OUR PEOPLE
Faculty in the know. Our distinguished, award-winning faculty include two protégés of the quality and management leader, W. Edwards Deming, and two endowed professorships.A leader must have knowledge. A leader must be able to teach.W. Edwards Deming They bring expertise in a broad range of areas including management of research and development, quality management, new product development, applied research, business performance excellence, and leadership. Our faculty has extensive professional experience, working with Fortune 500 technology organizations as well as with small, entrepreneurial companies.
Faculty and Staff
NOTE: Please click on name to view biography. Click on the name again to close.
- » Wayne R. Kirschling, DBA
Professor Kirschling joined the Engineering Management Faculty in the Fall 2001. He has a DBA and MBA from the University of Colorado and a M.S. in Engineering from Stanford University. He joins the faculty after serving for the past 15 years as president of a series of high-tech companies, including a contract manufacturing company serving the semiconductor equipment, aviation, and medical equipment industries. This company employed 800 persons with a total of eight plants in the United States and the United Kingdom.
Prior to his involvement in industry, Professor Kirschling served in a number of higher education positions, including serving as the Commissioner for Higher Education for the State of Indiana and Director of Research for the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems. Upon graduation from the U.S. Air Force Academy, his assignments including the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force in the Pentagon and two years on the faculty of the Economics Department at the Academy. Professor Kirschling teaches EMEN 5300, EMEN 5400, and EMEN 5500. His email address is . His phone number is 303-492-1211.- » Barbara B. Lawton, PhD
Barbara Lawton is a teacher, executive business coach and business consultant. Her 20 years of professional practice has centered on increasing organizational performance and on the process of change and human development it entails.
Dr. Lawton is the Lockheed Martin Professor of Management and Program Chair for the Engineering Management Program at the University of Colorado at Boulder. She is the last student of W. Edwards Deming, the father of Japan 's Quality revolution, and her work continues the evolution of Quality Management through integration of concepts and practices from systems thinking, dynamic evolution, organizational learning and change, and knowledge management.
Her corporate experience includes VP for Business & Quality Processes at Storage Technology Corporation, a $2.4B provider of electronic storage solutions. Here she supported development of critical competencies by leading the evolution of Knowledge Management. Her prior corporate experience is as Global Director of Total Quality for Albany International, where she designed and facilitated the adoption of Quality Management in 13 different countries. She has also been the Chief Research Officer for Ignite!, Inc., and Board Member for Jones Education Company.
She holds a B.S. in Biology from The American University, a M.A. in Statistics from The Pennsylvania State University, a Ph.D. in Statistics from the University of Wyoming, and has completed Columbia University 's Management Development Program. Her email address is . Her phone number is 303-492-2034.- » Jeffrey T. Luftig, PhD
Dr. Luftig joined the Engineering Management Program in August, 2005 as the W. Edwards Deming Professor of Management after teaching at CU-Boulder for seven years in the Leeds School of Business and the Department of Applied Mathematics in the College of Engineering. Prior to working at CU, Dr. Luftig was Founder and President of his own consulting firm specializing in the Quality Sciences, Applied Research, and Business Performance Improvement. His firm annually employed 35 - 40 full-time professional and administrative staff members, and served a number of Fortune 100 and 500 firms in North America, South America, Asia, Europe, and Australia. Dr. Luftig was also a principal in the Weldaloy Corporation, a firm specializing in non-ferrous alloy castings and specialty machined parts.
Dr. Luftig's experience in higher education includes an assistant professorship at SUNY at Oswego; an associate professorship at the University of Northern Iowa where he also served as director of graduate studies; and multiple positions at Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, Michigan, where he started as a professor and department head, and ultimately became the associate dean of the College of Technology while he held the Ford - EED endowed chair in research, development, and training in statistical methods. It was in this capacity that Dr. Luftig worked with Dr. W. Edwards Deming in the transformation of Ford Motor Company, initiated when Don Peterson brought Dr. Deming into Ford in the early 1980's. Dr. Luftig has also won many awards including: Graduate Professor of the Year at the University of Colorado's Leeds School of Business, Procter & Gamble Teaching Excellence Award, Frascona Teaching Excellence Award, SOAR Teaching Award.
