Faculty Corps

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J. Davidson Frame, PhD, PMP Academic Dean Dr. Frame has been a major player in project management education and training since the late 1970s. He has written eight books and more than 30 scholarly articles on the subject. His Managing Projects in Organizations (2003) is a business best seller. His most recent book, Managing Risk in Organizations, was published in 2003. Prior to joining UMT, Dr. Frame served as a Professor of Management Science at The George Washington University (1979-1998), where he was Chairman of the Management Science Department (1988-89), and Director of the International Center for Project Management Excellence (1995-98). He also established a Master of Science in Project Management degree program at The George Washington University. In 1999, Dr. Frame was elected to the 13-person Board of Directors of the Project Management Institute (PMI), where he helped to lead the 150,000-member organization until 2003. From 1990-1996, Dr. Frame served as PMI's Director of Certification. He was the organization's Director of Educational Services from 1997 to 1998. He won PMI's Distinguished Service Award (1994) and Person of the Year Award (1995). In 2004, he was made a Fellow of PMI. Dr. Frame has trained more than 35,000 managers worldwide over the past two decades. He has taught technology management, project management, and general management courses at organizations such as Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, Fannie Mae, AT&T, Motorola, Sprint, Lucent, Boeing, IBM, and Marriott. He holds the following degrees: a Ph.D. and an M.A. from American University, where he focused on development economics and quantitative methods; and a B.A. from the College of Wooster, with a focus on history and mathematics. He is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP).

Yanping Chen, PhD, PMP President Dr. Chen has been running major education and training programs in China and the United States since the mid-1980s. Prior to coming to the United States in 1987, she was planning director for China's manned space flight program, where 200 projects were being carried out concurrently. Dr. Chen is the Founder and President of the Yankee Clipper Group, an international training and consulting firm. Prior to establishing the Yankee Clipper Group, she was an International Fellow at the Smithsonian Institution, a Visiting Scholar at The George Washington University, a Director of Planning and Management for a large government organization, a Senior Research Scientist, and a Cardiologist. She has taught at The George Washington University, the International Space University, and Beijing Medical University. Her areas of expertise include: international business management; project management; public administration; public policy; science and technology policy and management; entrepreneurship; and leadership. In 1992-1995, Dr. Chen served on the Certification Committee of the Project Management Institute (PMI). She was elected PMI's Board of Directors in 2005 and again in 2008. In 2008, she was elected to serve as Vice Chair of the Project Management Institute. Dr. Chen has authored more than twenty publications covering a broad range of international science and technology policy and management issues as well as medical technical issues. She is fluent in Mandarin and English. She holds the following degrees: Ph.D., Public Policy, The George Washington University; M.A., Science, Technology & Public Policy, The George Washington University; and M.D., Bethune Medical University, Shijiazhuang, China. She is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP).

Thomas Block, PMP Mr. Block is an associate professor at UMT. He is the world's leading authority on establishing and maintaining project offices. He is co-author (with UMT Dean J. Davidson Frame) of The Project Office: A Key to Managing Projects Effectively. Prior to joining UMT, Mr. Block directed the Project Management Consulting Group at EDS and held a similar position at Perot Systems. He also supervised the implementation of project offices for Xerox, Moore, Bechtel, Immigration and Naturalization Service, Ameritech, and Dow Jones. Mr. Block presented numerous papers on project management at the Project Management Institute (PMI) Seminar/Symposiums, Project World, and Project Leadership Conferences. Mr. Block was also an Infantry, Airborne, Ranger officer in the US Army serving in Europe, Korea, Vietnam and the Pentagon. His areas of expertise include project management, project office, project start-ups, project intervention and recovery, "just-in-time" training. He holds an MBA from Syracuse University and a B.A. in Accounting from Canisius College. He is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP.)

