Meet the Faculty
Our esteemed faculty members are not only practicing and working in the fields that they teach, but they also love to teach. They are committed to your success and take great joy in teaching students from across the globe.
Mathieu Aguesse
Mathieu Aguesse is a French entrepreneur who is dedicated to innovation and education on impact-driven topics. He successfully launched the first open innovation class dedicated to solving plastic pollution, a program called Deplastify the Planet. His Equitable Design class leverages the power of design to solve challenges related to diversity, equity and inclusion. Read more about Mathieu.
Wasim Azhar
Professor Wasim Azhar has been with UC Berkeley Haas School of Business since 2005. He is currently the Director at the Center for Teaching Excellence at Haas and a lecturer. Wasim is also a partner, Director and CMO at Amzone LLC and a member of the Board of Directors at Global Equity Partners. Read more about Wasim.
Janet Brady, M.B.A.
Janet Brady received both her B.S. and M.B.A. from the Haas School of Business and currently teaches Marketing, Business Communications and Leading People. Before becoming a lecturer at Haas, Janet worked at the Clorox Company as Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Human Resources Officer and at Central Garden and Pet as Senior Vice President of Human Resources, Communications and Digital Marketing. In addition to her lecturing duties, Janet is also an independent business consultant. Read more about Janet.
Todd Fitch, M.B.A.
Todd Fitch, M.B.A., has expertise in the economic impacts of intellectual property, innovation and technology strategy. He has been a lecturer at UC Berkeley Haas since 2005.
Jennifer Davis
Jennifer Gregory Davis (Jen) is a leadership development educator and coach, dedicated to partnering with university students and young professionals in their career portfolio and personal development.
With more than three decades of experience in the San Francisco Bay Area—focusing on non-profit executive organizational leadership, strategic planning and coaching—Jennifer is skilled at helping individuals and organizations become who they are inspired to be.
Deeply committed to working alongside students as they prepare to lead in our complex, interconnected world, Jennifer is excited to support visiting BHGAP students within the Berkeley ecosystem.
Jennifer is a doctoral candidate in leadership studies at Gonzaga University, exploring the cultivation of globally minded emerging leaders.
Stephanie Fujii, M.B.A.
Stephanie Fujii is a professional faculty member at Berkeley Haas, where she teaches in the EWMBA and EMBA programs. She is an executive and leadership coach who believes that leadership development is a process of courageous self-discovery and hopeful possibility. This belief reflects her career in human capital and leadership development, with more than 15 years of experience in professional services, nonprofits and higher education focused on assessing, selecting and developing inclusive leaders. She is passionate about helping organizations think about transformational leadership, developing courageous leaders, and building cultures and communities grounded in inclusivity and belonging.
Olaf Groth
Olaf Groth has 25 years of experience as an executive and adviser building strategies, capabilities, programs and ventures across 35-plus countries (including UAE) with multinationals (AirTouch, Boeing, Chevron, GE, Qualcomm, Q-Cells, Vodafone, Volkswagen, etc.), consultancies, startups, VCs, foundations, governments and academia. Groth is the founding CEO of advisory thinktank Cambrian Futures and of concept development firm Cambrian Designs. Groth serves as a professional faculty for strategy, policy, technology and futures at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business, and Professor of Practice for global strategy, innovation, economics and futures at Hult International Business School. He is a member of the Global Expert Network at the World Economic Forum and a Visiting Scholar at UC Berkeley's Roundtable on the International Economy (BRIE). Read more about Olaf.
David Evan Harris
David Evan Harris is a Chancellor's Public Scholar at UC Berkeley and a continuing lecturer at the Haas School of Business. Harris teaches courses including AI Ethics for Leaders; Social Movements & Social Media; Civic Technology; and Scenario Planning & Futures Thinking. Harris is an affiliated faculty member with the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS); Center for Latin American Studies; Center for Equity, Gender, and Leadership (EGAL); and the Business and Public Policy Group at UC Berkeley. Read more about David.
Judy Hopelain
Judy Hopelain is a continuing lecturer in the Marketing Group and an active member of the professional faculty at the Haas School of Business, where she teaches in both the M.B.A. and undergraduate programs. She is a hands-on business leader who partners with B2B and B2C organizations to identify and capitalize on opportunities for growth. From identifying opportunities to increase market penetration, share, profitability and relevance, Judy has deep experience in business and brand planning, architecture, messaging and customer engagement. That experience stems from years of strategy consulting at leading management consulting firms (BCG, Accenture and Prophet Brand Strategy), building and leading the direct channels business at specialty retailer Illuminations, and leading corporate strategy for Patagonia. She now heads her own brand and marketing consultancy, Pure Gravy LLC, where she continues doing the work that she loves. Read more about Judy.
Andrew Isaacs, M.S.
Andrew Isaacs is a successful scientist, business executive, entrepreneur and educator. He is passionate about mentoring the next generation of technology business leaders and has a strong track record of helping young entrepreneurs launch their careers. Andrew has worked at the crossroads of advanced technology and business innovation for 25 years.
Andrew has been teaching at UC Berkeley Haas School of Business for almost 20 years for classes such as Opportunity Recognition: Technology and Entrepreneurship in Silicon Valley; Marketing for High-Tech Entrepreneurs; the Business of Nanotechnology; and Energy, Sustainability and Business Innovation.
In addition to being a lecturer, Andrew is also Haas School of Business' Director of New Management of Technology Programs, Director of Mayfield Fellows Program and Executive Director at the Center for Energy and Environmental Innovation. In addition, he is also President of California Technology International Inc. Read more about Andrew.
