Alex F. DeNoble is a Professor of Management and Executive Director of the Lavin Entrepreneurship Center in the College of Business at San Diego State University. He currently also serves as the Chair of the College of Business Steering Committee. Prior to his role in the Lavin Entrepreneurship Center, he served for 3 years as the Chair of the Management Department in the College of Business.

His primary areas of expertise include entrepreneurship and corporate innovation, technology commercialization and strategic management. He has conducted research in these areas and has taught related classes in the University's undergraduate, graduate and executive MBA programs. He has published articles in such journals as IEEE Transactions on Management, the Journal of Business Venturing, the Journal of High Technology Management Research, the Journal of Technology Transfer, International Marketing Review, and Entrepreneurship: Theory and Practice.

His other professional activities encompass both executive training and strategic consulting. Recent assignments have included business plan development consulting for new and existing entrepreneurial firms, market research and analysis for technology-based companies and entrepreneurship training for Taiwanese, German, Russian, Japanese, Mexican, Middle Eastern, Finnish, Danish and U.S. executives. Over the past several years, he has conducted training programs or consulted with such companies as Qualcomm Inc., Siemens Corporation, Delta Electronics (Taiwan), the U.S. Russia Center for Entrepreneurship, Banco Nacional de Commercio Exterior (the National Export Bank of Mexico), NEC Electronics USA, Shell Technology Ventures, and Orincon Technologies (now a part of Lockheed Martin).

Dr. DeNoble is the recipient of several awards including the 2008 Monty Award from SDSU for Outstanding Faculty Contributions, 2004 Educator of the Year award from San Diego's T-Sector Magazine; the 2001 Gloria and Edwin Appel Award from the Price-Babson Fellows program for excellence in entrepreneurship education, and the 2000 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award (in the supporter category).

He received a B.S. in Accounting from Monmouth University in 1975, a M.S. in Accounting from Virginia Tech in 1977 and a Ph.D. in Strategic Management from Virginia Tech in 1983.

Bernhard Schroeder is Director, Lavin Entrepreneurship Center Programs and oversees all of the undergraduate and graduate programs. He also has responsibility for the Center's marketing on both the SDSU campus and in the San Diego community. He is a part-time Clinical Faculty, Entrepreneurship within the College of Business Administration at San Diego State University. He teaches entrepreneurship and creativity and innovation courses.

Bernhard brings over 20 years of marketing and entrepreneurial experience both as a Senior Partner in a leading global marketing agency and as a former Chief Marketing Officer on the client side. His first book, Fail Fast or Win Big was published in 2015; his second book, Simply Brilliant will be published in September, 2016.

Since moving to San Diego in 1997, he has specialized in working with senior executives and venture capitalists in either growth or turnaround opportunities with several companies including Nicholas-Applegate, Digitaria/Mirum and Stellcom. In addition, he has received his master's degree from San Diego State University.

Prior to moving to San Diego, Bernhard was a Senior Partner in the worlds' largest integrated marketing communications agency, CKS Partners, which in 1998 had offices in over 30 countries, more than 10,000 employees and over $1 billion in revenue. Bernhard joined CKS in 1991 when the firm had only 35 employees and just $5.5 million in revenue. He opened the first out of state agency office for CKS in 1993 in Portland Oregon and, working with the other four partners, grew the firm to almost $40 million in revenue by 1995 and led CKS to a successful IPO that same year.

He has experience working with Fortune 100 firms like Apple, Nike, General Motors, American Express, Mercedes Benz, Kellogg's and others as well as start-up companies. He was involved in the initial branding and marketing launches for companies like Yahoo!, Amazon, Corbis, ESPN and Travelocity. Prior to CKS Partners, Bernhard worked with direct mail and database marketing agencies helping them grow significantly.

Beryl Pratts is currently working as the Finance and Programs Analyst for the Lavin Entrepreneurship Center. She is responsible for financial forecasting, budgeting, and program evaluation, as well as streamlining and managing financials for the Center's programs.

Prior to working at the Center, Beryl worked a variety of accounting positions with Sempra Energy, San Diego Gas and Electric and Southern California Gas Companies. Beryl has worked in financial analysis with experience in financial systems. She graduated with a degree in Business Administration, Accounting major from Loyola University in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Amol is a graduate student at San Diego State University (SDSU) pursuing his Master’s in management information systems. He has a Bachelor's in Computer Engineering from India. Before coming to SDSU, He worked couple of years with Accenture in India as a Software Engineer and Business Analyst. 

At the Lavin Entrepreneurship Center, Amol is responsible for developing and updating the Center's website, managing Salesforce account, creating Web-To-Leads web forms, migrating data to Salesforce from Excel and csv files using Apex Data Loader and enhancing website's current design and technologies. He also supports additional websites created and managed by the Center.

Emmanuel Gambino is senior in the Accounting program at San Diego State University. After graduating, he hopes to pursue a Masters in Accounting, work for a public accounting firm as an auditor, become a CPA, and one day own and operate his own startup. His passions include sports and music, and his goal is to use his unique skill-set to help the Lavin Entrepreneurship Center meet and exceed it’s goals.

 
As an Accounting Assistant at the Lavin Entrepreneurship Center, Emmanuel prepares monthly budgets and event budgets to help guide the Center’s financial decision making. He also works closely with the Center’s Executive Director, Alex DeNoble, to prepare financial reports for various stakeholders.

Thomas Blanton is a current MBA student at the Fowler College of Business at SDSU. He has an undergraduate degree in journalism and a master’s in mass communication. At Lavin, he’s responsible for writing content and formulating communication strategies. He’s new to the business world but approaches it as business as usual. 

In another life, he toiled as a financial and investigative reporter. He spent three years in D.C. covering politics and business, the latter with Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine. You can often find him at the movies, usually perched in the front section where seemingly no one but him likes to sit. What that says about him, he believes, is that he likes to be closer to the action. Working at the Lavin Center, with it’s buzzy, fast-paced atmosphere, he feels like he has a front row seat. 

 

Patricia is a junior studying Business Management with an emphasis in entrepreneurship. She transferred to San Diego State University after obtaining an associate degree in both Business Administration and Economics. Years of work experience in experimental marketing and hospitality has prepared her for this new position as a marketing assistant at the Lavin Center. She is committed to creating value for her fellow students through assisting with the execution of events and program development.