CBA Dean’s Teaching Seminar Series
Learn More About our Dean's Teaching Seminar Series
Cal Poly Pomona’s College of Business Administration and Singelyn Graduate School of Business have launched the Dean’s Teaching Seminar Series (DTSS), a new faculty-led program dedicated to showcasing innovative teaching practices. Led by DTSS director Dr. Maha Ghosn, the series creates a regular space for faculty to share strategies, experiment with new approaches, and learn from one another. With strong support from Singelyn Family Dean Sandeep Krishnamurthy, the initiative emphasizes that great teaching is essential to developing future business leaders. At its core, DTSS fosters a collaborative culture where bold, creative, and compassionate instruction can thrive.
Organizers
Dr. Sandeep Krishnamurthy
Singleyn Family Dean
Dr. Maha Ghosn
DTSS director, and lecturer for the International Business and Marketing Department
Dr. Alireza Yazdani
Presentation date: Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025 11:30am – 12:45pm
Location: Bldg. 164, Dean’s Office Conference Room
Topic: Learning by Negotiating: A Live Buyer-Seller Game for Purchasing Management
Email: ayazdani@cpp.edu
Bio: Alireza Yazdani is an Associate Professor of Technology and Operations Management at the College of Business Administration at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. Yazdani’s research interests relate to retail operations, pricing models, and service operations. In particular, he studies firms’ product and pricing decisions in response to market characteristics such as competition, heterogeneity, and strategic consumer behavior. Yazdani earned his PhD in Operations and Business Analytics from the University of Oregon in 2019. Prior to joining the PhD program, he earned a BSc in Industrial Engineering and an MBA from Sharif University of Technology. Yazdani has taught courses in the areas of operations management, supply chain management, and data analytics at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.
Dr. Cervantes Lee
Presentation date: Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025 11:30am – 12:45pm
Location: Bldg. 164, Dean’s Office Conference Room
Topic: Accelerating Asian Restaurant Brands to Nasdaq: Innovation, Investment, and International Scaling
Email: cerlee@cpp.edu
Bio: Dr. Cervantes Lee serves as the Faculty Director for Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (CEI) at Cal Poly Pomona College of Business and leads efforts in advancing investment-ready venture creation, cross-disciplinary entrepreneurship, and fostering a collaborative ecosystem that connects academic research with industry application. Since August 2024, he has also been the founding Executive Director of the Asia Innovation Hub, launched in partnership with the Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center, where he leads programs like Accelerate to Nasdaq, Asia Milestone Makers, and the Nasdaq IPO Bootcamp to mentor growth-stage CEOs on global expansion and IPO readiness. Prior to academia, Dr. Lee spent two decades in principal investment managing over $100 billion in assets, with sector experience across hospitality real estate, location-based businesses, and consumer tech.
Dr. Yufan Lin
Presentation date: Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025 11:30am – 12:45pm
Location: Bldg. 164, Dean’s Office Conference Room
Topic: Enhancing Case-Based Learning with AI: Interactive, Accessible, and Inclusive Approaches
Email: yufanlin@cpp.edu
Bio: Yufan (Frank) Lin is an Assistant Professor of Marketing in the College of Business Administration at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. He received his Ph.D. in Marketing and an MBA degree concentrating in marketing analytics from the University of Missouri. His primary area of research is personal selling over technology-mediated platforms, including live-chat sales closing strategies. His research utilizes both structured (econometrics) and unstructured (natural language processing) data analytics techniques. His research has been presented at many conferences, including the VII Enhancing Sales Force Productivity Conference, the Thought Leadership on Sales Profession Conference, the Frontiers in Service Conference, the Organizational Frontlines Research Pre-conference Symposium, and the National Conference on Sales Management. His research has also won a number of awards, such as the 2021 the American Marketing Association Sales SIG Doctoral Dissertation Proposal Competition and the 2022 National Conference in Sales Management Hunt/Deitz/Hansen Best Doctoral Paper Award.
Dr. Anthony Kim
Presentation date: Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026 11:30am – 12:45pm
Location: Bldg. 164, Dean’s Office Conference Room
Topic: Active and Experiential Learning
Email: hongbumkim@cpp.edu
Bio: Dr. Anthony H. Kim is a professor of marketing. He received his Ph.D. in marketing from the University of Georgia. His research interest centers on online word-of-mouth and social network analysis. Dr. Kim earned his M.A. in sport administration from Central Michigan University and completed Ph.D. coursework in sport marketing at Florida State University. Dr. Kim also earned two bachelor’s degrees—in business administration and sport science—from Seoul National University in South Korea, where he was a varsity athlete in swimming and snowboarding.
Dr. Sharonda Bishop
Presentation date: Thursday, March 19, 2026 11:30am – 12:45pm
Location: Bldg. 164, Dean’s Office Conference Room
Topic: Service-Learning Collaborations in the Classroom: Making It Work
Email: snbishop@cpp.edu
Bio: Dr. Sharonda Bishop is a lecturer at the College of Business Administration at Cal Poly Pomona. She holds a bachelor's degree from Cornell University in Hospitality Administration, an MHRD from Claremont Graduate School, and received her DBA from DePaul University. She possesses over 25 years of human resources, payroll, and training experience working with employees and managers in various industries, including hospitality, engineering, and construction, honing their communication, teamwork, and leadership skills. In addition to Cal Poly Pomona, she teaches in professional certification programs at the College of Professional and Global Education at Cal Poly, UCR Extension, and the Global Campus at SDSU.
Dr. Nastaran Simarasl
Presentation date: Thursday, April 23, 2026 11:30am – 12:45pm
Location: Bldg. 164, Dean’s Office Conference Room
Topic: Embedding Service-Learning in Business Education
Email: nsimarasl@cpp.edu
Bio: Dr. Nastaran Simarasl is an Associate Professor of Strategic Management and Entrepreneurship at Cal Poly Pomona, who also serves as the Director of the Singelyn Graduate School of Business. She was a Visiting Scholar at WHU, Otto Beisheim School of Management, Vallendar, Germany in 2023. Her research on entrepreneurship in understudied contexts has been accepted and published in Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, Family Business Review, and Business Horizons, to name a few. She is the primary Faculty Advisor of the Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization (CEO) Club on campus. She is passionate about promoting entrepreneurship in Pomona, having offered consulting services to the Pomona Chamber of Commerce and other local non-profits with her students and through her business consulting classes. She is also the Cal Poly Pomona Co-Chair of the Heterodox Academy Community Network that promotes open inquiry and viewpoint diversity on campuses.
