Faculty

Tahi Gnepa, Ph.D.

Professor, Management & Marketing

Tahi J. Gnepa holds a Ph.D. in International Business and a Master degree in Marketing from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He has been educated and has work experience on three continents: Africa, Europe, and North America. He is fluent in French, and four African languages.

Courses taught at Stanislaus State include: Principles of Marketing, Global Marketing, Strategic Leadership in Marketing, Advertising and Promotion Management, Seminar in International Business, Management of International Business, and Introduction to Global Business.

Dr.Gnepa has previously been on the faculty of the University of North Dakota, Grand Forks. A former Research Fellow of the Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER at San Diego State University), Dr. Gnepa is extensively published and his research is multidisciplinary in nature. He has been the recipient of numerous research grants and awards at Stanislaus State. His current research focuses on government export promotion and the impact of business climate on a country’s foreign direct investment performance. His publications have appeared in the Journal of Global Marketing, the Journal of International Consumer Marketing, the Journal of Advertising Research, the Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, the Journal of International Finance and Economics, and the Journal of International Food and Agribusiness Marketing, among others.

 Dr. Gnepa is active in several professional marketing and international business organizations. He is the past president of the International Academy of Business and Economics (IABE), the current Associate Editor of the International Journal of Business Research (IJBR), and the Managing Editor of the Journal of International Business and Economics (JIBE) and the International Journal of Business Strategy (IJBS).

Andrew T. Hinrichs, Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Management

Dr. Hinrichs is an Associate Professor of Management who joined California State University, Stanislaus in 2014. In the stateside, online and executive MBA graduate programs, Dr. Hinrichs has taught MGT 5310, MGT 5200, MGT 5400, MGT 5900, BUS 5750 and BUS 5450. He is also a faculty advisor for the undergraduate Human Resource student club.

He earned his Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior in the Management Department at the Mays Business School, Texas A&M University, obtained his M.B.A. from University of New Mexico and worked for a year at the University of Western Australia as a Research Fellow. His research interests center around leadership, followership, teams, ethics and issues of legitimacy. Dr. Hinrichs has presented his research at the Academy of Management, the Western Academy of Management, the Southwest Academy of Management and the Western Business & Management Association. His research has been published in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology, Journal of Managerial Psychology, Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal, Corporate Reputation Review and The SAGE Handbook of Organizational Behavior.  

Dr. Hinrichs has several years of professional work experience including financial/managerial positions at Wells Fargo, Investment Management Research, Target Corporation, and U.S. Bank.

Jarrett Kotrozo, Ph.D.

Professor, Management

Dr. Kotrozo received his B.B.A. from the University of San Diego, M.S.M. from the Georgia Institute of Technology and his Ph.D. from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute with a specialization in Strategic Management in 2008. 

Before returning to academia, Dr. Kotrozo spent seven years in industry working for companies such as Delta Airlines, Revlon and Honeywell.   He also owned and operated his own company importing building materials from Asia.

Since joining California State University, Stanislaus, Dr. Kotrozo has taught numerous classes in both the undergraduate and graduate programs including Business Policy, Global Competitive Strategy, Seminar in Small Business Management, Executive Strategic Leadership Management and the Individual Project course for the Executive MBA Program.

His research interests include the relationship between diversification and company performance, Absorptive Capacity, corporate governance and pedagogy, among others.

Away from campus, Dr. Kotrozo enjoys traveling, numismatics, chess, oenology, the outdoors and cheering on the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Jingyun (Jenny) Li, Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Operations Management

Jingyun Li joined Stan State in August 2015 as an Assistant Professor. She received her Ph.D. of Management Science, MBA, and Master of Supply Chain Management from the University of Texas at Dallas. She teaches Introduction to Operations Management, Quality and Productivity Management at both graduate and undergraduate level. Her research area is health care system and supply chain management.

Joseph Akpovi, MBA, CSCP,CLTD  

Lecturer, Operations Management

Orestis Panagopoulos, Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Management Information Systems

Dr. Panagopoulos earned his Diploma in Production Engineering and Management from the Technical University of Crete. He received his M.Sc. in Industrial and Systems Engineering from the University of Florida. He earned his Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering and Management Systems from the University of Central Florida.

His research interests focus on big data analytics, data mining, and machine learning. He specializes in massive datasets, feature selection and dimensionality reduction techniques, and robust data mining. Dr. Panagopoulos’ research has been funded through grants received from public organizations and the private sector. His work has been published in journals such as Omega, Annals of Operations Research, Expert Systems with Applications, and others.

Since his joining California State University, Stanislaus, Dr. Panagopoulos has taught several classes including, Introduction to Python Programming, Advanced Python Programing, Information Technology for Management, Visual Basic Programming, and Advanced Visual Basic Programming. He has also supervised Individual Projects for the Computer Information Systems and the Executive MBA programs.