Kenny Burrow, PhD, PgMP, PMP, PCP, CM, CSP Dr. Burrow is a Risk and Process Analyst and Project Manager. Prior to joining UMT he worked as Program Manager and Project Manager for the military and several government contractors. He has served as an Adjunct Professor for Webster University as well as an instructor for the University of Maryland and Central Texas College. Dr. Burrow owns his own project/process management consulting business. Dr. Burrow received his PhD in Business Administration from Columbia Southern University, an M.S. in Systems Engineering from Johns Hopkins University, an M.S. in Operations Management from the University of Arkansas, an M.B.A. in Project Management from the University of Management and Technology, a B.S. in Industrial Technology from Southern Illinois University, a B.S. in Computer Technology from the University of New York, and a Certificate in Process Management from the University of Texas. He holds Program Management Professional (PgMP), Project Management Professional (PMP), Project+ Certified Professional (PCP), Certified Manager (CM), and Certified Safety Professional (CM) certifications. He is also DAWIA certified in Program Management, Systems Planning, Development, Research, and Engineering, Acquisition Logistics, and Information Resource Management.

John R. Carey, PhD, PMP Dr. Carey is a recognized expert in project management and marketing who has consulted, taught, and written broadly on these subjects over a long and distinguished career. A brigadier general in the U.S. Army, Dr. Carey has taught at Our Lady of Lake University, Loyola College, The George Washington University, The University of Texas at San Antonio, and The University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Carey holds a Ph.D. in Marketing from the University of Texas at Austin and a B.S. in Business Administration from Bucknell University.

David Elliott, MBA, PMP David Elliott has worked extensively on large projects in the telecommunications and IT industries. He has been involved in all aspects of managing these projects, from scoping out the efforts, to planning them, to executing and controlling them, to bringing them to closure. During operation Iraqi freedom, he employed his engineering and project management skills to complete 29 major reconstruction projects, including the building of new medical clinics and the rehabilitation of schools, wells, water supply systems, and municipal buildings. He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for meritorious service during combat operations. Mr. Elliott received his Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering Technology from the New Jersey Institute of Technology and his MBA from the University of Management and Technology. He is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP).

Robert Fannin, PMP Bob Fannin has been a consultant and teacher in Project Management and Technology Management with 25 years experience in planning, implementing, training and consulting on IT and telecommunications projects. He has also been heavily involved in knowledge management and has engaged in both consultation and training in this area. As a senior consultant for IBM, Bob implemented E-Business systems for large IBM clients. He also developed seminars on Preparing Your Business for the New Economy. Prior to joining UMT, he lived in Asia for several years, where he delivered technology and business programs to Western firms working in the region. Mr. Fannin obtained his M.S. in Information Science from Pratt Institute and a B.A. in Sociology and Economics from Fordham University. His certifications include the Project Management Professional (PMP) certification from PMI and SCPM from Stanford University.

P. Thomas Gard, J.D., PMP Thomas Gard has spent 21 years in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, in positions of increasing technical and management responsibility around the world for civil and military projects budgeted up to $650 million. Following the military, Tom practiced law with special emphasis on engineer-construction litigation and claims analysis. Meanwhile, Tom has continued to practice project management. Tom Gard directed multi-million dollars projects for US Department of Justice Drug Enforcement Administration Control; Sallie Mae; American Red Cross Southern California Region; the Washington DC Council of Governments; Parsons Brinckerhoff Construction Services, Inc.; Arkansas Highway Administration; DAEWOO; The Sunshine Skyway Bridge in Tampa, Florida; Mobile Prime Power Group, Fort Belvoir, Virginia The Federal Court Boston District; US Army; Sandia and Los Alamos National Laboratories, New Mexico; Air Base Construction Program, Sultanate of Oman, Southwest Asia. Tom was an adjunct professor in the graduate program at The George Washington University lecturing and writing on project management topics before joining the UMT.

