2022-2023 Small Business Institute®
Officers and Board

President

Leanne Coder

LeAnne Coder, Western Kentucky University

leanne.coder@wku.edu

President Elect

Dennis Barber III, East Carolina University

barberde17@ecu.edu

Dr. Dennis Barber III is an Assistant Professor of Management in the Miller School of Entrepreneurship at East Carolina University. Dr. Barber teaches small business, family business and innovation related courses. He is the director of the Small Business Institute® in the Miller School. His research interests include rural entrepreneurship, economic development, public policy, entrepreneurship education and pedagogy. His research has been published in the Journal of Small Business Strategy, Journal of International Entrepreneurship, Journal of Small Business & Entrepreneurship, International Journal of Small Business & Entrepreneurship among others. He is currently a managing editor of the Journal of Small Business Strategy. Dr. Barber holds a PhD in Economics from the University of New Mexico.

Secretary/Treasurer


Joshua Aaron, Middle Tennessee State University

Joshua.Aaron@mtsu.edu 

Joshua R. Aaron is an Associate Professor at Middle Tennessee State University. Dr. Aaron has published work in Journal of Business Research, Journal of Business & Entrepreneurship, Corporate Reputation Review and Journal of Management Education among other journals. He has presented at Academy of Management, Southern Management Association and Babson Entrepreneurship Research Conference. Dr. Aaron holds a PhD in Strategic Management, an MBA in Strategic Management and a BS degree in Accounting, all from the University of Alabama. In addition to the SBI board, he serves as the President of the Board of Governors at Ironwood Country Club and on the Board of Directors of the Rachel Lynn Smith Foundation. Prior to academia, Dr. Aaron was an auditor at Ernst and Young, LLP in Birmingham, AL.


Vice President of Programs 


Joe T. Felan, University of Arkansas at Little Rock
jtfelan@ualr.edu


Dr. Joe T. Felan is an Associate Professor of Management at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
Originally from Texas, Dr. Felan has been teaching in the College of Business at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock since 2002.  Dr. Felan has a bachelor’s and a master’s degree from Baylor University and a PhD from the University of South Carolina.  Before coming to UA-Little Rock, Dr. Felan also taught courses at Baylor University and Bucknell University.  Dr. Felan teaches courses in operations management, supply chain management, quality management and business consulting at both the undergraduate and graduate level.  It has also been a pleasure for Dr. Felan to spend four summers teaching in the University of New Orleans (UNO – Innsbruck) International Summer Program in Innsbruck, Austria.   Dr. Felan has also enjoying serving for many years as a volunteer and is currently the chairperson for the board of directors of the organization for Junior Achievement of Arkansas.


Vice President of Programs - Elect



Raj Mahto, University of New Mexico

rmahto@unm.edu

Raj V. Mahto
 is a Professor of entrepreneurship and Creative Enterprise Endowed Professor in the Anderson School of Management at the University of New Mexico. He is also Department Chair of Finance and Innovation Department in the school. His research has been published in top academic journals such as Entrepreneurship Theory and PracticeJournal of Applied PsychologyJournal of Business ResearchJournal of Small Business Management, and Family Business Review, etc. Raj serves on editorial review boards of Family Business Review and International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal. He is also an associate editor of the Journal of Small Business StrategyTechnological Forecasting & Social Change, and Journal of Small Business Management.


Vice President of Marketing and Membership

Timothy Dunne, Boise State University

timothydunne@boisestate.edu

Dr. Timothy C. Dunne is an assistant professor of management at Boise State University. He has extensive experience teaching leadership and conflict management at the undergraduate, graduate, as well executive levels. Dr. Dunne’s research focuses on leadership and negotiation, with an emphasis on entrepreneurship and small businesses. His work has been published in numerous academic journals including Group and Organization Management, Conflict Resolution Quarterly, and Group Decision and Negotiation. Timothy holds a PhD in Management, an MBA, and a BA in Business Administration all from the University of Missouri.


Vice President of Research & Publications


Jana Minifie, Texas State University

jm13@txstate.edu

Dr. Jana Minifie is a Professor of Management (Entrepreneurship) at Texas State McCoy College of Business.  She is also the Director of the Service-Learning Excellence (SLE) Program for the university.  As Director, she encourages, trains, and faculty as they incorporate SL into their classrooms.  She collects metrics regarding academic service-learning/experiential learning at both the San Marcos and Round Rock campuses for Texas State. As part of the Service-Learning Excellence Program, she oversees the Texas State I-Corps Site for Entrepreneurship (NSF funded grant to Texas State) and its monthly newsletter for the Texas State Entrepreneurial Network.  She recently received a Texas Workforce Commission grant for the training of entrepreneurial women boot camps for women in Texas. She teaches the undergraduate and graduate consulting class. Her research is in the area of marketing, small business, health care and entrepreneurship. Her PhD is from the University of South Carolina. She has taught at the University of South Carolina, Texas Tech, University of South Florida – Sarasota, and Texas State University. She was the 2015-2018 Barshop Excellence Professor in Entrepreneurship. Her research and grant writing are based on interdisciplinary collaborations.



    



 

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