranging from engineering and data analytics to finance and business strategies. He is a CFA Charter-holder.
Cook earned master’s degrees in management and civil engineering from the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology and a bachelor’s degree in ocean engineering from the U.S.
Naval Academy.
Ellyn Drotzer
Lighthouse of Broward for the Blind and Visually Impaired
Ellyn Drotzer is a passionate servant leader who has varied interests spanning workforce
and economic development, higher education, technology, and social justice. She is
particularly interested in multi-layered complex social issues and creating innovative
and collaborative solutions that will expand opportunity and access for all citizens.
As the president and CEO of the Lighthouse of Broward for the Blind and Visually Impaired, Drotzer is responsible for board management, strategic planning, program planning, budgeting, endowment management, fundraising, communications and marketing, personnel management, physical facilities, and community outreach. For over 30 years, she has worked with governments, funders, nonprofits, and in higher education in a variety of administrative roles.
Drotzer earned a master’s degree in social work from Florida International
University, a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Florida
and holds a Nonprofit Financial Stewardship Certificate from Harvard’s Kennedy School.
She has been a Licensed Clinical Social Worker for over 20 years.
Amit Garg
Immunocore
For the past 27 years, Amit Garg has solidified a career in the biopharmaceutical
industry. He established himself with global conglomerate companies including Merck,
Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals, Novo Nordisk Pharmaceuticals, Eli Lilly and Co.,
AstraZeneca, Pfizer, and Abbott Laboratories. For the past five years, he has been
lending his expertise to biotech startups launching first-in-class products within
the oncology space.
As a leader in the biopharmaceutical industry, Garg aims to deepen his knowledge in business administration concepts and to research critical components within biopharmaceutical companies that lead to success or failure to penetrate the market. He hopes to facilitate the dissemination of new and groundbreaking medications to the public and to ensure patients with cancer have access to life- saving therapeutics. The end result: patients getting the chance to lead longer, healthier, and more fulfilling lives.
Garg earned an MBA from the University of South Florida and a bachelor’s degree from
Rutgers University.
Thomas Hall
Veritas Technologies
Thomas Hall currently consults as a senior program manager in the tech industry where
he manages cross-functional business units to help drive software and hardware releases.
His previous graduate research includes climate change's impact on global security
and the aging population's impact on infrastructure.
Hall served in Special Operations as a U.S. Army Ranger where he completed multiple combat deployments to Afghanistan, as well as graduating from the Defense Language Institute's Pashto language courses.
After serving in the military, Hall was one of three veterans in the nation who played Division 1 college football. He has spent most of his professional time post- military working for startups across the country in a wide range of roles. He also consults on leadership development and human capital management for the Talent War Group. In his free time Hall loves to get outdoors and challenge himself on various expeditions that include mountain climbing, backpacking, and long-distance canoe trips.
Hall earned a master’s degree in conflict management from the University of North
Carolina at Wilmington and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Iowa State
University.
Wistaria J. Joseph
Frett-Joseph Scholarship Foundation
Wistaria J. Joseph is CEO and founder of the Frett-Joseph Scholarship Foundation.
Joseph established the foundation to give back to the U.S. Virgin Islands and to honor
her grandparents and mother for their dedication to education, discipline, and service
to others. She is a retired Air Force Colonel. Her military leadership experience
spans key assignments in the Middle East and Pacific theaters and the Pentagon. Joseph
held pivotal roles, including director of military requirements for the Department
of Defense, chief human resource officer for United States Transportation Command,
and commander of the 7th Mission Support Group at Dyess Air Force Base.
Joseph is a visionary leader with more than three decades of experience in human resources, process improvement, and change management. In her post-military life, she wants to serve as a corporate executive and on a board of directors.
Additionally, she intends to build a successful executive leadership coaching business.
Joseph earned a master’s degree in strategic leadership from the Air Force Institute
of Technology, an MBA in human resource management from Golden Gate University, and
a bachelor’s degree in business management from the U.S. Air Force Academy.
