Jeremy Bowes

Jeremy Bowes is a tenured Professor in Design at OCAD University, and teaches in the Environmental Design program, and the Strategic Foresight and Innovation graduate program. He has 35 years of experience as an interior, architectural and environmental designer. He has operated his own design office since 1987 and has pursued a variety of design practice from interior and architectural design to urban design. His current practice focuses on residential design; small urban habitat infill, cottage and rural residential projects, with an interest in new sustainable methods, constructional systems and materials.

Jeremy has served in numerous administrative capacities, most recently as an assistant dean in the faculty of design, and as chair of the environmental design program. He is an active team leader involved in the development of curriculum, sustainable technology and materials research, and related projects at the university. He is also a course leader in the Strategic Foresight and Innovation Masters of Design graduate program, and an advisor to Slab.

Jeremy’s research centres around sustainable living design approaches for habitat dwellings, building on his architectural housing expertise, and systems design background. Key areas of research are minimal residential habitat design, sustainable prefabrication, material constructional system methods, and integrated living systems within the architectural, urban and rural ecologies. Current research activities focus around housing within the context of the urban city ecosystem.

Mitchell Chi

Mitchell Chi is a quantum leap expert with more than 30 years of success working with early stage companies in launching business innovation driven by technology. From founding one of the largest, award-winning Apple resellers to the Federal science laboratories in the 1980s, as a top sales executive at Oracle driving early web and ERP solutions in the 1990s, to being the catalyst of merging high value technology solutions with critical business needs since 2000, Mitchell remains passionate for game-changing innovation. Mitchell has experienced first-hand the challenges that entrepreneurs face, from start-up and raising capital to client side market validation and scaling every aspect of a company to exceed revenue and EBITDA targets. 

Mitchell is the Executive Vice President at Electronic Ink, a global business design consultancy. As part of the executive committee, Mitchell is responsible for acquiring new clients who need Design Thinking to help them innovative and streamline business processes and computer interfaces. He developed various metric models to assist clients in identifying the financial impact of a new business design and people experience.

Mitchell began his career at PriceWaterhouse as a staff accountant assigned to mergers and acquisitions and later joined Goldman Sachs as a commodity and arbitrage trader. He was one of the top-producing sales executives at Oracle Corporation and was instrumental in wide-scale adoption of web-based software in the 1990s.

Mitchell holds a Master in Business Administration from Columbia University and a B.S. in Accounting from Fairleigh Dickenson University and has served on the boards of the United Way, American Red Cross, Kiwanis, Rotary and YMCA. He is the proud dad of three boys, one a 3^rd year Drexel business student. He resides in Elkins Park, PA, and Margate, NJ, with his wife.

Jason T. Crook

Jason T. Crook, is a visiting professor of Marketing in the School of Business Administration and the coordinator of Philadelphia University’s course in Business Model Innovation. During his professional career, he has served as Director of Marketing Research at a Philadelphia-based, national advertising agency and Director of Corporate Branding for a pharmaceutical marketing company. Jason holds a US patent as the co-inventor of a “Method and System for Analyzing Effectiveness of Marketing Strategies.” Jason’s expertise spans a variety of industries including pharmaceuticals, retail, consumer packaged goods, banking and finance, and technology. Well known for his talents in new product launches, promotional concepts, and creative development, he currently owns his own marketing communications and research consultancy, as well as an award-winning retail and interior design business based in Philadelphia, PA. Jason has served as an Advisory Board Member of the Sustainable Business Network (SBN) of Philadelphia, and has been a guest speaker/lecturer for the SBN, as well as the Independence Business Alliance (IBA) of Philadelphia. Jason earned his BS (Cum Laude) in Psychology and Business Administration from Gardner-Webb University, and an MBA in marketing from Philadelphia University.

Ellen Di Resta 

Ellen Di Resta is currently translating market insight into a breakthrough offering in diabetes care for Becton Dickinson. In this role, she is incorporating new methods for product development through Worldwide Strategic Marketing, and introducing new theories and methods for incorporating innovation throughout the organization. Di Resta is also the founder of Synaptics Group, Inc., where she continues to apply broad industry experience to teaching and writing venues.

Previously, Di Resta was managing principal at Design Continuum, where she managed a variety of client relationships for companies such as LL Bean, Motorola, Groupe Danone, TetraPak, The Center for Creative Leadership and Procter & Gamble. One example of her product strategy work is in the building of Proctor & Gamble’s Pamper Cruisers line from a $1 billion to a $6 billion product line. Her other previous experiences include project engineering for C.R. Bard, a medical device company and independent consultant work for companies which include Gillete and Hewlett Packard’s medical division.

