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Faculty & Staff
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H. James Williams, Dean
H. James Williams, PhD, CPA, CMA, JD, LLM, serves as the dean of Seidman College of Business at Grand Valley State University. He is also a Professor of Accounting.
Dr. Williams earned a B.S. Degree in Accounting, at North Carolina Central University, a M.B.A Degree in Accounting at the University of Wisconsin (Madison), a PhD Degree in Accounting at the University of Georgia (Athens), and JD and LLM (taxation) Degrees, at Georgetown University Law Center. Dean Williams is also a Certified Public Accountant and Certified Management Accountant, with a wealth of experiences, having worked in the public accounting profession and in the legal profession (as a corporate and tax attorney). |
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John W. Reifel, Associate Dean
John W. Reifel serves as associate dean for the Seidman College of Business at Grand Valley State University. He is also a Professor of Economics. He earned a B.A. Degree in Economics at the University of Notre Dame, and M.A. and PhD Degree in Economics from Michigan State University.
Most of Reifel’s career has been spent at Grand Valley in the classroom teaching Economics. He has introduced a number of new courses to the Economics Department curriculum including Urban Economics, Public Finance and Current Economic Issues. He enjoys teaching and has been the recipient of the Seidman Outstanding Teacher Award. In earlier years he served as the chair of the Economic Department. He has served for many years as an advisor for Grand Valleys Lambda Xi chapter of the international business fraternity, Delta Sigma Pi. Prior to accepting his position as Associate Dean, Reifel served as Interim Dean. |
Professors of Entrepreneurship
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John Farris
John Farris is currently an associate Professor in the Padnos College of Engineering and Computing at Grand Valley State University. He earned his Bachelors and Masters Degrees at Lehigh University and his Doctorate at the University of Rhode Island. He has college engineering teaching experience as well years of industrial design experience. His teaching interests lie in the first year design, design for manufacture and assembly, product design, entrepreneurship and Innovation. |
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Rita Grant
Rita Grant, originally an Assistant Professor of Accounting & Taxation through Grand Valley State University's Seidman College of Business, is also involved in the budding Entrepreneurship Program. She started out completing her undergraduate program at Hope College; from there she achieved her M.B.A. from Michigan State University. Professor Grant is also a CPA. She enjoys skiing with her family in her spare time. |
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Paul Lane
Dr. Paul Lane is an entrepreneur. He served as the E Seidman Chair because of his innovation in Business and that work continues in Entrepreneurship. He is involved in numerous entrepreneurial projects inside academia, in the areas of social entrepreneurship, sustainable business, and in building micro businesses. He encourages students to approach him with their original ideas. Dr. Lane enjoys conversing on these topics with young people, as well as guiding them towards their “next step” in implementing ideas into action. |
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John Rumery
Professor John Rumery is a Visiting Faculty in the Marketing Department. He has over sixteen years of experience working with global entrepreneurs in a corporate setting. He also founded and ran his own specialty retail business for six years before selling it and beginning his career at Grand Valley.
His interests lie in small business marketing, sports marketing, internet marketing and direct sales. Professor Rumery is a Co-Advisor to Grand Valley State University’s Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization and active in the development of the Entrepreneurship curriculum. |
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Dante Villarreal
Dante Villarreal is the Regional Director for the Michigan Small Business & Technology Development Center at Grand Valley State University. His work with the business community allows him to assist clients in preparing business plans, market research, as well as financial assessment and cash flow projections. Under these responsibilities, Dante works with individuals who want to start their own business and with existing companies who want to expand their operations. Dante holds a Bachelor Degree in International Business and a Master of Business Administration from Grand Valley State University. |
Center for Entrepreneurship Staff
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Shorouq Almallah
Shorouq joined the Family Owned Business Institute in August 2001. As the Knowledge Resource Manager for the institute, she is responsible for managing and building a clearinghouse of information and disseminating that body of knowledge through FOBI's web portal. She also participates in and oversees much of the activity for the Center for Entrepreneurship. Shorouq earned a Master of Information Science from Indiana University Bloomington where she gained the necessary training and skills to manage, represent, and organize knowledge and information. |
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Ryan Vaughn
Ryan joined the Center for Entrepreneurship in September 2009, as the Graduate Assistant. Ryan focuses his efforts on the day to day management of the Center for Entrepreneurship. Ryan is studying for his Masters of Sciences in Communication at GVSU.
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