D. Jared Knisley
Fizen Technology
Jared Knisley is the founder and managing principal of Fizen Technology. Fizen Technology
is an IT Services firm that partners with executive teams to develop technology strategies
that improve enterprise’s capacity to manage critical technology investments. By maintaining
a dynamic staff of IT professionals from across the globe, Fizen Technology can serve
clients across a variety of industries.
Knisley's background includes consulting, program management, software development and system administration. He is an entrepreneur at heart, and loves discovering technical solutions for perplexing business problems. The gap between IT and business provides many rewarding opportunities, which Knisley's skill set has allowed him to successfully bridge.
Over the course of his career, Knisley has traveled the globe developing long-term IT support models and performing complex IT system implementations. His studies focus on how to transform current project and program management frameworks to be consistent in delivering success.
Knisley earned a master’s degree in business administration from Idaho State University
and a bachelor’s degree in information systems from Brigham Young University – Idaho.
Krishnakumar Nair
Humana
As the senior IT project manager at Humana, Krishnakumar Nair is responsible for managing
$10-$15 million in program and project budgets, resource management and product deliveries.
Prior to Humana, Nair worked at Motorola Mobility for nearly 20 years. Nair was the senior manager overseeing an innovative and complex technology portfolio, program, project management, and customer deliveries. A manager for 18 years, Nair was responsible for setting expectations, driving the milestones, and coordinating development and delivery of products worth $5-$8 million per year. He traveled to countries such as Russia, India, and Japan to engineer and deliver smartphones globally.
Nair also has extensive industrial experience in innovative product development; and is an expert in hardware and software integration. He carried out research and published works on topics including artificial intelligence, data engineering, cybersecurity, software modelling and electronic materials. Nair also holds the following certifications: Project Management Professional, Lean Six Sigma, Manager of Quality and Organizational Excellence, and SAFe Agilist.
Nair earned an MBA from the University of South Florida and a master’s degree in computer
science from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Thomas Pavey
Stand-up Arcade Games
As owner and president of Stand-up Arcade Games, Thomas Pavey oversees the company’s
research and development, production, and quality control. Research and development
is the key to the company’s success and his favorite area to volunteer his labor hours.
Pavey is directly involved in all six components of arcade machine design — budgeting,
cabinet design, hardware planning, software design, phototype production, and component
production planning.
At Stand-up Arcade Games, he outsources the component production through a bidding process. Pavey is always looking for small companies and gig workers to add to the bidding list. Components are assembled in-house to produce the final inventory. As owner and president, he oversees the contract bidding process, quality control of component production parts, and vendor contract payments. Pavey also handles the quality control, the final step before the sales process. The machines are tested to make sure they are functioning as expected and then stocked in inventory for shipping.
Pavey earned an MBA from Webster University and a bachelor’s degree in marketing and
marketing management from Florida State University.
A.J. Scarlato
AdventHealth
As the executive director of AdventHealth’s information technology department, A.J.
Scarlato oversees the enterprise imaging solutions across more than 50 facilities
and in more than 250 physician practices. He and his team are responsible for supporting
all radiology and cardiology IT solutions used in all AdventHealth locations. Scarlato’s
team consists of 58 team members spread across the U.S., while many are based at the
corporate campus and surrounding facility in Florida.
Scarlato oversees a talented team of health care/IT directors, managers, system architects, system engineers, project managers, analytics engineers, and software analysts. He also handles both operational and capital budgets for the imaging IT organization and their clinical systems. In addition, Scarlato manages annual performance reviews, growth and acquisitions of new facilities, and software/hardware upgrades to provide holistic care to AdventHealth’s community through the information technology systems that allows more than 10,000 user connections each day.
Scarlato earned a master’s degree in business administration from Webster University
and a bachelor’s degree in computer information systems from Stetson University.
Will “Pete” Shaw
City of St. Petersburg Government
Over the past two decades, “Pete” Shaw has held a variety of information technology
based roles across Pinellas County government organizations. He has been a substantial
contributor to the technological developments for Pinellas County community focused
organizations such as the Pinellas County Department of Health, the Pinellas County
Sheriff’s Office, the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority, and the Juvenile Welfare
Board of Pinellas. In addition to supporting and promoting the evolutions of artificial
intelligence (AI) and cyber platforms, Shaw is also highly motivated by the economic
development movement, particularly the potential to foster improved business relationships
for the community of minority business owners in Tampa Bay and surrounding areas.