Di Resta earned her B.S. in Packaging Engineering from Rochester Institute of Technology, an M.S. in Graphic Design and Marketing from the University of North Texas, and an MBA from Boston University. She is an adjunct faculty member at Boston University.

Maryann Finiw

Maryann Finiw has more than 20 years of experience managing innovation, market research and brand strategy. She is currently the senior manager of experience research and marketing strategy at Sapient Nitro. She is also the founder of Innovation Strategy LLC, a consulting firm focused on R&D strategy, planning and management whose recent client projects include helping Bank of America / Merrill Lynch create and launch a new sub-brand Merrill Edge and helping Outsmart Power Systems successfully raise their next round of $2 million venture-capital funding.

Formerly, Finiw was a VP and customer strategist at Fidelity Investments and was a principal in the Design Strategy Group at Continuum for more than a decade, directing innovation strategy and new product development projects for clients including Ford Motor Company, Coca-Cola, Andersen Windows, Master Lock and American Express. 

Previously, she was an adjunct professor of branding at Massachusetts College of Art and has also developed and taught executive training seminars on innovation at Design Management Institute and the Business Innovation Factory as well as for corporate clients including Fidelity Investments, L.L.Bean and AstraZeneca.  Finiw holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and an undergraduate degree in Industrial Design from Pratt Institute.

Nabil Harfoush, Ph.D.

Nabil Harfoush is currently a senior fellow at the Strategic Innovations Lab and an assistant professor at OCAD University's Strategic Foresight & Innovation graduate program. He is also currently a fellow in Philadelphia University’s College of Design, Engineering and Commerce.

Prior to his work with Strategic Innovations Lab, Harfoush served as chief information officer for HelpCaster Technologies, MedcomSoft and Nightingale Informatix. He has over 40 years of professional experience as an engineer, technology executive and entrepreneur. He has consulted for enterprises, national governments, and international organizations including the World Bank, WHO, UNESCO and IDRC.

Harfoush also serves on the board of the CIO Association of Canada (Toronto Chapter), on the TRIEC Council, and on the Board of Tides Canada. He is co-founder of the Canadian Dawn Foundation and volunteers for several organizations including the International Development & Relief Fund (IDRF), the Canadian Center for Diversity (CCD) and the One Million Acts of Innovation initiative. He is a regular volunteer mentor for women seeking a career in technology or starting a new enterprise.

Sue Lehrman, Ph.D.
Dean of the School of Business Administration

Sue Lehrman, Ph.D. serves as dean of the School of Business Administration in the College of Design, Engineering and Commerce at Philadelphia University.  Sue is charged with differentiating and strengthening the business curriculum to ensure that students graduate with an exceptional depth of perspective and synthesized decision-making ability developed while working on real-world challenges.  She is also charged with leading the school to become one of the five percent of business schools worldwide that can claim the distinction of being accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB).  

Prior to joining Philadelphia University, Dr. Lehrman was founding dean of the School of Business at Providence College in Rhode Island. She is also the former founding president of Union Graduate School in Schenectady, N.Y., where she was responsible for the development of a number of innovative new degree programs, including a highly recognized joint master of science in bioethics program with Mount Sinai School of Medicine. 

Dr. Lehrman holds both doctorate and master’s degrees in health services leadership from the University of California at Berkeley’s.  Earlier in Dr. Lehrman’s career, she was associated for 10 years with what is now Ascension Health, the largest not-for-profit health system in the U.S., where she was strategically placed to address new problems and capitalize on opportunities.

Elizabeth Long Lingo, Ph.D.

Elizabeth Long Lingo, Ph.D. is Director of Vanderbilt’s Creative Campus Initiative and the Curb Programs in Creative Enterprise and Public Leadership.   Lingo’s research and teaching focus on how novel projects and ventures are imagined, negotiated, and brought to fruition. She is particularly interested in how leaders, entrepreneurs, and change agents harness multi-disciplinary expertise to forge transformative and non-routine outcomes.

Lingo has consulted to Fortune 500 companies on issues of trust, risk taking, speaking up and customer loyalty, and to the nonprofit and for-profit performing arts sectors on innovation and collective action.  She has also studied creativity and innovation in the commercial music industry, the Nashville creative scene, and in the performing arts field. Her research articles have been published in top journals including Administrative Science Quarterly, Chronicle of Higher Education, and Poetics.  

Lingo earned her Ph.D. in the joint program in Organizational Behavior and Sociology at Harvard Business School and Harvard University, was a graduate fellow at the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School in 2003-2004, holds a master’s degree in sociology from Harvard University and has a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

D.K. Malhotra, Ph.D.