The author of more than 70 publications, including three books and a number of journal articles, Dr. Luftig received his BS from the SUNY College at Buffalo; a MEd from Bowling Green State University in Ohio; and a PhD from the University of Minnesota. His email address is . His phone number is 303-492-1591.- » Steve Ouellette, ME
Steve is the first Engineering Management alumni to join EMP as an instructor. Steve earned his undergraduate degree in Metallurgical and Materials Science Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines. He also earned a minor in the Guy T. McBride Honors Program in Public Affairs for Engineers. After graduation, he was honored with a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship and spent a year in Europe studying the "Evolution, Fabrication, and Social Impact of the European Sword." Upon completion of the Fellowship, he began working for Alcoa and achieved the rank of Senior Metallurgical Engineer. During his time at Alcoa, he was trained in the Quality Sciences by Luftig & Warren International (LWI). Eventually, Steve joined LWI and worked there for six years in a variety of industries, including primary metals extraction and manufacture, baking, distribution, assembly, and auto parts manufacturing, among others. During this time, he became an expert in both the application and teaching of a number of advanced business and statistical tools. He was principal in developing the Six Sigma materials for LWI. He has held an ASQ Certified Quality Engineer and Certified Quality Auditor, and received a Black Belt from Motorola University and a Master Black Belt from LWI. Steve is now the President and owner of The ROI Alliance, LLC and Director of EMP's Center for Statistical Solutions. In addition to his duties as President, he acts as an Advisory Board Member to Orion Registrar and writes a monthly column for Inside Six Sigma called “The Six Sigma Heretic.” He lives in Colorado with his wife and two daughters.
- » Kurt Smith, D.Sc.
Kurt is a scientist and an entrepreneur. He is the holder of various medical and information technology patents, and is the Founder of
numerous high-technology companies including Surgical Navigation Technologies (SNT), now Medtronic Navigation. Kurt has served in
professorship positions at Southern Illinois University, St. Louis University and Johns Hopkins University. As faculty in the College of
Engineering and Applied Science and in partnership with the Deming Center for Entrepreneurship, he is the lead developer of the Engineering
Entrepreneurship programs. .- » Bonnee Basso
Bonnee is the Program Administrator, and functions in the capacity of advisor, office manager and administrator. Her professional experience spans a broad spectrum; elementary school teacher, business analyst and communications representative in the high tech industry, and training development and special events coordinator in the retailing arena. Currently, Bonnee serves the EMP student population with a strong commitment to delivering timely and consistent customer service. Her email address is . Her phone number is 303-492-2570.
Adjunct Faculty
NOTE: Please click on name to view biography. Click on the name again to close.
- » Jay Ballantine, JD, MBA
Jay Ballantine is both a lawyer and a CPA with extensive experience in the international accounting firm KPMG. He is currently a senior instructor of business law and accounting in the Leeds School of Business. Jay received the Frascona Teaching Excellence Award in 2003, and has twice received the Mortarboard Certificate of Teaching Excellence. He’s also the author of several textbook supplements, including a guide for the business law coverage on the CPA exam.
His email address is .- » Mary Ceynowa MA, LP, LPC
Mary Ceynowa received her Master's from the University of St. Thomas, St Paul Minnesota. She is currently the principal of Ceynowa Consulting, LLC. Leadership Development and Succession Planning is Mary's specialty area. Mary's focus is to ensure the organization has the right people on board to take the company to the next level. Her focus is on ensuring leaders are in the right positions to fully utilize their natural strengths. She has experience in leadership assessment and development, design and implementation of leadership development programs, leadership succession planning and family business leadership succession planning. Her background includes thirteen years as a licensed psychologist, four years in the consulting division of an accounting firm including being the Partner in Charge and five years in her own business. Her email address is .- » Stacy Dumas, MA
Stacy Dumas serves as Big Tree Corporation’s Chief Information Officer and Director of the PMO. Before joining SpectraLink, Ms. Dumas was the CIO of SpectraLink, StarTek, and prior to that, StorageTek. Dumas is a seasoned executive with over 20 years of global experience and demonstrated success in driving Program Management effectiveness, IT and business alignment, reducing overall costs, and quickly executing and delivering business solutions. Dumas’s strength in understanding business opportunities and challenges along with her ability to comprehend and apply leadership, business and technology concepts, have had a positive impact on each of these corporations. She is a results-oriented leader with visionary abilities in leading organizations through critical change. She has experience with SAP, Oracle, PeopleSoft, Siebel, Microsoft CRM, Salesforce.com and many others. Dumas has a master's degree in telecommunications from Golden State University, a bachelor's degree in business administration from California Polytechnic State University and is a professor within the Master’s of Engineering Management program at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Her email address is .- » Bob Kois, MBA, PMP
A Colorado native, Bob Kois PMP, graduated from the Univ. of Colo. 1976 and earned an MBA from the Univ. of Denver in 1998. After 5 years at Johnson & Johnson in Operations Management and Marketing Management, Bob spent 21 years at StorageTek in both Functional and Project Management, overseeing Hardware and Software Development Teams. Serving on the MileHi Project Management Education Team, Bob has taught PMP Certification Exam Prep for the past 5 years and today serves as V.P. of Public Relations for PMI MileHi.
