Category: Education

028 – Change Agents – Dr. Eric Spangenberg – Dean of the UCI Paul Merage School of Business

January 23, 2020 od2019 Business, Education, Leadership Comments Off on 028 – Change Agents – Dr. Eric Spangenberg – Dean of the UCI Paul Merage School of Business
Interview aired on 01/23/2020

With a 30-year career dedicated to excellence in scholarship and business education, Dr. Eric R. Spangenberg has served The Paul Merage School of Business at the University of California, Irvine, as dean since June 2014.

Dr. Spangenberg has led several initiatives, including engaging and strengthening ties with the external business community both locally and abroad. He has motivated strategic curricular updates to the MBA as well as development of a hybridized (partially online), part-time MBA program, one-year specialized masters programs in finance, data analytics and entrepreneurship, and a completely online minor in undergraduate business to help meet the University’s demand for business programs. He oversaw the Merage School strategic planning process articulating a clear vision and reward structure; led development of a differentiation strategy for the School; successfully navigated a (once a decade) UC Senate school review; and established an AACSB plan and process ensuring successful maintenance of accreditation. He has also prioritized the recruitment of faculty and students across several disciplines and programs thereby enriching diversity of the Merage School community.

027 – Change Agents – Brent Bishop – Executive Director, Highland Academy

December 30, 2019 od2019 Education, Non Profit Organizations Comments Off on 027 – Change Agents – Brent Bishop – Executive Director, Highland Academy
Interview aired on 11/20/2019

Brent Bishop is Program Director of Highland Academy, a charter school that focuses on Project Based Learning.  PBL is a method in which students gain knowledge and skills by working for an extended period of time to investigate and respond to an authentic, engaging and complex question, problem, or challenge.

Mr. Bishops speaks about his leadership journey and the educational model used to teach student to “Find their Genius”.

023 – Change Agents – Nola Wanta – Senior Director, Business Development & Strategy at Loyola Marymount University

November 25, 2019 od2019 Business, Education Comments Off on 023 – Change Agents – Nola Wanta – Senior Director, Business Development & Strategy at Loyola Marymount University
Interview aired on 10/23/2019

Mrs. Wanta most recently served as Director of Program Services for the MBA for Executives (EMBA) Program at the University of California, Irvine. Prior to joining UCI, Nola held various leadership positions in graduate program management, recruitment and admissions at the Peter F. Drucker and Masatoshi Ito Graduate School of Management at Claremont Graduate University, UCLA Anderson and UCI The Paul Merage School of Business. Currently, she is completing her Ed.D at UCLA. Nola earned an M.A. in social science specializing in demographics and social analysis, and a B.A. in anthropology and social science from UC Irvine. 

022 – Change Agents – Dean Dr. Professor Richard Arum – Dean of the School of Education at the University of California, Irvine

November 19, 2019 od2019 Education, Leadership Comments Off on 022 – Change Agents – Dean Dr. Professor Richard Arum – Dean of the School of Education at the University of California, Irvine
Interview aired on 10/02/2019

Dean Dr. Professor Richard Arum is an American sociologist of education and stratification, best known for his research on student learning, school discipline, race, and inequality in K-12 and higher education.

Dr. Arum has a B.A. in Political Science from Tufts University, an M.Ed. in Teaching and Curriculum from the Harvard University Graduate School of Education, and a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of California, Berkeley.

He is currently dean of the University of California, Irvine School of Education, as well as a senior fellow at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

019 – Change Agents – Arlis Reynolds – Costa Mesa City Council Member

October 13, 2019 od2019 Education, Government, Leadership, Society Comments Off on 019 – Change Agents – Arlis Reynolds – Costa Mesa City Council Member
Show aired on 09/11/2019

Council Member Arlis Reynolds was elected in November of 2018 to represent Costa Mesa District 5, one of two westside Costa Mesa districts. She is the first person elected to represent District 5 as part of the City of Costa Mesa’s historical first District Elections and was sworn in on December 4, 2018.

