Business Schools with a Standout Faculty in Project Management

Project managers—also known as project leads, program managers, project coordinators, or project specialists—initiate, plan, control, coordinate, and execute the efforts of a team with a view toward completion of a business-oriented goal. Whatever the given conditions and constraints of the project, it is the project manager’s duty to ensure that the work is completed efficiently, on-time, and in accordance with all company policies. The Bureau of Labor Statistics notes that top-earning project coordinators and information systems managers can make as much as $142,350 annually. The field is projected to add as many as 44,200 jobs in the decade preceding 2026.

A degree in project management helps prepare students for the increasing popularity of project-based work in corporations, NPOs, tech companies, start-ups, manufacturing firms, consulting firms, health care representation, construction companies, government contracting, military contracting, and much, much more. Project managers or coordinators are masters of the budget, timeline, and project scope. They are present for every stage of a project, from the drawing board all the way through to finished product. Delegation and the ability to allocate necessary resources are a few of the critical skills needed for those in project manager positions.

This guide to three business schools with a standout faculty in project management spotlights 15 highly-ranked and respected experts in the field, including their disciplines, practices, achievements, and teaching.

Regis University, Anderson College of Business

Founded in 1877, Regis University is a private Jesuit university based in Denver, Colorado. Regis is divided into the Regis College, the College of Contemporary Liberal Studies, the Rueckert-Hartman College for Health Professions, the College of Computer and Information Sciences, and the Anderson College of Business. Notable alumni include US congressmen, all-star NFL athletes, and the founder of Cisco Systems, Inc.

Regis University’s Anderson College of Business boasts a cutting-edge project management program that is among the highest-ranked for private religious schools in the nation. The college operates by a Stewardship Principle, which states that all graduates should be prepared to manage projects with an eye toward environmental conservation, business collaboration, cause and effect, inclusion, and diversity.

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    Timothy Keane, PhD

    Dr. Timothy Keane is a professor of business and management at the Regis University Anderson College of Business. His research and teaching interests center around solving issues at the center of business and society, where multiple industries intersect and overlap. He is an Ewing Marion Kauffman Entrepreneurial Scholar and has done extensive R&D on selling and management techniques and methodologies based on data or statistics. Notably, for 20 years, he was a lead marketing figure at Anheuser-Busch.

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    M.D. Kinoti, PhD

    Dr. M.D. Kinoti is a tenured associate professor of nonprofit management at Regis University. His research foci and academic interests span writing and training in international community development, multicultural/intercultural understanding and peacebuilding, and international NGO management. At the graduate level, he teaches sustainability, social entrepreneurship for development, international third sector research, community development, impact assessment, cross-cultural mediation, and conflict resolution. He received his MA in social innovation and development from Regis University and obtained his PhD in intercultural studies from Fuller Graduate Schools.

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    Luka Powanga, PhD

    Dr. Luka Powanga is a professor of economics and finance at Regis University. He teaches business acceleration, economics, finance, international finance, international business, and entrepreneurship. He consults with companies in international investments and energy project development and investments. He is also a founding member of the Denver Chapter of the American Capital Group (ACG), as well as the founding author of the Denver Venture Capital Report. In 2013, he took part in a Whitehouse briefing on power in Africa. Later, he co-founded the Energy Africa Conference.

    Dr. Powanga holds a dual PhD/MSC from the Colorado School of Mines, an MSC in networking technologies and database administration, and a BSC in metallurgy and mineral processing from the University of Zambia.

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    Robert Spangola, PhD

    Dr. Robert Spangola is an associate professor of business and management at Regis University, where he teaches courses on higher education administration, education policy analysis, leadership, law, strategic management, and business. He operates as a consultant to a wide variety of organizations, offering leadership, direction, and advice on the sophisticated decision-making and problem-solving skills that are so often required when running a business and managing its attendant projects. Formerly, he was associate dean of business and project management at the Regis University Anderson College of Business.

    He holds a master’s in education policy and leadership from the Harvard University Graduate School of Education and a PhD in business administration and strategic management from the University of Nebraska.

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    Eugene Wilkerson, PhD

    Dr. Eugene Wilkerson is an associate professor of business and the assistant dean of mission and student success in the Anderson College of Business at Regis University. He has been responsible for considerable reform at the school, including the integration of new practices into faculty development, operations, and curriculum. His research and academic interests include addressing intrusive advising, experiential learning, retention management, academic preparation, and education coaching. Formerly, he was the College’s lead and supervisor of assessment practices, in addition to serving as the WELL and SEED Center director, respectively.

    He holds a PhD in educational leadership, policy, and research from the University of Colorado and an MS in organizational leadership and ethics from the St. Edwards University School of Management and Business.

Stevens Institute of Technology, School of Business

Founded in 1868 at the request of businessman Edwin Augustus Stevens, the institute includes more than 5,000 undergraduate and graduate students from a combined total of 60 countries throughout Latin America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. A private college with one of the oldest coed models in the country, the research university is also one of the oldest technological and advanced vocational schools in the United States devoted entirely to mechanical engineering. It boasts two national centers of excellence—designations assigned by the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense.

The university’s School of Business offers various certificates in project management, as well as a highly-specialized master’s program for those who wish to take their education to the next level. The program integrates mathematics, science, and engineering skills to help students establish a firm foundation of business theory, management systems, information technology, leadership concepts, and innovation methodologies.

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    Yan Chen, PhD

    Dr. Yan Chen is an assistant professor of business and management at the Stevens Institute of Technology. His research includes the topics of innovation, entrepreneurship, and blockchain. He teaches courses in discovering and exploiting entrepreneurial opportunities, technology and innovation management, research in management, entrepreneurship, creativity, innovation, blockchain fundamentals, and blockchain theory.

