Academics
Business and Accounting Faculty
Robert Letovsky, Ph.D.
Department Chair
Professor of Business Administration and Accounting
B.Comm. McGill University; M.B.A. University of Toronto; Ph.D. Concordia University
Courses Taught: International Business; International Marketing; Business Policy & Strategic Management; Marketing
Areas of Expertise: Case development focusing on business/government relations and sustainability
Recent Scholarly Achievements: Dr. Letovsky served as a consultant developing the business program at the newly established American University of Afghanistan in Kabul, Afghanistan (November 2007). He also has had papers and cases published in several journals, including The Columbia Journal of World Business, The Journal of Teaching in International Business, The Banker magazine, Multinational Business Review, Quebec Studies Journal and the Case Research Journal. He more recently published a case study entitled "The Boeing Corporation 2007: Consolidating Success or Burying the Competition" for the Pew Case Study Center at Georgetown University’s Institute for the Study of Diplomacy.
On Teaching and Research: Dr. Letovsky uses his published cases in his courses. The cases are written with his teaching interests in mind, and they underline key points being made in the course. At the same time, students get to see that he is actively engaged in research and in examining best (and worst) practices in the real world.
Outside Saint Michael's: Dr. Letovsky enjoys outdoors activities - hiking, canoeing and cross-country skiing.
Learn more about Dr. Letovsky in his faculty spotlight.
Campus Office
Jeanmarie Hall 149
Phone: 802.654.2477
Box 273
E-mail: rletovsky@smcvt.edu
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William Anderson
Professor of Business Administration and Accounting
B.A. Dartmouth College; M.B.A. Amos Tuck School (Dartmouth)
Professor Anderson began teaching at Saint Michael's in the fall of 1974. He usually teaches statistics, operations management, and business policy and has taught database management in the computer science department. Currently, he serves as the College's Chief Information Officer, a position to which he was appointed in January, 2002. Professor Anderson looks forward to returning to the classroom when he completes this assignment.
Campus Office
Saint Edmunds 221
Phone: 802.654.2252
Box 196
E-mail: wanderson@smcvt.edu
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M. Birger Benson
Associate Professor of Business Administration and Accounting
B.A. Dartmouth College; M.B.A. Harvard Graduate School of Business
Professor Benson came to Saint Michael's after a successful stint in business and consulting. He teaches a broad cross-section of courses to undergraduate business majors and in the Master of Science in Administration Program. His specialties are financial policies of corporations, labor relations, total quality management and computer applications.
Campus Office
Jeanmarie Hall 149H
Phone: 802.654.2467
Box 38
E-mail: bbenson@smcvt.edu
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Richard Kuklis
Associate Professor of Business Administration and Accounting
B.S., M.B.A., Ph.D. Syracuse University
Dr. Kuklis’s areas of special interest are marketing and advertising. Along with those courses, he teaches financial and managerial accounting and business in contemporary society. He also consults on office organization. When not teaching, Dr. Kuklis makes furniture using exotic woods. He also does bowl turning and is an avid golfer.
Campus Office
Jeanmarie Hall 155
Phone: 802.654.2639
Box 38
E-mail: rkuklis@smcvt.edu
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Diane M. Lander
Associate Professor of Business Administration and Accounting
B.S. University of California, Davis; M.B.A. University of North Texas; Ph.D. University of Kansas
Courses Taught: Financial Policies of Corporations and Financial Management
Areas of Expertise: Corporate finance, specializing in real asset valuation techniques
Recent Scholarly Achievements: Dr. Lander's research interest focuses on the practical implementation of the real options approach to capital budgeting and managerial decision-making. She is widely published and her most recent publications include: "Introducing Students to the Real Option Approach to Capital Budgeting" in the Journal of the Academy of Business Education (2007); "Strategic Implications of Valuation: Evidence from Valuing Growth Options" in Advances in Strategic Management (2007); and "The DCF Approach to Capital Budgeting Decision-Making" in Managing Enterprise Risk: What the Electric Industry Experience Implies for Contemporary Business (2006).
On Teaching and Research: In the real world, Dr. Lander feels that there are many different ways to look at any given problem. In fact, innovation often comes from looking at the same problem from a different perspective. Dr. Lander believes that students and practitioners need to be able to structure and model the broad business situation, so as to see managerial decision-making as a complex and not always well-defined process, and not to rely on a single numerical "answer." For today’s global business environment, Dr. Lander believes they also need to both understand the qualitative strategic factors and have the quantitative computational skills needed to solve current financial problems.
Outside Saint Michael's: Dr. Lander enjoys outdoors activities – hiking, kayaking, canoeing, and working in her yard.
