Center for Entrepreneurship Faculty and Associates


Dr. Paul E. Bierly III, Director

Carol Hamilton, Assistant Director

John Rothenberger, Entreprenuer in Residence

Henry Reeves, CPA, Director, Shenandoah Valley Small Business Development Center

Mary Lou Bourne, Director, Office of Technology Transfer

Dr. David Cavazos, advisor, SIFE

Dr. Mark Fiegener, advisor, SIFE

Chris Roeder, adviser, Student Business Counselors Institute


Paul E. Bierly

Office: ZSH 544
Phone: (540) 568-3236
E-mail: bierlype@jmu.edu

Paul E. Bierly III is the Zane Showker Professor of Entrepreneurship and Director of the Center for Entrepreneurship at James Madison University. His degrees include: B.S. degree, Wharton School, B.A.S. degree, Engineering School, University of Pennsylvania, 1983; M.B.A. and Ph.D., Rutgers University, 1995. His primary research areas are management of technology, innovation, knowledge management and strategic alliances. He has published over 35 articles in Strategic Management Journal, Long Range Planning, Academy of Management Executive, Journal of Management, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, Journal of Engineering and Technology Management, R&D Management, and numerous other management journals and books. He is a Department Editor for IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management. Previously, he was an Officer on a fast-attack nuclear submarine in the U.S. Navy's Nuclear Power Program, a manager at Johnson & Johnson, and a consultant for Princeton Economic Research, Inc.

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Carol Hamilton

Office: ZSH 642
Phone: (540) 568-3412
E-mail: hamil1cw@jmu.edu

Carol W. Hamilton is the Assistant Director for the JMU Center for Entrepreneurship and has been a Management Lecturer in the JMU College of Business since 2002. She has taught COB 202 Interpersonal Skills, COB 300 Integrated Functional Systems, COB 487 Strategic Management and MGT 472 Venture Creation at JMU. Carol earned her MBA with a concentration in Entrepreneurship at JMU in 1997. She then worked as a management analyst for the JMU Small Business Development Center. In 1999, she co-founded Valley Microenterprise Alliance, a local non-profit training and lending program. She co-authored a microenterprise curriculum, Blueprint for Business Success, which was sold to a national microenterprise program and a Simple Solutions business plan guide and workbook that has been used in microenterprise programs across the country. Carol began her career with IBM following graduation from Clemson University with a B.S. degree in Administrative Management in 1980.

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John Rothenberger

Office: ZSH 545
Phone: (540) 568-3022
E-mail: rothenjc@jmu.edu

John Rothenberger, founder and CEO of Strategic Enterprise Solutions Inc. (SE Solutions), is the first "Entrepreneur in Residence," interacting with JMU students and offering expert advice on venture creation. He regularly participates in a project-based course to coach high performance teams in creating viable business plans and has regular office hours on campus, giving students and faculty the opportunity to access his insight, experience and business counsel. "There is a great opportunity at JMU to foster untapped students who believe they may have entrepreneurial, small business and intrapreneural interests," he said. "I want to give the students access to someone like themselves who is there and knows what it takes to get there." One of John's goals is to teach students to think differently to give them a competitive edge in the job market. With more than 16 years of executive leadership experience, John is known for his ability to envision viable business ventures. He has founded two successful companies that have been leaders in the IT industry. SE Solutions works with the Department of Homeland Security to provide IT solutions that address the intelligence shortcomings identified by the 9/11 Commission.

Prior to starting SE Solutions, Rothenberger founded an IT company named Aspire Technology Group and served as its president from 1993 to early March 2000. Aspire was recognized with numerous growth awards including a 1998 "Forbes" magazine Inc. 500 (No. 334), 1998 Virginia Fantastic 50 (No. 4), a KPMG High-Tech Entrepreneur of the Year nominee and a 1994 Fairfax County New Business of the Year runner up.

Rothenberger graduated from JMU in 1988 with a Bachelor of Business Administration in marketing. He is a member of the JMU Executive Advisory Council and serves as a regular judge for the College of Business' annual business plan competition. Rothenberger is also a University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business Fellow.

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Henry Reeves

Office: SBDC 2008
Phone: (540) 568-3227
E-mail: reevesha@jmu.edu
Website: http://www.jmu.edu/sbdcenter/

Henry has served since 2001 as the Director of the Shenandoah Valley Small Business Development Center (SV SBDC) and Executive Director of the Central VA Region with offices at James Madison University (JMU) in Harrisonburg, VA.