Douglas Kildsig Mr. Kildsig holds a BS Management, and MS Management from Purdue University, W. Lafayette, IN. Mr. Kildsig’s special area of interest is business strategy and policy development and implementation. Mr. Kildsig has worked in a large corporate environment, holding positions in Marketing Management and Project Management. He has also been involved in the business planning, strategy development, and general management of several start-up business ventures. Mr. Kildsig currently devotes his career as adjunct faculty for several universities, teaching in the areas of Entrepreneurship, Business Strategy & Policy Development and Implementation, Accounting, Finance, Marketing, Business Law, Supervision & Leadership, and Organizational Theory & Behavior

James Lewis, PhD Dr. Lewis is an experienced project manager who teaches seminars on the subject throughout the United States, England, and the Far East. His solid, no-nonsense approach is largely the result of the 15 years he spent in industry, working as an electrical engineer, engaged in the design and development of communication equipment. He is president of The Lewis Institute, Inc., a training and consulting company specializing in project management, which he founded in 1981. From 1980 to 2000, Dr. Lewis trained over 20,000 supervisors and managers in Argentina, Canada, England, Germany, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Singapore, Sweden, Thailand, and the United States. He continues to train about 1,000 individuals each year. He has held various positions, including project manager, product engineering manager, and chief engineer, for Aerotron, Inc. and ITT Telecommunications, both of Raleigh, NC. He also was a quality manager for ITT Telecom, managing a department of 63 quality engineers, line inspectors, and test technicians. While he was an engineering manager, he began working on a doctorate in organizational psychology, because of his conviction that a manager can only succeed by developing good interpersonal skills. Dr. Lewis is the author of: Project Planning, Scheduling and Control, Third Edition; Mastering Project Management; The Project Manager's Desk Reference, Second Edition; Working Together: The 12 Principles Employed by Boeing Commercial Aircraft to Manage Projects, Teams, and the Organization; Fundamentals of Project Management; How To Build and Manage a Winning Project Team; and Team-Based Project Management. He is co-author, with Bob Wysocki, of The World-Class Project Manager, published by Perseus in 2001. The first edition of Project Planning, Scheduling and Control has been published in a Spanish edition, and the AMACOM book, Fundamentals of Project Management, has been published in Spanish and Portuguese. Dr. Lewis has written articles for Training and Development Journal, Apparel Industry Magazine, and Transportation and Distribution Magazine. He has a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and a Ph.D. in Psychology, both from North Carolina State University in Raleigh. He is a member of several professional societies, including the Project Management Institute and The American Society for Training and Development. He is also a certified Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument practitioner.

Robert McGrath, PhD, PMP Dr. McGrath has devoted a substantial portion of his career to the aerospace sector, beginning with assignments as an aircraft/munitions maintenance officer in the US Air Force, then working in the private sector with a number of large aerospace firms. In 1991, he made a career switch to academia, focusing on general management and project management. Dr. McGrath has taught business management and project management at Louisiana State University, Southern University, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, and the University of Maryland, where he was Program Director of the project management program. Dr. McGrath received the PhD in Business Administration from Louisiana State University. He also holds an MBA (from Xavier University) and MPA (University of Northern Colorado). He earned his BS degree from the US Air Force Academy.

Michael O’Brochta, PMP Michael O’Brochta has been engaged in the theory and practice of project management for more than thirty years. He was a major project management thought leader at a large Federal government agency, where he helped drive project management practice. He was rewarded for his efforts by receiving a Medal of Merit from his agency. He is an expert in managing large and small science and technology projects. He is also an expert on establishing and running project offices, developing and managing project portfolios, and developing project management capabilities among project workers. He has written and lectured extensively on project management practice in organizations. Mr. O’Brochta has a BS in Electrical Engineering awarded by the Newark College of Engineering. He also earned a Master’s in Engineering Management from the George Washington University. He is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP).

Francis Piacine Mr. Francis J. Piacine is an adjunct faculty member. A graduate of Pennsylvania State University with a Bachelors degree in Business (Economics), he served for over 23 years in the U.S. Army and Army Reserve as a logistics officer including a 2003 tour as a supply battalion commander in Operation Iraqi Freedom. He recently completed in Masters of Science in Management (Acquisition) with the University of Management and Technology. Mr. Piacine has served as a logistics and program analyst for Department of Army and Navy since 1987 and has developed extensive experience in program management over the course of his various assignments there. He is DAWIA certified and is a graduate of the Army's Command and General Staff College and member (retired) of the Army Reserve Acquisition Corps. He completed certification as a Lean Six SIGMA Black Belt in July 2007.

