Faculty
To ensure each student can personally develop each semester, Marshall faculty attend every weekly meeting to provide comments on student's presentations and provide guidance on a student's progress. Additionally, each faculty member is assigned to a competing team to advise them before and during the competition.
Sean O’Connell
Sean O’Connell is the Director of Undergraduate International Programs at USC Marshall. He has an MA in Political Philosophy from Loyola University College. Before USC, Sean was a consultant at SG Consulting.
Maria Colman
Maria Colman is the owner and founder of handmadeMaria®. The original business plan was part of her MBA at the University of Southern California, Marshall School of Business. Maria has over 30 years of experience in retail marketing, accounting management, direct sales, and education. Before joining USC, Maria taught at California State University, Los Angeles; Moorpark College; and Antelope Valley College. She brings her diverse business background, enthusiasm, and tangible experience to her classes. Her up-cycled products and handmade art pieces are sold at brick and mortar and online stores.
Shannon Faris
Shannon Faris is the Assistant Dean for Institutional Research and Academic Administration at USC Marshall. She has worked in higher education for more than 15 years with a focus on research and research methodologies, assessment, optimization, accreditation and strategic planning. She currently has adjunct faculty appointments at Marshall in Management and Organization and the Rossier School of Education at USC in Higher Education. Before joining USC, Shannon spent five years working as a consultant for a boutique non-profit educational consulting firm. She has an MA and a Phd in Higher Education and Organizational Change and a BA in Psychology from UCLA.
Quentin Fleming
Quentin Fleming has taught courses in Strategic Management and in Global Leadership since Spring 2001. He is also a management consultant with nearly thirty years of experience. Quentin has worked with a wide range of clients across diverse industries – from Fortune 500 companies to small entrepreneurial firms – to identify and understand the root cause of their challenges and to create a strategy for improved profitability. In addition, Quentin is the author of three business books and is a sought-after expert both as a speaker and as a media resource.
Julia Plotts
Julia Plotts specializes in financial analysis and valuation, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate finance. Professor Plotts has been teaching corporate finance and financial analysis and valuation in the EMBA, GEMBA, MBA.PM, IBEAR, and undergraduate programs since 2002. She has received the Golden Apple Award for Teaching Excellence eight times and the Evan C. Thompson Teaching & Learning Innovation Award for Teaching (2011) and Mentoring (2012) and the Dean’s Award for Community (2010). Prior to joining the faculty at USC, Plotts worked within the investment-banking group of Banc of America Securities LLC, where she was involved in the execution of mergers and acquisitions, leveraged buyout/recapitalization and capital raising via private/public offerings of equity and debt. She has consulted on shareholder value and corporate strategy for a variety of firms.