VSB Welcomes New Faculty Members

Michael A. Bray ’81 VSB: Professor Bray began at VSB in 2009 as an adjunct instructor in VSB's undergraduate and MBA programs. Since 2019, he has been a visiting professor in VSB’s Management & Operations department and now joins the department as an assistant professor of practice. In 2021, he received the Villanova University Award for Teaching Excellence for an adjunct/visiting faculty member. For most of his career, Bray served as an officer for global real estate at Vanguard where he held various finance roles since 1986. Bray earned his BS in Business Administration at Villanova University with a concentration in operations management, and later received his MBA from Drexel University.

Nathan Coates ’16 MSA: A visiting instructor since 2017, Coates now joins the VSB faculty as an assistant professor of practice for the Management & Operations department. After graduating with a BA in Chemistry from the University of California Santa Cruz in 1993, he pursued a career as a data scientist and engineer, working for organizations such as the University of California, Berkley; Nextel; Lockheed Martin; Etherstack and Economics 4.0. He earned his Master of Science in Analytics (MSA) from VSB in 2016 and began teaching in the MSA program as an adjunct professor in 2016.

Eric Compton: An adjunct instructor starting in 2021, Compton now joins the VSB faculty as an Executive in Residence. With a 35-year career in consumer goods and medical devices, he has worked for Johnson & Johnson, Procter & Gamble, and Hologic in various leadership roles. Most recently he was president and CEO of Z-Medica, a Linden Company, which was sold to Teleflex in 2021. Compton has a BA in Economics and Speech Communications from the University of Richmond and his MBA from Kennesaw State University in Georgia.

Madeline DeWoody: In 2021, DeWoody joined VSB’s Finance & Real Estate department as a visiting instructor, coming from Drexel University where she earned her MS in Quantitative Finance. At Villanova, she has taught Principles of Finance and Fixed Income Markets. This year, she will transition to a new position as an assistant professor of practice.

Luis Diego Granera Vega, PhD: Dr. Granera earned his BA in Mathematics from Yale University, his MA in Economics from the Universidad de Costa Rica UCR, and both his BS and PhD in Economics from the University of Washington. At the University of Washington, he served as a graduate teaching assistant for various Economics classes. His research includes microeconomic development, health economics, and economics of education. Dr. Granera is joining VSB’s Economics department as an assistant teaching professor.

Anuja Gupta, PhD: Dr. Gupta joins VSB’s Management & Operations department as an associate professor, non-tenure. She received her MS and PhD in Management from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and her MBA from the Indian Institute of Management. Previously, she was an assistant professor at Rutgers University School of Business and an associate professor and chair of the business department at the University of the Sciences. Dr. Gupta’s research focuses on leadership and strategy, and she is also a certified Leadership Coach.

Jerome Heppelmann: A business fellow for VSB since 2018, Heppelmann will now transition into an executive in residence in the Finance & Real Estate department. He brings considerable investment experience to Villanova students, working closely with the student finance societies and as an instructor for the Student Managed Fund classes. Heppelmann has been portfolio manager for several funds and served as CEO and CIO of Liberty Ridge Capital and CIO of OMCAP Investors.

Christopher Herdelin: Herdelin earned his MS in Financial Economics from West Texas A&M University, his MS in Applied Economics from Johns Hopkins University, and is a PhD student in Economics at the New School for Social Research. He is a former economist for the United States Department of the Treasure. Since 2019, he has been an adjunct and visiting professor and now joins VSB as a visiting instructor in the Economics department.

Alysha Meloche, PhD: Previously an adjunct and visiting professor for Villanova, Dr. Meloche joins VSB’s Management & Operations department as an assistant teaching professor and will be teaching in Entrepreneurship and Innovation. She earned her PhD in Education from Drexel University’s School of Education with concentrations in Leadership and Policy. Her research has covered Art History Scholarship on Teaching and Learning, creativity, leadership, and teaching information literacy. Dr. Meloche has been published in many journals including the Journal of Creative Behavior and the Journal of Education for Business and has presented papers for the American Educational Research Association on many occasions.

Tyler Milfeld: After earning his MBA in Marketing from McCombs School of Business, the University of Texas at Austin and from Potificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Milfeld served in various marketing roles for a series of companies including PepsiCo, Colgate-Palmolive, and The Hershey Company. He recently earned his PhD in Marketing from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, conducting research on brand communication and consumer responses, and has taught Principles of Marketing, Digital Marketing, and Brand Management. Milfeld joins VSB’s Marketing & Business Law department as an assistant professor.

Sachin Modi, PhD: Dr. Modi joins VSB as a professor and the John F. Connelly Endowed Chair in Management. He earned his PhD in Operations Management and Decision Sciences from the Kelley School of Business, Indiana University. Previously, Dr. Modi taught at University of Toledo’s College of Business and Innovation and at Iowa State University’s College of Business. Most recently, he was the Department Chair of the Supply Chain Management and Marketing Department in the Mike Ilitch School of Business at Wayne State University.

James Reaves: Reaves has been teaching as an adjunct faculty member in VSB since 1990 and as a visiting instructor since 2020 in the Management and Operations department and the Church Management program. Simultaneously, he has had forty years of experience in corporate, private, and governmental business operations with over twenty of those years working at QVC. At Villanova he has received the Villanova University’s Award for Teaching Excellence for an adjunct faculty member and was the first recipient of the VSB Outstanding Instructor Award for Teaching Excellence. Reaves will now transition to a new position as an assistant professor of practice.

Patrick Roche ’91 VSB: Roche earned his BS in Accounting from Villanova and went on to excel as a business technology leader. He began his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers and served as a partner from 2003 to 2010. He then served as CIO and Senior Vice President at a series of companies including C.R. Bard, Inc., Amneal Pharmaceuticals, and Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals. He joins VSB as an executive in residence in the Accounting & Information Systems department.

Karen Ton, PhD: Dr. Ton earned her BS in Business Administration and PhD in Accounting from the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California. She joins VSB as an assistant professor in the Accounting & Information Systems department after serving on the faculty at Kelley School of Business, Indiana University and Goizueta Business School, Emory University. Dr. Ton is a CPA in California and has worked in both assurance services and transaction services at PricewaterhouseCoopers.