Shaw has set his sights on ardent goals that will lead to success in business industries related to the information technology field, while contributing to the economic growth of his local minority business community. He prides himself on his hard-working, persistent heritage, and one motivating factor for Shaw is that he would be the first for his family to earn a doctoral degree. He joins the DBA program with hopes of acquiring skills and literacy that will foster and stabilize a path toward successful entrepreneurship in cybertechnologies or IT securities, but would also like to use this knowledge to continue promoting advocacy for the community of minority business stakeholders.
Shaw earned an MBA from the University of North Alabama and a bachelor’s degree in
business administration from the University of South Florida.
Shirley Benita Smith
Office of Student Diversity and Enrichment, University of South Florida Morsani College
of Medicine
At the USF Morsani College of Medicine, Shirley Benita Smith develops and manages
initiatives and programs designed to enlighten and prepare underrepresented minority
and disadvantaged students for careers in medicine. She actively participates in diversity
and inclusion, and cultural competency curriculum development, management, and delivery
to enhance the cultural humility of college learners and faculty.
Smith’s professional career has focused on developing and delivering services to vulnerable children and students. As a social worker her success was defined by the elimination of danger. As Smith moved into academia, her focus and role have shifted. At this point in her career, her interest has further developed into creation of best practices to increase inclusivity in culture, and to address health disparities and inequities. Her goal is to create change in the spaces where people act and interact. Her focus is on helping to create a culture of belonging where people feel safe and can thrive.
Smith earned a master’s degree in counseling psychology from Boston College and a
bachelor’s degree in psychology from Hobart and William Smith College.
Mary Alice Trussell
Tax KPMG LLP
Mary Alice Trussell is a managing director with KPMG LLP and has more than 20 years
of experience as a business tax advisor and Certified Public Accountant. Currently
she is leading the launch and expansion of the tax shared services practice at the
KPMG Capability Center in Orlando, Florida. This role includes team and process development
to support the firm’s enhanced tax service delivery model leveraging standardized
processes and technology investments. She is interested in the evolution of the talent
model and evolving skill sets in the public accounting industry, as well as the impact
of technology on the CPA role.
Prior to her current position, she served as a lead tax client service professional and was responsible for providing tax services to corporate and partnership clients on a variety of tax technical and business issues. During her career at KPMG, she has been actively involved in performance management and training, mentoring relationships, recruiting, employee engagement, and community initiatives.
Trussell earned a master’s degree in accountancy from the University of Georgia and
a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Clemson University.
Sirisha Tumma
Partners Federal Credit Union
As a vice president of IT operations, Sirisha Tumma wears many hats — product owner
for critical banking platforms, team leader for an experienced team, oversight of
IT audit management, and day-to-day IT operational activities.
In the past, Tumma has held various positions in technical spaces in the entertainment, hospitality and health care industries.
Tumma’s motto has always been walking the talk and thus leading by example. There is no greater motivation than seeing the leader down in the trenches working alongside everyone else, learning and showing that hard work is being done on every level. This has always proved to be effective and brought Tumma to her current position. Tumma’s thirst for learning continues and after completing the DBA program, she would like to pursue teaching opportunities in academia.
Tumma earned a master’s degree in information systems management from Walden University
and a bachelor’s degree in physical therapy from the Dr. MGR Medical University in
India.
Monté L. Ward
Prime Meridian Bank/Prime Meridian Holding Co.
As executive vice president and chief information officer of Prime Meridian Bank,
Monté Ward is responsible for the alignment of technology and information security
with business objectives. He leads and oversees the development, implementation,
maintenance, and ongoing assessment of an effective information security program that
includes business continuity planning, incident response, critical vendor management,
and an appropriate security communication and reporting framework for the organization.