Gregory La Blanc, J.D., LLM
Gregory La Blanc received his J.D. from George Mason University and his LLM from UC Berkeley's Boalt Hall School of Law. He has been teaching at Haas School of Business since 2005, teaching such classes as New Venture Finance, Strategic Leadership, Behavioral Finance, Corporate Financial Management, Financial Strategy and more. Greg has been awarded the UC Berkeley Presidential Teaching Fellow, a Haas EWMBA Core Graduate Instructor of the Year and a John Olin Fellow from Boalt Hall School of Law.
His current interests include data and analytics strategy, business model innovation, alternative investment strategies, evolutionary decision theory, behavioral law and economics, behavioral corporate finance, complex adaptive systems and information in organizations. Read more about Gregory.
Darcelle Lahr, Ph.D.
Darcelle Lahr serves as lecturer in both the Goldman School of Public Policy and the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business, and as professor of Business Practice in the Lorry I. Lokey School of Business and Public Policy at Mills College. Dr. Lahr teaches leadership and ethics, social impact consulting, social entrepreneurship, business and society, strategic management, and innovation and entrepreneurship for sustainability.
In 2018, Dr. Lahr led the re-envisioning and relaunch of the Mills College Center for Transformative Action, creating a hub for social justice research, activity and community action for students, faculty, staff and alumni. Most recently, Dr. Lahr serves as co-chair of the Mills Black Faculty/Staff Association, co-lead of the Black Action Forum and chair of the Racial Incident Response Subcommittee of the Intersectional Antiracist Team. Dr. Lahr is also president and CEO of Integral Consulting Group, a Black woman–owned management consulting practice; the founder and executive director of L.C. and Lillie Cox Haven of Hope, a nonprofit supporting socially minded entrepreneurs and small-business owners in delivering valuable services to vulnerable communities; and the founder and executive director of the Women's Social Entrepreneurship Center, supporting socially minded women entrepreneurs of color.
Vince Law
Vince Law is a faculty member at Berkeley Haas, focusing on M.B.A. courses in innovation and design, with specific expertise in product development and product management. He is also an Adjunct Professor at California College of the Art's Design Strategy M.B.A. program, with a teaching focus on innovation. Read more about Vince.
Aaron McDaniel
Aaron McDaniel is a serial entrepreneur, corporate manager, real estate investor, adviser, author, teacher and professional speaker. He is currently a partner and Chief Marketing Officer of IP Shark, an online brand-protection service that helps brands eliminate counterfeits, stop unauthorized sellers and better control their e-commerce channels.
He also teaches entrepreneurship at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business and is managing director and founding partner at Velocity Capital Group, a real-estate private equity fund investing in multi-family properties across the U.S. Previously, Aaron was the co-founder and CEO of Access Invest, the nation's largest mobile aggregator of private investments and co-founded Tycoon, the first real-estate crowdfunding platform to be acquired and Pong360 (acquired in 2012).
Jon Metzler, M.B.A.
Jon Metzler is a lecturer at Berkeley Haas, where he teaches on competitive advantage in technology markets and on international business at the undergraduate and M.B.A. levels. He is also associated faculty for the UC Berkeley for Center for Japanese Studies. He has received grant funding from the UC Berkeley Center for Japanese Studies and from the UC Berkeley Center for Long-Term Cybersecurity. Metzler is also faculty mentor at Berkeley Skydeck, an accelerator for Berkeley-affiliated startups.
Holly Schroth, Ph.D.
Holly Schroth is a senior lecturer at the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business Management of Organizations Program, where she specializes in the areas of negotiation and organizational behavior. She has been a senior lecturer at Haas since 1992, teaching courses such as Leading People, Negotiation and Conflict Resolution, Organizational Behavior, Introduction to Organizational Behavior and Strategic Business Interactions.
Her research interests center on emotions and language in negotiations and procedural justice. Holly has authored numerous publications exploring these subjects. She has also won several awards for teaching excellence during her decades of work, including a Distinguished Teaching Fellow.
Matthew Stepka
Matthew Stepka is Managing Partner of Machina Ventures, an investment firm focused on early stage, artificial intelligence and data science–enabled companies. He also advises companies on a variety of strategic issues, including fostering innovation, leveraging artificial intelligence/ data science technologies, and driving social impact. Stepka is a public speaker on how emerging technologies are reshaping our society and economy, and the important role of mission-driven enterprises. He is a Visiting Scholar/Executive in Residence at UC Berkeley Haas School of Business.
Donatella Taurasi, Ph.D.
Donatella Taurasi, Ph.D., has expertise in data science, data and analytics strategy, finance, psychology and economics, and asset pricing. She has been a lecturer at UC Berkeley Haas since 2012.
Peter Wilton, Ph.D.
Senior lecturer Peter Wilton has been a lecturer and professor at Haas School of Business since 1992. He received his Ph.D. from Purdue University and his B.A. (1st Class Honors) from the University of New South Wales (Sydney, Australia). In addition to his teaching, Peter is also the CEO of ORBIS Associates, a research product evaluator at the National Science Foundation and a reviewer at numerous publications. His current research and interests include:
- Marketing and corporate strategy
- Innovation strategy
- Organizational transformation
- Customer-loyalty strategy
- Global strategy and international management
- Customer-experience strategy
- New-product management
- Sales force productivity
- Competitive strategy for high-technology organizations
- Competitive strategy for financial service institutions
Arman Zand
Since August 2016, Arman has been a lecturer at Berkeley Haas on entrepreneurship and innovation. He is also the CFO at Prodigy Software. Previous positions include Head of Finance at Farmstead, Head of Value Creation at Quona Capital and Director of Business Development at RocketSpace, among other leadership positions. Read more about Arman.