Dr. Panagopoulos has been a senior consultant of a number of start-ups, corporations, and state agencies. He is a member of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS).

Pengtao Li, Ph.D.

Professor, Management Information Systems

Dr. Pengtao Li, professor of Management Information Systems, received his Ph.D. degree in Decision Science and Information Systems from Gatton College of Business and Economics at the University of Kentucky. He joined California State University, Stanislaus in 2006.

Dr. Li's current research interests embrace e-commerce, data analysis/data visualization, technology applications in learning and decision making, and information privacy. He has published in various journals such as International Journal of Information Management and Journal of Electronic Commerce Research. He has been members of multiple research organizations including AIS (Association for Information Systems), DSI (Decision Sciences Institute), ACM (Association for Computing Machinery), and INFORMS (Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences).

By now, Dr. Li has been teaching at undergraduate and graduate levels for more than 15 years. His teaching covers the areas of Information Systems Management, Database Management, System Analysis and Design, and System/Network Administration.

Saejoon Kim, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, Marketing

Dr. Saejoon Kim is interested in the development and management of corporate brand portfolio in an international setting. His research has been published in journals such as Journal of Marketing Channels and Business Management. He received the best paper award for his research at multiple academic conferences including 2014 American Marketing Association Winter Conference and 2012 MARCON International Marketing Conference. Dr. Kim was also the recipient of the Annual Excellence Teaching Award at Drexel University in 2014 and 2015.

Sophie Zong, Ph.D.

Professor, Finance

Her research interests include Corporate Finance, International Finance,

Banking, and Investments. She has published six papers in Advances in Financial Economics: Innovations in Investments and Corporate Finance, International Finance Review, and Journal of Multinational Financial Management. Dr. Zong has been actively involved in professional conferences. She presented papers not only in Finance but also in International Business conferences. Dr. Zong received Research Scholar and Creative Activities (RSCA) Grant of California State University Stanislaus in 2005 and 2007, and Dean’s Research and Publication Grant of College of Business Administration, CSUS in 2007.

Dr. Zong has seven years of working experiences in Bank of China, Head

Quarter, in Beijing. She worked in the credit card department and her responsibilities involved risk management in credit card business and traveler’s checks business. She was also involved in credit card business cooperation between Bank of China and MasterCard International, VISA, American Express, and Citi Group.

Steven Filling, Ph.D.

Professor, Accounting

Tzu-Man (Mandy) Huang, Ph.D.

Professor, Finance

Dr. Huang is a Professor of Finance at California State University, Stanislaus. She joined CSUS in 2006. She finished her doctoral study in Finance from the George Washington University and got her Master of Science in Finance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Dr. Huang’s research interests include Market Microstructure, Financial Derivatives, Investments, and Taxes. Her recently publications cover topics related to dealer interactions and price discovery in futures markets, relationship between tax cuts and stock returns, and state tax revenues. Her publications can be found in the Journal of Futures Markets, Review of Futures Market, Quarterly Journey of Finance and Accounting, National Tax Note, and Journal of Contemporary Accounting.

Dr. Huang had two years working experience as a Research Analyst in the Underwriting Department in Chinatrust Commercial Bank in Taipei, Taiwan. Her job involved helping corporations with Initial Public Offerings (IPOs), seasonal offerings, and issuing corporate bonds.

Dr. Huang is also very active in participating conferences and professional organizations. She is not only a Chartered Financial Analyst ® (CFA), but also members of CFA Society of San Francisco, Beta Gamma Sigma, and Beta Alpha Psi.

Sean K. Byrne, MIM

Lecturer, Finance

Mr. Byrne is an adjunct lecturer who has been employed at California State University, Stanislaus, from 2004 to 2008, and most recently from 2016 to present. Mr. Byrne is completing the final phase of his doctoral studies in International Business with an emphasis in Finance, from Texas A&M International University located in Laredo, TX.

His research interests include Corporate Finance and Banking.  His dissertation topic is “Lobbying – A Financial Perspective: Three papers which illuminate the worlds of corporate finance and the dynamics of corporate lobbying as a profitable, yet risky, strategic investment.” He has published one paper and participated and presented papers in four conferences.  

Beginning in 1996, Mr. Byrne has worked for several investment banking firms, beginning with Merrill Lynch’s Mexico Group - Private Client Services based out of Texas, Banca Serfin S.A. de C.V, Guadalajara, Mexico, and E-Trade in Rancho Cordova, CA. He earned his Master’s in International Management in May 1996 from American Graduate School of International Management, Thunderbird Campus, Glendale Arizona. He earned his undergraduate degree in Business Administration, with a concentration in Finance, from California State University, Stanislaus in January 1993. His favorite activities include spending family time, helping out those less fortunate within the local community, and teaching.