Joseph H. Astrachan, Ph.D.
Executive Director of the Cox Family Enterprise Center
Wachovia Eminent Scholar Chair of Family Business
Email: Joe_Astrachan@coles2.kennesaw.edu

Dr. Joseph H. Astrachan is the executive director of the Cox Family Enterprise Center, holds the Wachovia Eminent Scholar Chair of Family Business and is Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship. He serves as editor of Family Business Review and as an editorial board member of several other academic journals. Dr. Astrachan is an internationally recognized scholar in the field of family business.

Kristi S. McMillan
Director of the Cox Family Enterprise Center
Email: Kristi_McMillan@coles2.kennesaw.edu

Kristi S. McMillan is the director of the Cox Family Enterprise Center which she joined in 1994. Her areas of expertise in family business are sibling relationships, conflict resolution, raising responsible children, and building family cohesion. Ms. McMillan has a Master of Science in Conflict Management and is co-author of the acclaimed book "Conflict and Communication in The Family Business."

A. Frank Adams, III, Ph.D.
Aronoff Professor of Family Business
Email: Frank_Adams@coles2.kennesaw.edu

Dr. Frank Adams is Associate Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship, holds the Aronoff Professorship of Family Business, and is Director of Research for the Cox Family Enterprise Center. Dr. Adams is a financial economist who earned his doctorate from Auburn University. He is overseeing the Center's newest research program into family business finance and is an integral part of all of the Center's programs.

Gaia Marchisio, Ph.D.
Email: GMarchis@kennesaw.edu

Dr. Gaia Marchisio is Assistant Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship. Her focus is on strategic management, next generation leadership, and general family business topics. She earned her degrees from Bocconi University, Milano, Italy, and the Università degli Studi di Pavia. Prior to joining Kennesaw State University she taught at Bocconi University and she is currently Visiting Professor at EAE - Barcelona, Spain, where she teaches family business in the MBA program.

Torsten M. Pieper , Ph.D.
Email: TPieper@kennesaw.edu

Dr. Torsten M. Pieper is a research fellow at Cox Family Enterprise Center and an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Management and Entrepreneurship. Torsten holds Master of Science degrees from Saarland University Saarbrucken (Germany) and EM LYON Business School (France). He earned his doctorate at European Business School (Germany). In his dissertation research, Torsten investigated some of Germany’s oldest and largest family firms and identified the sources and mechanisms of their owning families' cohesion. Torsten comes from a family business and is fluent is German, English, and French.

George E. Manners, Ph.D.
Email: GManners@kennesaw.edu

Dr. George Manners is Professor of Accounting and Management, and has decades of experience as an educator, a consultant, and a business executive. Dr. Manners has occupied tenured positions at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and Clemson University.His primary industrial experience was 10 years with the James River Corporation, where he held the positions of Director of Organization Development and Director of Technology Services.

Dana R. Hermanson, Ph.D.
Mary and Jack Dinos Eminent Scholar Chair of Private Enterprise
Email: DHermans@kennesaw.edu

Dr. Dana Hermanson is the Mary and Jack Dinos Eminent Scholar Chair of Private Enterprise and Professor of Accounting, co-founder of the Corporate Governance Center at Kennesaw State University and a Research Fellow of the Corporate Governance Center at the University of Tennessee. Among his other important research reports, Dr. Hermanson is co-author of a study performed for the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO), Fraudulent Financial Reporting: 1987-1997, An Analysis of U.S. Public Companies.

Timothy Blumentritt , Ph.D.
Email: TBlument@kennesaw.edu

Dr. Tim Blumentritt is Assistant Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship. He teaches Strategic Management in the MBA, undergraduate and Executive MBA programs. Prior to joining Kennesaw State in 2005, Tim was on the faculty at Marquette University. He has taught at the International Management Center (Budapest, Hungary). Tim has experience in helping family business managers improve their abilities to understand and apply strategic management through his consulting activities, as a principle in a small software company, and his activities in his own family's business.

Craig E. Aronoff, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus and Founder of the Cox Family Enterprise Center

Dr. Craig Aronoff is the founder and former director of the Cox Family Enterprise Center and is Professor Emeritus at Kennesaw State University. Dr. Aronoff was president of the Family Firm Institute, the international association of professionals serving family firms. A former monthly columnist for Nation’s Business, prolific author, and frequently quoted expert, he has evolved as a leading authority and spokesman in the field of family business.

James I. Herbert, Ph.D.
Email: JHerbert@kennesaw.edu

Dr. James I. Herbert is Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship. He formerly served as Associate Director of Admissions and Lecturer in Organizational Behavior at Yale. Dr. Herbert is former vice president of the Family Firm Institute and served as leader for the first meeting of the next generation leaders of the Black Enterprise magazine’s 100 largest Black-owned businesses.

Georgia Bentley
Email: gbentle3@kennesaw.edu

Georgia Bentley is Director of Marketing Career Growth MBA Dalton Initiative and does outreach for the CFEC's programs including the South Georgia/Tifton Initiative. Georgia has her Master's of Science Degree. She has also had over a decade of management experience in corporate and university settings.