VSB Welcomes Five New Faculty Members
Villanova, Pa., August 28, 2019 – The Villanova School of Business (VSB) is pleased to announce the addition of five new faculty members to join its world-class team of teacher-scholars.
“VSB takes great pride in our exceptional faculty,” said Joyce E. A. Russell, PhD, the Helen and William O’Toole Dean of VSB, “These leaders prepare and inspire our students for their future careers in business. We look forward to welcoming the newest faculty to VSB.”
The newest faculty members are:
Michael A. Bray ’81 VSB: Michael Bray will be joining VSB’s Management & Operations department as a visiting instructor after serving as an adjunct instructor in VSB's undergraduate and MBA programs, and most recently teaching MBA courses at Drexel University’s LeBow School of Business. For most of his career, he served as an officer for global real estate at Vanguard where he served in various finance roles since 2005. Bray earned his BS in business administration at Villanova University with a concentration in operations management, and later received his MBA from Drexel University. He currently serves on several boards including the President’s Corporate Advisory Board at West Chester University and the Board of Directors of Chester County’s Economic Development Council.
Thomas Griffin, PhD, ’13 CLAS: Dr. Griffin attended Drexel University’s LeBow College of Business where he earned a PhD in Finance after earning a BA in Economics at Villanova University. Teaching as a sole instructor at Drexel University, he received a Drexel Graduate College Teaching Excellence Award in 2017. Dr. Griffin also was awarded the LeBow College of Business Clark Outstanding PhD Research Award in 2019. His research interests include corporate finance, corporate governance and creditor control rights. Dr. Griffin now returns to Villanova to teach as an assistant professor in VSB’s Finance department.
Mark Olson ’10 VSB, ’15 MBA, ’16 MSF: Mark Olson earned his BS, MBA and MSF degrees from Villanova University. He is currently a Forensic Economist and Associate at Mooney & Olson Associates in Glenside, Pa., where he has served since 2010. During his time at VSB, he was a Graduate Research Fellow where he analyzed stock issuances and developed models to forecast earnings growth based on education, gender and age. Olson previously served as an adjunct professor of finance at the Haub School of Business at Saint Joseph’s University and VSB since 2018. He will now continue his time at VSB as a visiting instructor in the Finance department.
Monika K. Sywak, DBA: Dr. Sywak is joining VSB’s faculty after serving as an assistant professor at Caldwell University and an adjunct professor at Quinnipiac University. Dr. Sywak also has professional experience as the vice president of risk management analytics for GE Capital in Norwalk, Conn. After graduating from the University of Connecticut with a BS in Marketing, Dr. Sywak earned her DBA in Finance at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Conn. Dr. Sywak’s research interests include commodity futures, financial policy analysis, financial risk and financial markets. She joins the Finance department as an assistant professor of the practice.
Sonya Williams-Stanton, PhD: After earning a BA degree in Mathematical Economics from Brown University in Providence R.I., Dr. Williams-Stanton earned her PhD in Finance from the University of Michigan. She has served as an assistant professor at The Ohio State University, where she received the Fisher College of Business Dean’s Recognition for Outstanding Teaching. Dr. Williams-Stanton’s research interests include corporate agency, finance and social responsibility, and regulation, policy, and financial institution behavior. She joins VSB’s Finance department as an assistant teaching professor.
The Villanova School of Business (VSB) undergraduate program is ranked #1 in the nation by Bloomberg Businessweek and its online graduate business programs are ranked #2, and its online MBA program is ranked #13 by U.S. News and World Report. VSB has been at the forefront of business education since it was founded in 1922. Serving over 2,700 undergraduate and graduate students, VSB is home to five Centers of Excellence – the Daniel M. DiLella Center for Real Estate, the Elenore and Robert F. Moran Sr. Center for Global Leadership, the Center for Business Analytics, the Center for Marketing & Consumer Insights and the Center for Church Management – with each designed to foster innovative, cross-disciplinary research and applied opportunities for students. VSB is known for academic rigor; creativity and innovation; hands-on and service learning opportunities; a firm grounding in ethics; and an applied education that prepares students to become outstanding leaders and global citizens within the ever-changing, complex, and fast-paced world of business. For more, visit business.villanova.edu.