College > Dean's Office Staff Profile

Dr. Ajay Menon
Dean

Professor Menon, as Dean of the College of Business, provides strategic direction for the College of Business. His responsibilities include: providing leadership for the College of Business; developing and maintaining relationships with all external stakeholders of the College; obtaining financial resources for the College to achieve its vision for success; broad oversight of the senior management of the College.

Professor Menon holds a Ph.D. in Marketing and has been on the Marketing Department faculty since 1991. His teaching and research expertise lie in the areas of International Marketing, New Product Development & Management and Strategic Market Planning. Professor Menon's research interests focus in the areas of customer loyalty, new product management, and strategy implementation. He has coordinated and participated in several discussion round-tables on these and related topics at national and international forums. Professor Menon’s research has appeared in the leading marketing and business journals. In addition, Professor Menon has received several recognitions for his classroom teaching, including being named "Professor of the Year". Professor Menon has been a consultant to several leading companies in Colorado.

Karin Cowles
Executive Assistant to the Dean

Karin joined the Office of the Dean in May 2008 as Executive Assistant to Dean Menon, and is responsible for handling the Dean’s calendar, travel and special projects. Her prior experience includes administrative and support roles in law firms and international corporations.

You can contact Karin at 970-491-2398 or Karin.Cowles@business.colostate.edu

Ms. Pam Johannsen
Program Assistant

Pam is a graduate of the University of Northern Iowa and has been with Colorado State University for decades! As an Assistant to the Dean, Pam works closely with Dean Menon and the Associates Deans on programmatic issues and on scheduling and coordinating calendars and travel. She is responsible for coordinating the college’s undergraduate commencement ceremonies, Dean’s List, honors and awards luncheons, special events, Rockwell room scheduling, and works with other staff on college scholarships. Pam is the Rockwell Hall building proctor as well as the Equal Opportunity Officer for the college. Pam’s depth of institutional knowledge is invaluable in referring students to the appropriate office for assistance and in helping students solve problems.

You can contact Pam at 970-491-1499 or Pam.Johannsen@colostate.edu

Dr. John Olienyk
Senior Associate Dean

After earning his Ph.D. in Economics at Colorado State, Professor Olienyk taught at Bradley University and worked in the investment banking industry. He then joined the faculty of the Finance and Real Estate Department in 1982. He has developed a reputation as an outstanding teacher, and has been the recipient of several major (campus-wide) awards for excellence in teaching and in service to students. His primary area of research interest is international finance, and his research has been published in international finance journals.

Dr. Olienyk has substantial international experience. He has conducted research in Europe and has served as a consultant for several multinational corporations. He has been participating in the US Department of Agriculture's Faculty Exchange Program since 1999. As part of that program he has lectured at universities and conducted seminars and workshops on the market system in Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan, and has served as a host and mentor for visiting faculty from the former Soviet Union. Dr. Olienyk has also taught in MBA programs in Grenoble, France and Moscow, Russia, and he has twice served as a faculty member for the University of Pittsburgh's Semester at Sea.

Dr. Susan Athey
Associate Dean, Undergraduate Programs

Susan Athey is Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs. She is responsible for coordinating curriculum issues and providing oversight of undergraduate programs in the College of Business. Dr. Athey also works with Student Services personnel to enhance the student experience in the College.
Susan grew up in Maryland, graduated from Virginia Tech in statistics, from CSU with an MBA, and from the University of Arizona with a Ph.D. in Management Information Systems. She joined CSU in 1987 and has taught programming and web development classes ever since! In previous lives, she worked for Westinghouse and Hewlett-Packard.
Dr. Athey has received various teaching and advising awards.
Susan loves to travel and spent 3 months in Evora, Portugal in 2002 on a Fulbright Fellowship teaching graduate students. She and husband have a Siberian Husky, Gorby, and 2 cats, Figo and Fosters.

Dr. John Hoxmeier
Associate Dean, Graduate Programs

John Hoxmeier is the Associate Dean of Graduate Programs and an Associate Professor of Computer Information Systems. Dr. Hoxmeier is responsible for the Executive, Campus, and Distance MBA and graduate programs. He received a Ph.D. from the University of Colorado-Boulder where his research included collaborative and group support systems. A CSU alumnus, Dr. Hoxmeier received an MS from CSU and a BS in Business Administration from the University of Nebraska. He worked in industry for 15 years prior to joining the faculty at CSU.  He recently completed a Faculty Fellowship at Cranfield University in the UK and is a Service Learning Fellow at CSU.  Dr. Hoxmeier's teaching and research includes data modeling, database design, information quality, and system response time. He has published in many IT and business journals including the Journal of Management Information Systems, Journal of Organizational and End User Computing, Journal of Business and Management, Business Process Management Journal, Software Quality Journal and Journal of Applied Management Studies. 

Mr. Ernie MacQuiddy
Assistant to the Dean for Budgets & Financial Management

Responsible for assisting the Dean with developing, implementing and monitoring the College of Business budget.
 

Ms. Danell Bartsch
Accounting Technician for the College of Business

Responsible for payroll, financial reporting, and assistant to the Budget and Financial Manager.
 

Deborah Booker
Manager of Marketing and Communications

Deborah Booker joined the College of Business at Colorado State University as Manager of Marketing and Communications on July 13, 2006. Prior to moving to Fort Collins, she was most recently with the Olin School of Business at Washington University in Saint Louis, where for eight years she guided marketing and communications strategy as Associate Dean for External Relations. For the preceding five years she was Director of MBA admissions. Prior to working at Olin, Deborah’s career was spent in the contract furniture industry working in sales and marketing capacities for a major manufacturer. Deborah holds an MBA and a BS from the University of Maryland, College Park. She can be reached at (970)-491-7221 or deborah.booker@colostate.edu.

Kae Moore
Director of Development

Kae Moore joined the College of Business as Director of Development on June 1, 2006. Kae has extensive experience in the development and advancement sector with over twenty five years of expertise. He most recently worked for the Interlochen Center for the Arts serving as the Vice President for Advancement. Kae also served as Vice President at Florida State University for the campaign that raised over $600 million. Kae’s previous business school experience included serving for fourteen years as Assistant Dean for Development at Purdue’s Krannert School of Management where he helped raise almost $20 million for the school’s first major capital campaign. Kae obtained his BS from the University of Evansville, and his Master’s from Miami University, in Oxford, Ohio. He can be reached at (970) 491-6378 or kae.moore@business.colostate.edu.