Leaders
Lou Marino, Executive Director
Professor Marino is an Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship and Strategic Management at The University of Alabama where he is currently the coordinator of Entrepreneurship Program in the Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business Administration and Executive Director of the Alabama Entrepreneurship Institute. He received his PhD from Indiana University, his MBA from SUNY Buffalo and his undergraduate from SUNY Geneseo. His primary areas of research and teaching include Strategic Management and Entrepreneurship with subspecialties including strategic alliances, strategic management in small and medium sized enterprises, and new venture creation. His research has won two national Best Paper Awards and appears in top management journals such as the Academy of Management Journal and the Journal of International Business Studies. Professor Marino has presented hisresearch at both national and international meetings.
In the teaching arena, Professor Marino is an award winning teacher who has taught in the MBA, Executive MBA, PhD and undergraduate programs and has developed cases and supplemental teaching materials for various courses. He currently teaches classes at the Executive MBA, MBA, and undergraduate levels in Negotiations, Entrepreneurship and Strategic Management and PhD seminars in Entrepreneurship and Strategic Management. Professor Marino also teaches in the University of Alabama’s Executive Leadership Series where he has conducted courses in negotiations based on his Strategic Negotiations Model for companies such as Avocent, a leader in the Digital Switching industry, and Protective Life Corporation, a leader in the insurance industry where he uses custom negotiations for each client and elements of his “UFL Collective Bargaining Agreement” simulation that was recently published by Prentice Hall.
Office: 163 Alston Hall, 205/348-8946
lmarino@cba.ua.edu
David Ford, Associate Director
Professor Ford, an active member of the Academy of Management, Southern Management Association, and USASBE, teaches, researches, and reviews in the areas of entrepreneurship and consulting. Mr. Ford is a clinical professor and Sam Walton Fellow in the department of management and marketing and is the SIFE team’s adviser.
Office: 128 Bidgood Hall, 205/348-4631
dford@cba.ua.edu
Annette Watters, Associate Director
Ms. Watters co-manages the Alabama Entrepreneurial Research Network and manages the Alabama State Data Center as well as being Associate Director of the Entrepreneurship Institute. She writes, edits and produces C&BA newsletters and releases related to these topics and serves as project director for several current funded research contracts. She is active in demographic professional organizations at the national and regional levels and has served on various University boards and committees.
Office: 149 Bidgood Hall, 205/348-6191
awatters@cba.ua.edu