D.K. Malhotra is a professor of finance at Philadelphia University.  Dr. Malhotra teaches courses in Derivative Securities, Fixed Income Securities, International Finance, Corporate Finance, and Investment and Portfolio Management at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Dr. Malhotra has published over 75 research articles in such journals as European Journal of Operational Research, Journal of Financial Research, Financial Review, Journal of Portfolio Management, Omega—The International Journal of Management Science, European Journal of Finance, Quarterly Journal of Business and Economics, Journal of Economics and Finance, Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Financial Counseling and Planning Journal, Journal of Retail Banking, The Real Estate Finance Journal, The International Journal of Finance, Journal of Intelligent Systems, Advances in Futures and Options Research, Journal of Commercial Lending, Journal of Global Business and Journal of Lending and Credit Risk Management.  His research on mutual fund expenses has been cited by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Investment Company Institute (ICI), Securities Industry Association (SIA), and New York Times. His research has also been cited in congressional testimonies on mutual fund expenses.  Dr. Malhotra’s work on use of neural networks in consumer loan evaluation has been cited by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. In addition, he has presented over 80 research papers at various academic conferences all over the world.  New York Times, Investor’s Business Daily, Philadelphia Inquirer, Business Credit Magazine, and KPMG Online Newsletter have quoted Dr. Malhotra on such wide ranging topics as mutual fund expenses, declining value of EURO, merger of Cores State Bank with First Union Bank, and credit derivatives. 

Dr. Malhotra is also the visiting professor of international finance at Arthur Lok Jack Graduate School of Business in Trinidad and Tobago and Birla Institute of Management and Technology, New Delhi, India.

In addition, Dr. Malhotra is the editor-in-chief for Afro-Asian Journal of Finance and Accounting. He is also the co-editor of the International Journal of Finance. Dr. Malhotra is also currently serving on the editorial boards of Icfain International Journal of Management Research, Icfain Journal of Bank Management, and Journal of Insurance and Risk Management.  Dr. Malhotra’s biographical profile has been included in Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in Finance and Industry, and Who’s Who in the East.  Dr. Malhotra was also the recipient of 1999 President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching at Philadelphia University and 2007 Philadelphia University Outstanding Research Award. He also received the School of Business Administration’s award for excellence in research for four years.    

Natalie Nixon, Ph.D.

Natalie is a hybrid thinker, comfortably synthesizing creative and analytical thought processes from design and business to arrive at innovative opportunities. At Philadelphia University she is an Associate Professor in the Fashion Merchandising Management program and Director of the Strategic Design MBA.  A practitioner and researcher of design thinking, she has 15 years of experience as an educator on the secondary and university levels and worked in the fashion industry as an entrepreneurial hat designer as well as in apparel sourcing for The Limited Brands in Sri Lanka and Portugal. Natalie's research and consulting interests are in business design, experiential service design and applying strategies from the fashion industry to a range of sectors, utilizing style strategically to build brand distinction. She was certified by the National Charrette Institute at Harvard's Graduate School of Design to lead charrette trainings; she uses the charrette methodology to lead ideation, opportunity finding and consensus building for a range of organizations. Natalie earned her BA (Cum Laude) from Vassar College, with a double major in Anthropology and Africana Studies; her MS from Philadelphia University in Global Textile Marketing; and her PhD in Design Management from the University of Westminster, London.  Personal interests include swimming, dance and anything related to Brazilian culture.  Natalie lives in Philadelphia with her husband, John, an attorney.

Steve Weinstein

As Director, Global Supplier Enabled Innovation, Steve is responsible for helping to drive a cultural change within Johnson & Johnson Procurement and the way that it can help enable growth for the company. Procurement is helping to enable over $500MM in top and bottom line growth annually by sharing our business needs with our suppliers and leveraging the expertise and capabilities of our suppliers.

Prior to this role, Steve led New Venture & Innovation Sourcing for Johnson & Johnson Consumer Products Co. Steve was responsible for enabling the commercialization of disruptive and innovative new consumer products and venture opportunities.

Prior to re-joining J&J in June 2007, Steve spent the previous 7 years helping to run two start-up companies.  Most recently, he was VP – Sales Development & Logistics at USA Detergents, Inc. (a privately-held household cleaner, air care and personal care CPG).  Prior to that, he was VP – Sales & Marketing for Netgrocer.com (the leading nationwide Online Grocer and Retailer/CPG service provider) where he led business partnerships, search optimization, web design, loyalty programs, and Retailer and CPG services & relations.

From 1995 through 2000, Steve held positions in both Operations and Marketing at Johnson & Johnson Consumer Products Co. His experiences ranged from running the Johnson’s Baby Shampoo and Baby Lotion businesses to leading National Planning for Personal Products Co.

Steve earned his MBA from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University and holds a BA, Economics from Rutgers College.

Steve spends his free time golfing, playing basketball and having fun with his three children.