Faculty

Full Time and Administrative Faculty

Christopher Weir, Ed.D., Interim Provost

Ed.D., Educational Planning & Development (Administration), Boston University, Boston, MA
MA, Organizational Communication, Emerson College, Boston, MA
BA, Duke University, Durham, NC

Chris Weir began his career in the field of marketing and advertising. He was group vice president with BBDO International and managed such accounts as Campbell Soup, Dodge, Schaefer Beer, and Major League Baseball, among others. After 20 years in marketing he went into education and taught marketing and held an endowed chair in strategic marketing. Chris also held the position of Associate Dean of Continuing and Adult Education at Emerson College.

Chris has extensive experience in adult and professional education, distance learning and academic assessment. He has been the Dean of the School of Business at Harcourt Higher Education, the first totally online college licensed in the state of Massachusetts. He has also developed online programs for Universitas 21 (an international consortium of universities headquartered in Singapore), developed an MBA program for an new university in Dubai, worked with Brandeis University on new online degree programs, and most recently joined NECB. He came to NECB in October of 2007 and has worked on the development of the bachelor's degree and the three new master's degree programs. Chris has been Chair of the MSF program, full professor and now interim provost.

Jeffrey C. Cronin
Librarian & Professor

MLS, Simmons College, Graduate School of Library & Information Science, Boston, MA
MBA, Babson College, Wellesley, MA
BA, University of Massachusetts, Boston, MA

Jeff Cronin has extensive experience in both academic and public libraries. He has been a research librarian at the Harvard Business School for over 17 years, assisting both students and faculty with their research. Prior to Harvard, he served in the investment industry as a stockbroker at Moseley, Hallgarten, Estabrook, and Weeden, and as a securities trader at Fidelity Investments. He is an active member of the Special Libraries Association. He has published in Library Journal and Magazines for Libraries and is a regular contributor to the Journal of Business and Finance Librarianship.

Ian Hudson, DBA
Professor & Chair, Master of Science in Finance Program

Doctor of Business Administration – Finance, Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, FL
Bachelor of Science, University of Alabama at Birmingham

Dr. Hudson’s financial industry experience includes wealth management and trading positions at Morgan Stanley and Southern Energy. Prior to joining NECB, he was a member of the graduate finance faculty at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Dr. Hudson has served on the Program Committee for the Financial Management Association and the Southern Finance Association. He is currently a member of the editorial board of International Business Research, a business journal published by the Canadian Center of Science and Education and has published work in the Journal of Business & Economic Research. His research interests include financial derivatives, currency & commodities trading, and investment portfolio management. He is a regular contributor to the financial press and business talk radio.

As Chair of NECB’s Master of Science in Finance program, Dr. Hudson has implemented curriculum changes including the development of courses in financial derivatives, financial modeling, and investment management.

Jean Marrapodi, Ph.D., CPLP
Professor and Instructional Designer

Ph.D. Adult and Postsecondary Education - Capella University
M.S. Online Instructional Design - Capella University
B.S. cum laude, Special Education - The College of New Jersey

Dr. Marrapodi was selected for the position based on her unique combination of expertise, experience and academic credentials. Dr. Marrapodi has been teaching and designing courses at the undergraduate and graduate level at NECB since 2009. Additionally, she has 15 years of corporate training experience and has functioned as the project manager and designer for large-scale, highly complex, technical training programs in healthcare, retail, banking and print industries, as well as in offshore development projects. Dr. Marrapodi is considered an industry expert in social media tools and application, and delivers frequent workshops at eLearning, education and social media conferences at the local, national, and international level. Her Ph.D. in Adult Education and her American Society of Training and Development (ASTD) credential designation of "Certified Professional in Learning and Performance", provide Jean with the ability to deliver content in a manner that brings practical application and knowledge transfer to student learning.

Roger Pao, J.D., Dean of Undergraduate Studies
Bachelor of Science in Business Administration Program Chair

J.D., Harvard Law School, Cambridge, MA
B.A., Duke University, Durham, NC

Roger Pao oversees curriculum design, faculty hiring and assessment and program assessment for core business and concentration courses in the ASBA and the BSBA programs. Roger has a strong background in teaching, with a focus on adult learners, and course design work. He designs and teaches a variety of undergraduate and graduate courses, including General Education, Business Administration and Masters of Science in Business Ethics and Compliance courses.

Carla Patalano, DBA, Professor
MBA Program Chair

D.B.A., Nova Southeastern University, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
M.B.A., Anna Maria College, Paxton, MA
B.S.B.A., Northeastern University, Boston, MA

Dr. Patalano oversees all aspects of the MBA program, including curriculum design, faculty hiring and assessment, student admissions, and program assessment. She comes to NECB with over 10 years of experience in higher education with a strong focus on adult learners and online delivery methods. Her academic background is paired with executive-level management experience from a variety of industries including financial services, hospitality, manufacturing and non-profit. Dr. Patalano holds the professional designation of Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) as well as advanced training and certifications in Mediation, Executive Coaching and Situational Leadership. She also operates her own consulting firm. She has published articles in the Journal of Applied Management & Entrepreneurship and has presented at the Massachusetts Colleges Online Conference on e-Learning, the North American Management Society Annual Meeting and the Midwest Finance Association Annual Conference.

Deborah Sementa, Professor
Business Ethics and Compliance Department Chair

MBA, Business Law, Suffolk University, Boston, MA
BS, Finance, Central Connecticut State University, New Britain, CT

Deborah Sementa has been in the financial services industry for over 23 years. For over a decade, she was a Principal Examiner for the State of Connecticut Department of Banking in charge of information systems examinations in addition to assisting in various other examination and management functions. In her capacity as a regulator, Deborah was a speaker and served on a panel with other industry experts for the Banking Compliance Association of Connecticut. She currently serves as the Compliance Officer for The Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank, a multibillion dollar community bank, where she oversees the compliance function covering all areas of the Bank. Deborah is a Certified Regulatory Compliance Manager (CRCM) and a Certified Risk Professional (CRP). She is presently pursuing her doctoral degree in Business. Deborah is former president of her local chamber of commerce and served several years as chairperson of the Eastern Massachusetts Compliance Network, an organization with a membership of over 100 compliance professionals.