Campus Office
Jeanmarie Hall 148
Phone: 802.654.2894
Box 38
E-mail: dlander@smcvt.edu
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Roger Putzel
Associate Professor of Business Administration and Accounting
A.B. Yale University; S.M. Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Ph.D. University of California, Los Angeles
Courses Taught: Foundations of Business; Management and Organizational Behavior
Areas of Expertise: The classroom-as-organization approach to teaching management theories.
Recent Scholarly Achievements: Dr. Putzel published an article, "Drawing on Peer Evaluation Studies to Manage the Classroom," in the Journal of Business and Leadership (2006). His recent papers include: Drawing on Peer Evaluation Studies to Manage the Classroom, presented at the European Group for Organisation Studies (Ljubljana, Slovenia, July 2-3, 2004); and co-authoring Designing management education: Practice what you teach in Simulation & Gaming, vol. 34 (2003).
On Teaching and Research: Dr. Putzel has spent the past two decades developing a classroom format that engages students in his course Management and Organizational Behavior (OB). He manages the classroom hands-off, running the class as a functionally differentiated organization (called XB) that consists of 12 teams grouped in four departments. Each team administers part of the organization, teaches a specific topic, evaluates participants, and is evaluated. A manual gives directions, yet students experience enough uncertainty and responsibility to appreciate management and OB concepts. Dr. Putzel finds that four aspects particularly motivate students: figuring out a complex organization; providing a service that the organization needs; peer grading; and interaction with each other. Dr. Putzel wrote the textbook to teach this class (XB: Manual for a Learning Organization), and has written four journal articles explaining how the class works.
Outside Saint Michael's: Dr. Putzel owns two diesel cars that run on vegetable oil. For the past couple of years he has taught classes and given public demonstrations about his effort to reduce his carbon footprint.
Campus Office
Jeanmarie Hall 169B
Phone: 802.654.2458
Box 38
E-mail: rputzel@smcvt.edu
Personal Web site: www.xbforum.net
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Dennis Voigt
Associate Professor of Business Administration and Accounting
David LaMarche Chair in Business
B.A., B.S., M.B.A. University of Vermont
Professor Voigt came to Saint Michael's in the fall of 1977 as an adjunct professor. Thirteen years later, after establishing his own firm and working as a senior manager at KPMG Peat Marwick, he became a full-time faculty member. He primarily teaches Financial, Managerial, Fundamentals and Intermediate Accounting along with Management Information Systems. Professor Voigt has taught at the University of Vermont as an adjunct professor as well. He loves living in Vermont, skiing and dabbling with computers.
Campus Office
Jeanmarie Hall 149E
Phone: 802.654.2255
Box 38
E-mail: dvoigt@smcvt.edu
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Norman Walker
Associate Professor of Business Administration and Accounting
B.S. St. Peter's College; M.B.A. New York University
Professor Walker came to Saint Michael's College in 1984. His teaching includes Advanced Accounting, Financial, Managerial and Cost Accounting, and Finance and Business Ethics. He is a C.P.A. with audit, consulting and tax experience in a big four accounting firm and executive level positions in private industry. Professor Walker has also taught accounting courses at the University of Vermont, Rutgers University and St. Elizabeth's College. He loves golf and enjoys living in Vermont.
Campus Office
Jeanmarie Hall 149B
Phone: 802.654.2459
Box 38
E-mail: nwalker@smcvt.edu
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Francis Farina
Assistant Professor of Business Administration and Accounting
B.S. Suffolk University; M.B.A. George Washington University; J.D. Georgetown University Law Center
Mr. Francis Farina joined Saint Michael's as an assistant professor of business administration and accounting beginning with the Fall 2009 semester. He previously was visiting assistant professor of accounting at Albright College in Reading, Pa., and has been a sole practitioner-attorney and CPA-since 1999.
Mr. Farina's career highlights include: senior accountant with Ernst & Young in Washington, DC, from 1975-1978; director of internal audit and management analysis for Georgetown University in Washington from 1978 to 1984; deputy auditor, subsidiaries, Goldome Federal Savings Bank, Buffalo, N.Y., 1984-86; attorney at law, Chimicles, Jacobsen & Tikellis, Haverford, Pa., from 1986 to 1997, and Of Counsel Attorney with Berman, DeValerio & Pease, LLP, in Boston from 1997 to 1999. Mr. Farina has been admitted to the bar in New York, Pennsylvania and various federal bars, is a certified public accountant in Virginia, New York and Pennsylvania, and a certified bank auditor.
