Faculty
Meet the Faculty
Ryan Baranowski
Associate Professor of Stead Department of Business Administration and Economics
B.A., Coe College
M.A., Ph.D., University of California Irvine
Professor Baranowski teaches Principles of Macroeconomics and Microeconomics, U.S. Economic History, Money and Banking and Labor Economics. His research interests are in the fields of macroeconomics and monetary economics with a focus on expectations and informational frictions.
Matt Calman 
Visiting Assistant Professor of Business Administration and Economics
Carnegie Mellon University
M.B.A., Georgia State University
Professor Calman teaches Statistical Analysis with a focus on making better business decisions with data. He brings thirty-five years of business experience to the classroom from financial services, innovation leadership, emerging tech, intellectual property development and IP litigation. He loves cycling and skiing.
Pam Carstens
Professor of Business Administration and Economics
B.A., Coe College
M.B.A., Ph.D., University of Iowa
Professor Carstens teaches marketing, advertising, strategic management, and business ethics. She is the Administrative Coordinator of Coe's Public Relations degree. Pam supervises student research projects and enjoys travel-abroad courses with students. She is active with the Birkey Investment Fund.
Jia-Yuh (Jay) Chen
Elnora H. & William B. Quarton Professor of Business Administration and Economics
B.S., National Taiwan University
M.B.A., University of California, Irvine
Ph.D., University of California, Santa Cruz
C.F.A.
Professor Chen specializes in finance. He teaches courses in finance, investment, and business analytics.
Joshua Christensen
Associate Professor of Stead Department of Business Administration and Economics
B.A., Wartburg College
J.D., University of Iowa College of Law
Professor Christensen teaches Business Law I, Business Law II, Principles of Insurance, and other courses related to law and business. He is also a Pre-Law Advisor for students looking to attend law school after their time at Coe. Professor Christensen remains a practicing attorney in the state of Iowa with a primary practice area in insurance defense.
Richard G. Eichhorn
Professor of Business Administration and Economics, Co-Chair
B.S., University of Tulsa
Ph.D., Colorado State University
Dr. Eichhorn's teaching and research fields are Econometrics and Monetary Macroeconomics. Rick came to Coe in the fall of 2000 and teaches a variety of courses in the economics curriculum, focusing on quantitative methods and macroeconomics. He is very active in the Spellman Summer Research Workshop and has supervised many honors theses and other research projects where he focuses on developing students' empirical analysis and professional writing skills. His students regularly present their work at the Student Research Symposium, as well as off-campus conferences. Rick's own research has been published in Applied Economics and the Journal of Macroeconomics.
David T. Hayes
President
Professor of Stead Department of Business Administration and Economics
B.A., Coe College
J.D., University of Iowa College of Law
LL.M., University of Iowa College of Law
Professor Hayes' academic service to the college includes teaching courses in law, with a particular emphasis in the regulation of business and issues related to sustainability. He frequently offered courses at the Wilderness Field Station located outside of Ely, Minnesota. A two-time recipient of the Charles J. Lynch Outstanding Teacher Award, Hayes previously directed Coe's Pre-Law and Environmental Studies programs, and until his move to administration, held the Pochobradsky endowed chair. He is currently the president of the college.
Rob Kuennen
Assistant Professor of Stead Department of Business Administration and Economics
B.A., University of Notre Dame
M.B.A., University of Iowa
Ph.D. candidate, University of Iowa
Professor Kuennen worked in software marketing for several years in Chicago before committing to teaching full-time, and his teaching interests include marketing, management, and international business. Rob is an active participant in Coe's optional May Term, where he has traveled with students to countries such as Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, and Poland.
Chelsea Lensing
Assistant Professor of Stead Department of Business Administration and Economics
B.A., Coe College
M.A., Ph.D., University of Iowa
Professor Lensing teaches Principles of Microeconomics, Health Economics, International Economics, and Econometrics II. Her research interests are in the field of health economics with a focus on food policy and nutrition.
Jen Lutz
Visiting Assistant Professor of Stead Department of Business Administration and Economics
B.A., Illinois Wesleyan University
M.A.S., University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
C.M.A.
Professor Lutz teaches principles of accounting and tax accounting. Before becoming a professor, she worked as an accountant for an investment banking firm and a nonprofit ministry. Prior to coming to Coe, she taught for many years at a liberal arts college in Indiana.
Carrie Melcher
Associate Professor of Stead Department of Business Administration and Economics
B.S., Ohio State University
M.P.A., Drake University
C.M.A.
Professor Melcher teaches principles of accounting, managerial accounting and auditing. Professor Melcher has work experience in healthcare. She has served as President of the Colony Housing Authority Board of Directors and as Vice-Chair and Treasurer of the Decatur County Hospital Board of Trustees.
Vinh Q. Nguyen
Louie J. and Ella Pochobradsky Professor of Business Administration and Economics, Co-Chair
B.A., National Economics University, Vietnam
M.B.A., Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand
Ph.D., Mississippi State University
Dr. Nguyen teaches principles of management, human resource management, international management, organizational behavior and personal leadership. Vinh's research interests include leadership, motivation, emotional and cultural intelligence, job wholeheartedness and employee turnover. Vinh has recently published two books on the subject of self-leadership and motivation.
Amy Perry
Assistant Professor of Stead Department of Business Administration and Economics
B.B.A., University of Iowa
M.A., University of Iowa
C.P.A.
Professor Perry teaches managerial, principles, governmental & non-profit and advanced accounting courses. Prior to coming to Coe, she worked in various roles within the accounting industry. Amy has a passion for researching and teaching corporate social responsibility concepts and how this approach can maximize sustainability for companies, while encompassing a holistic lens of People, Planet and Profit for society on a global scale.
R. Kevin Trout
Assistant Professor of Stead Department of Business Administration and Economics
B.S., Utah State University
M.A., University of Nebraska-Lincoln
M.A., University of Iowa
C.P.A., C.M.A., C.F.M.
Professor Trout has masters degrees in accounting, finance and taxation. Before beginning his teaching career, Kevin worked in public accounting as a tax manager, and in industry as a controller and CFO. He is retired as a full-time faculty member, but he continues to teach the Birkey Investment Fund course and accounting courses as needed.
Drew Westberg
The Henry B. Tippie Associate Professor of Stead Department of Business Administration and Economics
B.A., Coe College
M.A., Urban & Regional Planning, University of Iowa
Ph.D., Economics, University of Missouri at Kansas City
Research interests: urban economics, nonprofit location, local government decision-making and spatial economics.
Emeritus and Retired Faculty
Dwight Hansen
Associate Professor of Stead Department of Business Administration and Economics, Emeritus
B.A., M.A., University of Nebraska
C.P.A. and C.M.A.
Barbara Larew
Elnora H. & William B. Quarton Professor of Business Administration and Economics, Emeritus
B.B.A., M.A., Ph.D., University of Iowa
C.P.A.
Michael McDonald
Professor of Business Administration and Economics, Emeritus
B.A., M.A., University of Iowa
C.P.A.
Professor McDonald taught accounting and management courses at Coe from 1981 to 2005.
Michael Sandberg
Louie J. and Ella Pochobradsky Professor of Business Administration, Emeritus
B.B.A., M.B.A., Ph.D., University of Iowa
C.P.A. and C.F.A.
Dr. Sandberg taught finance, investment, and insurance courses at Coe from 1976 to 2007.
Ramakrishna Vaitheswaran
Elnora H. and William B. Quarton Professor of Business Administration and Economics, Emeritus
B.A., M.A., Osmania University
Ph.D., Iowa State University
Dr. Vaitheswaran taught economics at Coe from 1973 to 1999.