018 – Change Agents – Dr. Arvind Sathi – Director and Architect, Global Intelligence Automation at KPMG

October 13, 2019 od2019 Artificial Inteligence, Big Data, Business, Education Comments Off on 018 – Change Agents – Dr. Arvind Sathi – Director and Architect, Global Intelligence Automation at KPMG
Interview aired on 08/28/2018

Dr. Arvind Sathi is the Director and Architect in KPMG’s Global Intelligent Automation and a faculty member with University of California where he teaches courses on Analytics. Dr. Sathi received his Ph.D. in Artificial Intelligence from Carnegie Mellon University and worked under Nobel Prize-winner Dr. Herbert A. Simon. Dr. Sathi is a seasoned professional with leadership in Artificial Intelligence and Data Science solution development and delivery. He works with IBM clients worldwide to envision and build AI and Data Science solutions. Dr. Sathi was a pioneer in developing AI solutions at Carnegie Group (a Carnegie Mellon startup), leading to its successful public offering as a profitable AI company. At KPMG / Bearingpoint, he led the practices for Intelligent Process Automation, Enterprise Integration, & Analytics. At IBM, Dr. Sathi has led several AI and Data Science programs involving a number of IBM products from IBM Watson, and Hybrid Cloud business units, and has provided technical oversight to IBM’s strategic accounts. He has also delivered a number of workshops and presentations at industry conferences on technical subjects, and holds two patents in data masking. He has published four books on analytics – Cognitive (Internet of) Things, Engaging Customers Using Big Data, Big Data Analytics, Customer Experience Analytics. He has also been a contributing author in a number of Data Governance books written by Sunil Soares, and has published a article series on Advanced Analytics for IBM Developer Works. 

017 – Change Agents – Dr. Doron Zinger, Director, CalTeach Science and Math Program

October 13, 2019 od2019 Education, Non Profit Organizations Comments Off on 017 – Change Agents – Dr. Doron Zinger, Director, CalTeach Science and Math Program
Interview aired on 08/21/2019

Dr. Zinger began his career in education as a high school science teacher in Santa Ana, California, where he had a direct impact on students opportunities to engage in meaningful science learning. It was during these years that he learned that every student can learn, given the right opportunities. As a teacher, Dr. Zinger helped develop a summer program to engage students in deeper learning and established the school’s science fair. He eventually transitioned to school administration and oversaw two schools with 60 teachers and staff, serving more than 600 students.

In his current role as director of the CalTeach program, Dr. Zinger focuses on recruiting and preparing diverse science and math teacher candidates and preparing them to teach in schools serving large proportions of historically underserved students. Through this 4-year program, pre-service teachers can earn a Bachelor of Science in either science or math as well as their teaching credential. 

010 – Change Agents – Jon Kaplan, Assistant Dean MBA and Specialty Masters Programs at the UCI Paul Merage School of Business

July 31, 2019 od2019 Education, Leadership Comments Off on 010 – Change Agents – Jon Kaplan, Assistant Dean MBA and Specialty Masters Programs at the UCI Paul Merage School of Business
Interview aired on July 10, 2019

Jon Kaplan oversees the MBA Programs (Full-Time, Fully Employed and Executive) and Specialty Masters Programs (Master of Public Accountancy (MPAc), Master of Finance (MFin) and Master of Science of Business Analytics (MSBA)). In addition, Mr. Kaplan works in partnership with UCI schools to manage: MD/MBA, JD/MBA, Masters of Science in Engineering Management (MSEM) and Masters of Science in BioTech Management (MSBTM) Programs. 

Mr Kaplan speaks about his leadership journey and the UCI MBA programs.

004 – Change Agents – Xavier Reyes CEO of Alta Public Schools

July 28, 2019 od2019 Education, Non Profit Organizations Comments Off on 004 – Change Agents – Xavier Reyes CEO of Alta Public Schools
Interview aired on May 7, 2019

Xavier Reyes speaks about his personal leadership journey and founding Alta Public School.

Alta Public Schools (APS) has implemented model schools of life-long learning through the International Baccalaureate education program in the United States. APS has 3 schools in Los Angeles and is in the process of opening a school in Orange County.

002 – Change Agents – Alfredo Rubalcava CEO of Magnolia Public Schools

July 28, 2019 od2019 Education, Leadership, Non Profit Organizations Comments Off on 002 – Change Agents – Alfredo Rubalcava CEO of Magnolia Public Schools
Interview aired on April 16, 2019

Alfredo Rubalcava is the Chief Executive Officer of Magnolia Public Schools (MPS), a non-profit charter school organization that has 10 public charter schools located in Southern California. MPS focuses on Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math (STEAM), and offers various study electives in mathematics, robotics, chess tournaments, among others.

Mrs Rubalcava speaks about his personal journey in leadership and the impact of STEAM education in under-served communities.