In April 2020, he wrote a software program and assisted in the development of the processes that enabled Prime Meridian Bank to quickly produce loan documents for the first round of the SBA Paycheck Protection Program. As a result, PMB funded 552 loans within totaling over $67 million to clients and non-clients in the first 20 days. Ward played a pivotal role at a former community bank in implementing and configuring the software, procedures, and practices required to comply with new regulations while minimizing business disruption and monetary investment.
Ward earned a master’s degree in cybersecurity from National University and a bachelor’s
degree in electrical engineering from Florida A&M University. He is a graduate of
the Wharton Leadership Program at the University of Pennsylvania.
Wen Wei
Wen Wei served as the chief human resources officer at China Tourism Group (CTG) Hotel
Group for four years. A state-owned hospitality operation, CTG Hotel Group has more
than 150 hotels operating in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and more than 50 hotels
in the United Kingdom.
Prior to joining CTG Hotel Group, Wei worked at the Shangri-La Hotel Group for 23 years. She was the director of human resources for Shangri-La’s China World Hotel and Traders Hotel in Beijing. She later worked as the China region director of training and development, overseeing people development at more than 30 Shangri-La Hotels. She also worked as the head of human resources for Beijing Jia Ao Real Estate Company and Kerry Property Management Company.
With 27 years of working experience at the Shangri-La Hotel Group and CTG Hotel Group, Wei witnessed the rapid development of China’s hospitality industry after it opened its economy in the early 1980s. Her career spanned state-owned and private sector companies.
Wei earned an MBA from Santa Clara University and a bachelor’s degree in world economics
from Fudan University in China.
James (Jim) Wells
Wells Investments, Inc., Wells Global Investments LLC
Jim Wells is the founder, owner, and CEO of three financial service companies, Wells
Investments, Inc., Wells Global Investments, and Valor Financial Securities. His responsibilities
include leadership and management of these multiple investment firms. He is also responsible
for the research on the macro and micro aspects of global investing.
Wells served as a captain and a military intelligence officer in the U.S. Army. He and his wife, Patti, established the Our Fallen Heroes Foundation, an organization dedicated to helping the surviving spouse and children of military personnel lost in the line of duty. He has also served on the board of directors of various nonprofit groups, including the Sunshine Foundation and the Red Cross of Polk County.
As a self-described “serial entrepreneur,” Wells created the "I WILL" brand currently used by Under Armour. He also co-founded a start-up company called "Collegiate Clarity" that matches students with colleges and colleges with students.
Wells earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the United States
Military Academy, West Point. He graduated from the Harvard Business School OPM Program.
Patricia (Patti) Gadecki Wells
Wells Investments, Inc.
As the president of Wells Investments, Inc., a registered investment advisory firm,
Patti Gadecki Wells is responsible for the financial, operational and compliance oversight
of the firm.
She is also a co-founder and managing member of Valor Financial Securities LLC, a securities broker/dealer registered with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). She acts as comptroller and prepares various financial reports for management and regulators. She is the primary interface between Valor and FINRA. She is also the primary contact person for the Pershing Division of Bank of New York to Valor Financial. Wells is a securities principal. She also works in the capacity of a registered representative, helping individuals with the portfolio management of investments and helping with retirement and estate planning from the perspective of a Certified Financial Planner® professional.
She is also the co-founder of the Our Fallen Heroes Foundation, Inc. Established in
2004, this nonprofit helps the surviving family members of military personnel killed
in the line of duty and helps severely injured military personnel.
Mary Hodges West
Zebina Whistle-Stop Farms
Mary Hodges West balances olive growing, state and federal lobbying and the leadership
of an international life-sciences company from her family farm in southeast Georgia.
Over the course of the last four decades West has enjoyed successful careers in the
law, the military, elected politics and business. It is her current interest in research
and publishing that brought her to the University of South Florida’s DBA program.
West’s favorite projects involve overcoming obstacles that others say can’t be resolved. In each career field she pursued, she set herself apart by fixing problems that others had either abandoned or wouldn’t touch. She credits her father with teaching her a technique for seeing difficulties with a fresh, unbiased perspective which reveals the pathway to answers.
West graduated in 1980 from the University of South Florida with a bachelor’s degree in history and international relations.