George Dean Johnson, Jr. College of Business & Economics
Faculty
Frank Rudisill 
Dean and Professor, Management
Dr. Rudisill received his Ph.D. in management science from Clemson University.
He joined the USC Upstate faculty in fall 2002 and served as associate dean of
the College from fall 2008 thru spring 2011. After eight months as interim dean,
Dr. Rudisill was named dean of the College in March 2013.
Dr. Rudisill
teaches in the areas of management, operations management, statistics and
business strategy. He has over 25 years of experience in industry as a
statistician (Duke Energy), operations research manager (Milliken & Co) and
statistical quality consultant (with national and international companies). He
was also the lead partner from USC Upstate in working with BMW Manufacturing to
develop the USC Upstate/BMW Academic Outreach Camp for high school students. His
research interests focus upon applying quality tools and techniques in solving
industrial problems. He has published in peer-reviewed journals such as
Production and Inventory Management, Quality Engineering, Quality
Progress, International Journal of Production Economics,
Interfaces, and Strategic Finance. He is the co-author of a
book, Quality Management and Measurement Systems.
Steven
D. Caldwell 
Associate
Professor, Management
Dr. Caldwell received a Ph.D. in Management from
the Georgia Institute of Technology. He has taught at USC Upstate since August
2004 in organizational behavior, human resources and statistics. He has
presented his research at both national and international conferences sponsored
by organizations such as the Academy of Management, the Southern Academy of
Management, the Society of Industrial and Organizational Psychologists, and the
International Journal of Business and Economics, as well as published in Journal
of Applied Psychology, Personnel Psychology, Encyclopedia of
Industrial/Organizational Psychologists, and Decision Sciences. Prior to his
academic career, he was Founding President of Data Ventures, LLC and served in
executive positions in various other businesses within the consumer products
industry.
Elizabeth Cole 
Associate Professor, Accounting
Dr.
Cole joined the faculty in 2007. She earned a Ph.D. in Accounting from Kent
State University. Before joining USC Upstate, she was an assistant professor at
James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA.
Adriana
S. Cordis
Assistant Professor, Economics
Dr. Cordis joined
the JCBE faculty in 2010. She earned a Ph.D. in Economics from Clemson
University in May 2008. Her research interests are primarily in the areas of
public economics, political economy, and law and economics. Prior to joining USC
Upstate, she worked as an economist for Ernst & Young in New York.
John
Cronin 
Instructor, Accounting
Mr.
Cronin joined the faculty in 2006 as an adjunct instructor; and in 2008 as a
full time Instructor of Accounting. Mr. Cronin earned an MBA in Accounting from
the University of Maryland. Before coming to USC Upstate, Mr. Cronin served as a
senior partner with Cronin, Jackson, Nixon & Wilson, Certified Public
Accountants in Clearwater, Florida.
Michael Dinger
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Assistant Professor, Management
Dr.
Dinger received a Ph.D. in Management from Clemson University and a B.S. in
Business Administration from Presbyterian College. His research interests
include information security, IT workforce management and absorptive capacity.
He teaches in the areas of strategy and human resource management.
Alan
Duesterhaus
Instructor, Nonprofit Leadership
Dr.
Duesterhaus joined the faculty in 2011 as an adjunct instructor; and began as a
full-time Instructor of Nonprofit Leadership in the fall of 2012. Dr.
Duesterhaus earned his doctorate in higher education administration from
Vanderbilt University and completed a post-doctoral bridge program in management
and marketing at the University of Florida prior to joining the faculty. Before
coming to USC Upstate, Dr. Duesterhaus worked in higher education administration
for 20 years, including service as vice president for advancement for two
colleges. In addition, Dr. Duesterhaus has served on a number of non-profit and
civic organization boards. He teaches in the areas of management, marketing, and
nonprofit leadership. Research interests include brand management, the
marketing of higher education, and leadership in nonprofit settings.
Jim
O'Connor 
Assistant Professor, Management
Dr. O'Connor joined the faculty in 2004 as an adjunct instructor, and in 2008
as a full time Instructor of Management. In 2012, he earned a Doctorate in
Management from Georgia State University, and accepted a position as Assistant
Professor of Management. Dr. O'Connor has Masters Degrees in Statistics and in
Management, and a Bachelors degree in Chemical Engineering, all from the Georgia
Institute of Technology. He teaches primarily in the areas of management,
operations management and improvement, and statistics. His research interests
include environmental sustainability strategies and operations in business. Dr.
O'Connor has served as vice president of manufacturing, plant manager, director
of quality, and process engineering manager for such companies as Fuji Film,
Printpack and BBA Fiberweb, and currently consults with companies on
environmental, quality and performance improvement.