Campus Office
Jeanmarie Hall 154
Phone: 802.654.2247
Box 38
E-mail: ffarina@smcvt.edu
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Melinda Jones Micheletto
Assistant Professor of Business Administration and Accounting
B.A Virginia Tech; M.B.A. Ball State University; Ph.D. University of Tennessee
Dr. Micheletto teaches Marketing, Foundations of Business, Sports Marketing, and Consumer Behavior. Her focus is on the "soft or consumer side of marketing."
Dr. Micheletto's dissertation was titled "The Meaning of Sport-Related Events in the Process of Becoming and Being a Fan: A Grounded Theory Study of Highly Committed Sport Fans." Dr. Micheletto is co-author of "The Strategic Use of Celebrity Athlete Endorsers in Sports Illustrated: An Historical Analysis" published in 2000 in Sport Marketing Quarterly, and of "The Strategic Use of Celebrity Athlete Endorsers in Print Media," published in Sports Marketing and Consumer Psychology, Lawrence Erlbaum publishers, 2004. She is co-author of Discovering Marketing: Building Knowledge, Skills and Values, 1st edition, South-Western Publishing, 1993.
Professor Micheletto is actively involved in animal welfare, and serves on the Board at the Humane Society of Chittenden County as a volunteer for EARS (Emergency Animal Rescue Service) and AHA (American Humane Society Association).
Campus Office
Phone: 802.654.2605
Box 38
E-mail: mmicheletto@smcvt.edu
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Tamara Mullarky
Assistant Professor of Business Administration and Accounting
B.A. State University of New York at Plattsburgh; M.B.A. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Campus Office
Jeanmarie Hall 149F
Phone: 802.654.2364
Box 38
E-mail: tmullarky@smcvt.edu
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Karen Popovich
Assistant Professor of Business Administration and Accounting
B.B.A., M.B.A., D.B.A. Cleveland State University
Courses Taught: Management; Business Statistics
Areas of Expertise: Strategic enrollment management
Recent Scholarly Achievements: Dr. Popovich presented a seminar on data analysis at the Fall 2007 Industry Conference for the Vermont Society of Certified Public Accountants.
On Teaching and Research: By taking a hands-on approach, Dr. Popvich attempts to bring as much real-world experience as possible to her theory-based courses. In fact, it is not unusual to see her students on campus collecting primary research or flying paper airplanes to develop quality control charts. Dr. Popovich currently serves as the academic mentor for the women's ice hockey team at Saint Michael's.
Outside Saint Michael's: Dr. Popovich enjoys skiing in the winter and hiking in the warmer months.
Learn more about Dr. Popovich in her faculty spotlight.
Campus Office
Jeanmarie Hall 154
Phone: 802.654.2696
Fax: 802.654.2478
Box 38
E-mail: kpopovich@smcvt.edu
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Paul Olsen
Instructor of Business Administration and Accounting
B.A. University of Vermont; M.S.A. Saint Michael's College; Senior Professional in Human Resources, SPHR; Ed.D. University of Vermont
Dr. Olsen joined the graduate program in administration in 1994 and is currently the associate director. He teaches Foundations of Business Administration, Experiential Portfolio, and Managerial Leadership in the undergraduate program, and Human Resource Management, Effective Written Communication and Thesis Seminar in the graduate program. Dr. Olsen was previously employed as Employee Benefits Manager and Assistant Director of Human Resources at the College.
Campus Office
Jeanmarie Hall 169C
Phone: 802.654.2661
Box 38
E-mail: polsen@smcvt.edu
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Joanne Scott
Instructor of Business Administration and Accounting
B.A. Middlebury College; M.B.A. Amos Tuck School (Dartmouth)
Courses Taught: Foundations of Business; Business Policy and Strategic Management; Investments; International Finance
Areas of Expertise: Corporate finance and international equity
On Teaching and Research: Ms. Scott joined the Saint Michael's community in the fall of 1991 as a professor in the Master of Science in Administration program; the following fall she began teaching undergraduate courses. She worked at Morgan Stanley for 12 years in cities such as Tokyo and New York and was vice president of the firm when she left. At Saint Michael's, Ms. Scott values interacting with students and finds that they are most inspired when they see the connections between the classroom and the outside business world.
Outside Saint Michael's: Ms. Scott enjoys downhill skiing, cross country skiing and golf. She once skiied the Vasaloppet, a one-day, 89-kilometer cross country ski race in Sweden.
Campus Office
Jeanmarie Hall 146
Phone: 802.654.2241
Box 38
E-mail: jscott@smcvt.edu
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Steve Doyon
Visiting Instructor of Business Administration and Accounting
Campus Office
Jeanmarie Hall 169D
E-mail: sdoyon@smcvt.edu