Weishuang Qu, PhD Dr. Qu is an associate professor at UMT. He is director of analysis and information systems at the Millennium Institute. He was also first science secretary at Chinese embassy in Washington, D.C., and has worked as a design and production engineer. Dr. Qu has taught at the University of Wisconsin (Madison) and Hofstra University. His areas of expertise include: quantitative methods; information systems; applied statistics; systems analysis and design; computer simulation; database management systems; deterministic modeling; optimization theory; computable general equilibrium modeling; model development and application; science and technology; patents and trademarks; system dynamics theory. He holds the following degrees: M.S. and Ph.D., Systems Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, focusing on computer-aided manufacturing, statistics, and computer science; M.S., Systems Science, University of Science and Technology (China); B.S., Electrical Engineering, Shanghai Jiaotong University.

Bryan Parker, PMP, DFSS Bryan Parker is a successful project manager and business technologist who has worked extensively on projects within the financial services sector over the past 25 years. He has led projects in support of some of the largest bank mergers in U.S. history. Additionally, he has worked on numerous projects for the FDIC and USAID. His areas of project expertise include IT infrastructure, mergers and transitions, business process improvement, Six Sigma, and International Development. Mr. Parker holds a BBA from West Texas A & M University, and both an M.S. in Management and an M.S. in Computer Science from the University of Management and Technology. Additionally, he has a Diploma in Commercial Banking from the Southwestern Graduate School of Banking at Southern Methodist University. He is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP).

Christine R. Riddiough, PhD Ms. Riddiough is an adjunct assistant professor at UMT. She specializes in information technology management, strategic IT planning and programming, data tracking systems, HTML and electronic publishing, web-to-database connections, computer applications, astrophysics, and environmental physics. She currently a consultant developing Internet strategies for organizations. Ms. Riddiough assists national organizations in utilizing computer technologies to maintain databases and accounts. Previously was senior field coordinator for the Union of Concerned Scientists and research associate at the School of Public Health at the University of Illinois. Ms. Riddiough has taught courses at the University of Illinois, Roosevelt University (Chicago), and Northwestern University. She has completed doctoral work at Northwestern University, from which she holds an M.S. in Astrophysics. Ms. Riddiough holds a B.A. in Astronomy from Carleton College and is a Certified Organizer Trainer (Midwest Academy, Chicago). She also holds a certificate in HTML and Electronic Publishing from Network Universal Training/ICG in Washington, D.C.

Ross Small Mr. Ross Small received his Bachelors degree in Criminal Justice from Virginia Commonwealth University, graduating Cum Laude. He later received his Masters of Public Administration with a focus on Administration of Justice from George Mason University. He was a member of Lambda Alpha Epsilon (The American Criminal Justice Association) from 1999 to 2003. Mr. Small joined the Virginia Air National Guard in 1999 as a Security Police Officer and has been on active duty at the Bolling Air Force Base in Washington DC, as well as in Richmond, VA, in Charleston, SC, and at the Incirlik Air Base in Turkey. During his service, he also participated in helping evacuees in New Orleans during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Prior to joining UMT, Mr. Small was a Federal Law Enforcement Officer for the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and a Federal Law Enforcement Officer for the Transportation Security Administration. At UMT, he plays a lead role in the Criminal Justice programs.

Alan Stretton Alan M. Stretton recently retired as Adjunct Professor of Project Management in the Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS), Australia. He began working with UTS in 1988 to develop and deliver a Master of Project Management program. Prior to joining UTS, Mr Stretton worked in the building and construction industries in Australia, New Zealand and the USA for some 38 years, which included the project management of construction, R&D, introduction of information and control systems, internal management education programs, and organizational change projects. He has degrees in Civil Engineering (BE, Tasmania) and Mathematics (MA, Oxford), and an honorary Doctorate in Strategy, Program and Project Management (ESC, Lille). Alan was Chairman of the Standards Committee of the Project Management Institute from late 1989 to early 1992, where he worked to upgrade the Project Management Body of Knowledge so that it reflected current practice. He held a similar position with the Australian Institute of Project Management (AIPM), and was elected a Life Fellow of AIPM in 1996. He was a member of the Core Working Group in the development of the Australian National Competency Standards for Project Management. He has published over seventy professional articles.