    He received his PhD in entrepreneurship and innovation from the University of Missouri at Kansas City, his MS in management science and engineering from Xi’an Jiaotong University in China, and a BE in computer science and technology from the South China University of Technology.

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    Patricia Holahan, PhD

    Dr. Patricia Holahan is an associate professor of business and management at Stevens Tech. Her research focuses on conflict management, team effectiveness, technology adoption and diffusion, innovation, new product development process theory, and models for the implementation of new technologies. She has been awarded multiple NSF research grants to study technology transfer and diffusion processes at Stevens Tech, where she serves the educational community in societies such as the Academy of Management, the Product Development and Management Association, the Interdisciplinary Network of Group Researchers, the American Psychological Association, and the American Educational Research Association.

    She holds a PhD from Purdue University in organizational behavior and human resource management, in addition to an MEd and BA from the University of Maryland.

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    Peter Koen, PhD

    Dr. Peter Koen is a tenured associate professor at the Wesley J. Howe School of Technology Management at the Stevens Institute of Technology. His research concerns determining approaches and organizational structures for new business, including the processes, people, strategies, sponsorship, and knowledge management, and how companies manage breakthrough opportunities. He is currently the director of the Consortium for Corporate Entrepreneurship, or CCE, which he founded in 1998. Dr. Koen holds BS and MS degrees in mechanical engineering from New York University, and MS and PhD degrees in biomedical engineering from Drexel University.

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    Gary Lynn, PhD

    Dr. Gary Lynn is a full professor of management at Stevens Institute of Technology. HIs research and teaching foci include entrepreneurship, technical innovation, and marketing strategy. He currently serves on editorial boards for the European Journal of Innovation and the Journal of Chinese Entrepreneurship. He is also an associate editor of the Engineering Management Journal. He holds a PhD in management from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, an MS in management from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University, and a BS in mechanical engineering from Vanderbilt University.

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    Murad Mithani, PhD

    Dr. Murad Mithani is an associate professor at the Stevens Institute of Technology, where he teaches courses in technology and innovation management, information technology strategy, and strategic management to graduate students. He also teaches courses in general management to undergraduates, in addition to performing strategy, innovation, management, and consulting services outside of his academic duties. His research foci include organizational politics, corporate social responsibility, and strategic change. He holds a PhD in management from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and an MS in physics entrepreneurship from Case Western Reserve University in Ohio.

University of Idaho, College of Business and Economics

Founded in 1889 by legislative decree, the University of Idaho was the state’s first land-grant school and is known as Idaho’s flagship research university. The university generates an average of $100 million in research grants each year and offers 142 degree programs, including bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral, and specialists’ degrees. Additionally, certificates of completion are offered in 30 areas of study.

UI’s College of Business and Economics offers an undergraduate and graduate program in information systems management with emphasis on operations, automation, data management, project coordination, project management. Study areas include telecommunication, hardware systems, software, introductory spreadsheeting, administration, and more. The school is AASCB-accredited.

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    Jeff Bailey, PhD

    Dr. Jeff Bailey is a professor of management and human resources at the University of Idaho’s College of Business and Economics, where he teaches courses on human resource theory, project management, resource management, advanced interactions, and introductions to management. He has received many teaching awards, including being named a UI President’s Cabinet Member and receiving a First Interstate Faculty Fellowship, an Alumni Award for Excellence, and an Excellence in Teaching Award from the College of Business and Economics. He holds a BS from Colorado State University and his PhD and MS from the University of Akron in Ohio.

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    Lori Baker-Eveleth, PhD

    Dr. Lori Baker-Eveleth is an associate professor at the University of Idaho’s College of Business and Economics. She researches and teaches technology acceptance, user interfaces, theories of communities of practice, social media theory, social media relationships, project management, and general business courses. She is a reviewer for the Decision Sciences Journal of Innovative Education, for the International Academy for Information Management Conference, and for the International Conference on Information Sciences. She is a member of the AGIT Administrative and Academic Work Groups coalition and was a member of the Information Technology Committee from 2009 to 2012. She was awarded the CBE Alsaker Family Fellowship in 2011 and 2012 and holds a PhD from Washington State University.

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    Yun Chung, PhD

    Dr. Yun Chung is an associate professor of management and human resources at the University of Idaho’s College of Business and Economics. She teaches courses on leading organizations and people, organization design and change, organizational behavior and leadership, an introduction to management, integrated business curriculum, human resources theory, human resources decision-making, human resources strategy, and solving problems in the workplace.

    Her research foci include workplace diversity and faultlines, social networks, and retirement security. She has published in journals such as Small Group Research, the Academy of Management Journal, and the Journal of Management. She holds a PhD from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey.

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    Dan Eveleth, MBA, PhD

    Dr. Dan Eveleth is a professor of human resources management at the University of Idaho’s College of Business and Economics. He teaches and researches expert and novice decision-making, analogical reasoning, knowledge management, the application of technology in teaching, the application of technology in learning, and theories of human resource management. He has received an Alsaker Family Faculty Fellowship, the Disability Student Services Teaching Award, an Award for Faculty Excellence, an A. Darius Davis Faculty Fellowship, and has been awarded “Best Paper” at many international conferences. He holds a PhD and BA from Washington State University and an MBA from Seattle City University.

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    Shenghan Xu, PhD

    Dr. Shenghan Xu is an associate professor of operations management at the University of Idaho, where she teaches supply chain integration, network, optimization, planning, scheduling, project management, team management, and operations theory. She received her PhD in management science from the University of Massachusetts, an MBA in management of information systems from the University of Massachusetts, Lowell, and a BS in international trade, business, and commerce from the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics.

Methodology

Schools that meet our criteria for designation as one with a standout faculty in project management must:

To be marked for inclusion on our list of top-rated project management professors and faculty, we look at the following criteria:

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