Rosalind Paige 
Associate Professor, Marketing
Dr. Paige joined the faculty in 2007. She earned a Ph.D. in Textiles and
Clothing from Iowa State University. She has also completed graduate courses in
Marketing at Clemson University. Before joining USC Upstate, she was an
associate professor at Lander University in Greenwood, SC.
Mark Pruett
Associate Professor, Management
Dr. Pruett joined the faculty in 2010. He earned a PhD in strategic
management from the University of Illinois, and MBA and BS degrees from the
University of North Carolina. Prior to joining USC Upstate, he taught at
Appalachian State University. His teaching and research interests include
management, entrepreneurship, and creativity/innovation.
Charles
S. Reback
Associate Professor, Economics
Dr.
Reback joined the Upstate faculty in 2005. He received a Ph.D. in Applied
Economics from Clemson University, an M.S. in Finance from Boston College, and a
B.S. in Economics from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. His
research interests include economic and financial history and the capital
markets implications of managerial decisions.
Nicholas Roberts 
Assistant Professor, Management
Dr. Roberts received a Ph.D. in Management Information Systems from Clemson
University. His research interests include the adoption, diffusion and business
value of information technologies. He teaches in the areas of information
systems and management. A certified Project Management Professional (PMP), Dr.
Roberts also has several years of industry experience in project management.
Sarah
P. Rook 
Professor, Economics
Dr. Rook
received M.E. and Ph.D. degrees in economics from North Carolina State
University. She teaches macroeconomics, microeconomics, and statistics. Her
research interest is environmental economics.
Rob Routman
Assistant Professor, Business Law and
Tax
Mr. Routman joined the faculty in 2007. He earned a Juris Doctor
and Master of Taxation from Georgia State University. Before joining USC
Upstate, he was the Senior Associate Council for MARTA (Metropolitan Atlanta
Rapid Transit Authority).
Brian Smith
Senior Instructor, Information Management
Systems
Mr. Smith received a Master of Management Information Systems
degree from Georgia College and State University. A former IT Manager and
Certified Novell Engineer, he teaches Management Information Systems.
Jeff
Smith
Instructor, Management
Mr. Smith earned a MBA from the University of South Carolina and teaches classes in Entrepreneurship, Finance and Accounting. In addition, he has 20 years of experience in the accounting, banking and the real estate development sectors, and has owned and operated several small businesses. Academic interests include valuations, emerging business and social enterprises, change and efficiencies in higher education, and student debt. Mr. Smith instructs the Johnson College’s New Business Enterprise class, in which students combine all the business and economic principles exposed through the bachelor curriculum to develop practical and realistic business plans for start-up business and social enterprises. The combined impact of businesses initiated and implemented from these student plans by students, is sales over $50 million annually, and employment exceeding 300 individuals, primarily in the upstate region of South Carolina.
Elnora
Stuart
Associate Dean
Professor,
Marketing
Dr. Stuart joined the faculty in 2008. She earned a Ph.D. in
Marketing from the University of South Carolina. Before coming to USC Upstate,
Dr. Stuart was a visiting professor of marketing at the Instituto de Empressa in
Madrid, Spain. She has also served as professor of marketing, BP Egypt Oil
Professor of Management Studies, marketing unit head and AACSB Accreditation
Coordinator for the Department of Management at the American University in Cairo
in Cairo, Egypt.
Faruk
I. Tanyel
Professor, Marketing
Dr. Tanyel received an
MBA from Syracuse University and a D.B.A. in Marketing from the University of
Tennessee. He teaches marketing, economics and business policy. He has served
as the assistant dean and chair of the School of Business Administration and
Economics. Professor Tanyel's research and consulting interests include
management development, export, import, and marketing. He has completed a
faculty internship position with Remington Company, and was the director of
management training for the National Education Foundation.
William R.
Word
Professor, Economics
Dr. Word
received a Ph.D. from the University of Tennessee. He has published in a number
of scholarly journals including the Monthly Labor Review, Public Personnel
Management, and the Southern Business Review. During 1993-95, 1996-98, and
2001-03, he served as a member of the Business Accreditation Committee for AACSB
International. He was the principal consultant for AACSB accreditation to the
University of Laval in Quebec City, ESSEC in Paris, the Rotterdam School of
Management, Queen's University (Canada), the University of Mannheim (Germany)
and the University of St. Gallen (Switzerland). The University of Laval
received AACSB accreditation in 1995; ESSEC was accredited in 1997; the
Rotterdam School of Management and Queen's University received accreditation in
1998; the University of Mannheim was accredited in 2000; and the University of
St. Gallen was accredited in 2003; ESSEC was the first school in Europe to be
accredited by AACSB.