Jody T. Uyanik Ms. Uyanik is an international policy analyst, project manager, and educator. Before joining UMT, she was associate director for the Master's Degree Program in Project Management at the George Washington University, where she launched GW's distance learning effort in project management. Ms. Uyanik worked in Russia for three years, managing business development projects for Deloitte & Touche and serving as director of the Voronezh Business Support Center. Previously, she was director of international trade and foreign relations for the National Governors' Association. Ms. Uyanik's areas of expertise include: public policy and planning, small business development, effective business communications, project management, human resource management, government-business relations, strategic planning, policy formulation, and curriculum design. Ms. Uyanik holds the following degrees: M.S., Foreign Service, Georgetown University; and B.A., Political Science and French, University of Massachusetts at Amherst. She has taken doctoral courses at George Mason University. She has lectured for The George Washington University, the Voronezh State University in Russia, and the Yankee Clipper Group. She is fluent in Russian and French.

Vijay Verma Vijay Verma, M.B.A. is a leading authority on organizations and the human side of managing projects. He has written extensively about people on projects, including Human Resource Skills for the Project Manager. Mr. Verma holds the following degrees: B.S., Engineering, Punjab University; M.E., Electrical Engineering, Technical University of Nova Scotia; and an M.B.A., University of British Columbia.

Robert James Voetsch, PhD, PMP Dr. Voetsch is an assistant professor at UMT. He has extensive experience in the management of diverse projects around the globe. He has worked as: project manager, World Health Organization, Sudan; country project manager, United Nations Volunteers, Sri Lanka; field supervisor, United States Peace Corps, North Yemen; and field supervisor, United States Peace Corps, South Korea. His areas of expertise include: project management design, development and implementation; strategic planning; start-up program organization and integration; and management of multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural projects. Dr. Voetsch has worked as a consultant/trainer at The George Washington University, the Florida Institute of Technology, and the Project Management Service Bureau. He has been a trainer for the Yankee Clipper Group and Louis Berger International. He received the doctoral degree in Management and Organization from The George Washington University. He holds an M.S. in Project Management from The George Washington University, an M.A. in Public Administration from American University, and a B.A. in Political Science from American University. Mr. Voetsch is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP)

Julie Pal-Agrawal, PhD Dr. Julie Pal-Agrawal has taught English Literature, Philosophy, Cultural Theory, World Religion, Technical Writing and Composition classes in both on-line and traditional classroom settings for over a decade, during which time she has also had the opportunity to participate in curricular design, has served as a subject matter specialist, and as a teacher-trainer and faculty mentor for new instructors. Currently Dr. Pal-Agrawal is working on a publication relating to Barbary Captivity narratives in Early America. Dr. Julie Pal-Agrawal holds a PhD in English from the University of Virginia. She received her Master’s degree in English from Georgetown University in 1997 after a Bachelor’s degree in Natural Sciences from Johns Hopkins in Maryland. For Dr. Pal-Agrawal, online education is an exciting medium through which to communicate serious academic content within a rigorous program. Dr. Pal-Agrawal feels it is her mission in the online classroom to provide knowledge, positive guidance and encouragement, while ultimately enabling students to become knowledge practitioners in the real world.

Thomas P. Morra Professor Morra possesses 20 years of extensive experience teaching Public Speaking and other courses in various communication disciplines at the college and university level. He has published scholarly articles outlining his research in communications education and is currently working with Kendall Hunt Publishing in developing an Intercultural Communication textbook to accompany courses he developed for NOVA’s Extended Learning Institute, where he functions as a curricular consultant. Mr. Morra earned a Bachelor of Arts in Speech Communication in May 1986 from East Stroudsburg University in Pennsylvania and a Master of Arts in Communication Arts from Montclair State University in New Jersey in January of 1988. In addition, Mr. Morra successfully completed 36 semester credit hours of Post Graduate Studies in Public Communication at the University of Maryland from September 1988 to May 1992, and earned a second Master of Arts, in Counseling Psychology, at Marymount University in Arlington, Virginia in May 1999.