The Marymount Business Advisory Board is composed of professionals in management, marketing, and higher education. Board members advise the Business program on program development, curriculum, career preparation, and student support to ensure that the program is rigorous, relevant, and attuned to demands and realities beyond the classroom. The program benefits from the Advisory Board’s guidance in areas that include technology, internships, career preparation, guest speakers, student mentoring, capstone project review panels, and ongoing dialogue on best practices.
Alex Cappello Founder of Cappello Group, Inc. and Cappello Capital Corp. (Member FINRA/SIPC) a global merchant bank that operates in 50 countries, providing strategic advice to public and private companies on mergers and acquisitions, placements of institutional capital, and corporate finance. Mr. Cappello serves on or has served on the following boards: University of Southern California Board of Trustees; the City of Hope, Chair of the Investment Committee; RAND Corporation’s Center for Middle East Policy (CMEPP); RAND- Russia Forum; California Republic Bank; Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ), Lead Director; Inter-Tel (NASDAQ), Chairman; Intelligent Energy, PLC (London), Chairman; Young Presidents Organization (YPO), International Chairman; and Pacific Council on International Policy (PCIP), member of International board . He is a graduate of the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California.
Peter Coffee Director of Platform Research at salesforce.com, the enterprise cloud computing company. With degrees from MIT and Pepperdine University, Mr. Coffee has taught for UCLA, Pepperdine, and Chapman College, and has led conference sessions and technical workshops in India, China, Australia, Singapore, Korea, Brazil, Mexico, Canada, the UK, Italy and the Netherlands as well as throughout the U.S.A. He is the author of two books, How to Program Java and Peter Coffee Teaches PCs.
Roger Conover, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Economics, School of Business and Management, Azusa Pacific University. Professor Conover brings particular expertise in the areas of comparative economic systems, global development, and the role of economics education and examination of values in the business curriculum.
Daniel Crane Retired SVP of Marketing for Epson America, Mr. Crane’s launch and development credits include Epson
photo inkjet printers, Toshiba Laptop PCs and 24 pin printers, Paradox 3.0, and Turbo C 2.0. Mr. Crane holds an MBA from Stanford University
Richard Farman Business strategist, Sempra Energy, Mr. Farman received his B.A. cum laude in 1957 from Stanford University and his LL.B degree from Stanford School of Law in 1964. During his business career, Dick held various executive positions with Pacific Enterprises and its subsidiaries, including Chairman and CEO of Southern California Gas Co. In June 1998 Dick became the first Chairman and CEO of Sempra Energy, a San Diego-based Fortune 500 energy services holding company. Now retired, he is currently Chairman Emeritus of Sempra. Dick also served as Lead Independent Director of two New York Stock Exchange companies and serves on the Board of Trustees of several community organizations.
James Flanigan Journalist, columnist, editor, author of “Smile, Southern California” (2009), Mr. Flanigan has covered economies of countries stretching from Europe to Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa. He calls Southern California home and currently writes a periodic column that appears in the New York Times.
Mike Grimshaw South Bay Chapter President of Maverick Angels, a highly innovative angel investor network based in Southern California that focuses on funding and mentoring early-stage companies. Mr. Grimshaw actively promotes entrepreneurship coaching and networking.
Ernest Klinger Business Consultant and full time faculty at California State University Dominguez Hills has degrees from University of Minnesota and LaSalle University (Law Degree), holds a California Real Estate Broker's License as is a Certified Public Accountant (inactive license). On the academic side has developed, and teaches online, the required course and a course in Innovation for the Entrepreneurship concentration under the MBA program at CSUDH. He is member of a national advisory group that consults with business and analysts on various business issues. Mr. Klinger has held various executive positions with small private and large public companies and took two startup companies from their beginning to successful exits. He currently or has served on the board of various retail, restaurant and technology companies in both public and private sectors ranging from a very small startup to a national $2 billion dollar retailer and currently serves as Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Advisory Board of the College at CSUDH. Ernest T. Klinger was also named Executive of the Year by CSUDH.
Brian Marcotte President and Chief Executive Officer of Titan Oil Recovery, Inc., Mr. Marcotte has also enjoyed an international career with Unocal with positions that included Vice President International Energy Operations—Brunei, Indonesia and the Philippines; President of Unocal Thailand; Country Resident Manager and President Unocal Netherlands, Inc.; corporate Vice President Public Policy, Health Environment and Safety; and chairman of the Unocal Foundation, the corporation’s philanthropic and community assistance foundation. Mr. Marcotte has served on the Sasin Graduate School Advisory Council and at the Thailand Development Research Institute. He currently serves as Chairman of the International Leadership Council of The Nature Conservancy, one of the world’s largest environmental conservation groups.
Karen Roth Karen Strycker Roth is a retired Deloitte Consulting partner who has served Fortune 500 retail, financial services and technology companies. She has helped companies achieve significant improvements in operational effectiveness by assisting with technology strategy development, business intelligence, project planning and management, systems and operations design, and the implementation of large technology projects.
Mary Ann Walker Founder and CEO of Walker Advertising, one of the first and longest standing legal advertising agencies that assists both Spanish and English-speaking Southern Californians through three brands: Los Defensores, Walker & Walker Legal Network at 1-800-THE-LAW2, and Alivio Legal. In 1992, Maryann Walker was nominated Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young, Inc.