Bob is a "Global Registered Education Provider" for the Project Management Institute. Teaching Leadership Principles at Gindiri College in Nigeria was an exciting adventure in 2002. Today, as President of KTS, Bob consults and teaches Project Management for companies and individuals along the Front Range. His email address is .- » Frank Moyes, MBA
Frank has broad management and operations experience, particularly internationally. For 18 years he lived in Europe where he held a variety of senior operating positions with major companies. Frank set up and managed the acquisition and new ventures department for Owens-Illinois in Geneva and ran one of its subsidiary companies. Later he was President of a manufacturing company in England for General Electric that marketed its products throughout Europe.
In 1983 Frank used venture capital to start Cambridge Computer Graphics, a company that develops products for the graphic arts and CAD/CAM markets. Sales were to distributors and OEM's throughout Europe and the Far East. This successful company was subsequently sold and Frank returned to the United States in 1990.
Frank now works closely with start-up companies in Colorado providing management advice and investment capital. Most recently he has been teaching courses in Entrepreneurship and Operations Strategy at the University of Colorado in Boulder.
He holds an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a B.A. from Pennsylvania State University. His email address is .- » Alyssa McCluskey, PhD
Alyssa McCluskey is a water resource engineering consultant with a background in global water and food modeling. In the past eight years, she has worked for: the International Food Policy Research Institute, International Water Management Institute, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Stratus Consulting Inc., International Institute of Applied Systems Analysis, Stockholm Environment Institute, Center for Environmental Economics and Policy in Africa, and the University of Colorado. She has conducted training seminars around the world on hydrologic and water planning models. Alyssa's experience includes integrated freshwater assessments, modeling water management scenarios, water policy, international river basin simulations, development of global water stress indicators, and managed and applied the Water Evaluation and Planning System (WEAP) model. Her research work has centered on climate change issues and the issue of spatial scale in global water and food modeling. Alyssa holds a BS, MS, and PhD in Civil/Water Resource Engineering from the University of Colorado. Her email address is .- » Ray Wilson, MBA
Ray Wilson started his first business two years after the completion of his undergraduate studies. He has broad management and operations experience in senior management positions with small, middle market and Fortune 500 companies. His industry experience includes consumer and industrial products, specialty food and wine, technology, professional services and retailing. His global business experience includes leadership of a U.S. manufacturing company headquartered in England and other global businesses. Currently, Ray is a professional consultant working with small and middle market businesses specializing in improving financial and operating performance.
Ray serves on the Advisory Board to the Boulder Innovation Center. He is one of founding members of the Boulder Economic Vitality Committee Natural Foods Task Force. Ray received his MBA from Thunderbird, the American Graduate School of International Management. His email address is .
Partner Faculty
Michele Sliger has worked in software development for almost 15 years. During her career she has held roles as a programmer, database administrator, quality assurance manager, process manager, and project manager; she has worked on software development for both internal clients and the external marketplace. Currently, Sliger works as a customer advisor for Rally Software Development, where she trains software development teams in agile methodologies. Previously, Sliger has served as a project manager at Qwest Communications, a consultant for Fortune 500 companies, and was a founding member of the engineering teams at two biotech start-ups.
Michele Sliger has an undergraduate degree in MIS and an MBA. She is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP), a Certified Scrum Master (CSM) and an active member of the board of the Agile Denver chapter. Her email address is .- » Dr. Paul S. Chinowsky
Dr. Paul S. Chinowsky is an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering at the University of Colorado. Professor Chinowsky is currently conducting research in the area of leadership and management of organizations in the AEC industry. He is actively engaged in research on topics including innovation in the engineering industry, the development of learning organizations, and the role strategic management in organization success. Dr. Chinowsky has published the book entitled, “Strategic Corporate Management in Engineering,” that introduces engineering organizations to the concepts of strategic management. Dr. Chinowsky is also actively involved in working with international research groups to examine the differences between the AEC industry in the United States and other countries. Prior to joining the Colorado faculty, Dr. Chinowsky was an Associate Professor at Georgia Tech and a computer-aided design and knowledge-based system consultant for Stone & Webster Engineering in Boston. Prof. Chinowsky has a Bachelor and Master in Architecture degrees from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from Stanford.
His email address is . His phone number is coming soon.
- Dr. Jim Diekmann – CU-Boulder
Dr. Keith Molenaar – CU-Boulder
» Dr. Walter Mayrhofer
Walter Mayrhofer , Ph.D.
Dr. Walter Mayrhofer is the Program Director for the Master’s Program in Quality Management and the Research Coordinator for the Department of Knowledge and Communication Management at the Danube University Krems, Austria.