The SV SBDC is part of a nationwide network of more than 1,000 offices, funded by the U.S. Small Business Administration and local colleges, universities, and Chambers of Commerce that assist entrepreneurs and start and grow businesses.

He works with both for-profit businesses and non-profit organizations to help them prepare business plans, conduct strategic planning exercises, and solve problems that inhibit them in carrying out their mission and achieving their vision.

Prior to joining the SBDC network, he founded and operated an application software business in Charlottesville. He currently teaches accounting classes at JMU and QuickBooks at several community colleges in VA. He has a BSEE/CS and an MBA from the University of California at Berkeley. He is licensed as a C.P.A. in Virginia and is a Certified QuickBooks Advisor.

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Mary Lou Bourne

Office: ISAT 153
Phone: (540) 568-2865
E-mail: bourneml@jmu.edu

Mary Lou is the Director of the Office of Technology Transfer (OTT). The OTT, founded in 2005, is responsible for managing the intellectual property (IP) assets of James Madison University including inventions and copyrights. Its goal is to connect researchers and industry to accelerate and promulgate innovation. She works closely with researchers and inventors to foster their ideas and provide the necessary resources to make their technologies viable in a competitive business environment.

Mary Lou received a B.A. in Business from Bridgewater College. She is a C.P.A. and has received master's degrees from Virginia Tech in Higher Education Administration and James Madison University in Integrated Science and Technology. Her career experience is in information technology project management. She is a member of AUTM (Association for University Technology Managers) and ALCOVe (Academic Licensing Community of Virginia).

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David Cavazos

Office: ZSH 543
Phone: (540) 568-3082
E-mail: cavazode@jmu.edu

David Cavazos is an assistant professor of management at James Madison University. Prior to coming to JMU, David was a Visiting Assistant Professor at Texas Tech University.

David received a B.A. in Economics from Texas Tech University in 1996. He returned to earn both a Masters of Public Administration in 2000 and a Ph.D. in 2005 during his time at Texas Tech University.

His research interests include industry regulation, firm political action, and technology diffusion. His research has appeared in Business and Society Review and The International Journal of Organizational Analysis.  He is also a faculty advisor for the JMU chapter of SIFE.

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Mark Fiegener

Office: ZSH 542
Phone: (540) 568-3237
E-mail: fiegenmk@jmu.edu

Dr. Mark Fiegener is an Assistant Professor of Management in the College of Business at James Madison University. He graduated from the University of California at Santa Barbara with a B.A. degree in Economics/Mathematics, and later earned an M.B.A from the University of Washington and the Ph.D. from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Fiegener teaches strategy and entrepreneurship courses at JMU. His scholarly interests include the strategic management of information technology, the coordination of sense-making activities in organizations, and the governance practices of small firms. In research projects currently underway he is examining the processes by which executives attempt to align information technology decisions with business strategy and the nature of "managerial learning" in the context of a rare event. His work has appeared in journals such as Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice, Journal of Small Business Management, and Entrepreneurship & Regional Development.

Dr. Fiegener's consulting experience includes strategic planning and business reorganization projects for small and large firms, including Kodak, Clark Equipment and Martin-Marietta. He is also a faculty advisor for the JMU chapter of SIFE.

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Chris Roeder

Office: ZSH 627
Phone: (540) 568-3143
E-mail: roedercc@jmu.edu

Chris has been a lecturer in the management department at James Madison University since 2001. She has taught interpersonal skills, entrepreneurship, and management and creativity. Chris also serves as the Management Department Internship Coordinator where she acts as a liaison between students and local businesses and facilitates student experiences for academic credit.

In the area of entrepreneurship, Chris instructs students on the basics of idea generation, creating a business plan, choosing an organizational form, and financial analysis and growth. She also supervises consulting work for outside businesses that wish to have student teams complete outsourced projects. Some of the entities her classes have worked for include CellOne, the Town of Elkton, the Town of New Market, MyRockingham.com, and Shenandoah Speedway just to name a few.

Prior to joining James Madison University, Chris worked as a manager for a number of businesses, most recently with Roeder Transport, L.L.C. She received a B.S. in Managerial Economics from Bridgewater College and an MBA from James Madison University. She also has received her Certified Manager (CM) Certification.

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