Faculty

Program instruction is developed and presented by faculty at St. Joseph’s University and adjunct faculty drawn from industry experts.

Jim Morey
Executive Vice President, Chief Marketing and Brand Officer, Wawa, Inc.

Jim Morey is Executive Vice President, Chief Marketing and Brand Officer of Wawa, Inc. where he is responsible for marketing and information technology. He joined WaWa in 2012 as the Chief Financial Officer where he was responsible for all finance departments...

...including accounting, internal audit, tax, treasury, planning and analysis in addition to loss prevention, enterprise productivity and overall company strategy.

In 2014, Jim became Wawa’s Chief Operations Officer, responsible for all of store operations, real estate and supply chain while continuing to oversee enterprise productivity and overall strategy.

Prior to joining Wawa, he was Group Vice President of Financial Strategy, Planning, Tax and Treasury for Bloomin’ Brands, parent company of Outback Steakhouse, Carrabba’s Italian Grill, Bonefish Grill and Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse.

Dr. Stephen Porth
Professor of Management, Saint Joseph’s University

Dr. Stephen Porth is a Professor of Management in the Haub School of Business at Saint Joseph's University and the Senior Editor of the Journal of Jesuit Business Education. Dr. Porth has chaired three academic departments at SJU – Management, Food Marketing, and Pharmaceutical Marketing.

And served for 17 years as Associate Dean and Executive Director of graduate programs in the Haub School of Business. He is the NCAA Faculty Athletics Representative at SJU and is on the Executive Committee of FARA, the national association of faculty athletics representatives.

Jim Hertel
Founder and Principal, 2nd Act Advisory LLC

Jim Hertel founded 2nd Act to help the consumer goods industry realize profitable growth by taking advantage of four decades of experience in the food and consumables business. He led analytics at Inmar as senior vice president, following decades as a tech-enabled consultant and CPG executive.

His strategic use of data and shopper analytics can be found in the analytic products and solutions he created. His rich experience in consumer goods marketing, food retailing and economics makes him a frequent contributor to thought-leadership panels, associations, and publications.

Keith Donnell

Keith M. Donnell
Adjunct Professor, Saint Joseph’s University

Keith Donnell Donnell, President and Founder of Modern Wealth Concepts LLC Corporate & Personal Financial Expertise Senior Financial Consultant at Merrill Lynch & Company, 12 years at Banker's Trust Company in Manhattan (and its subsequent acquirer, Deutsche Bank)., Senior Vice President of Los Angeles based Capital Guardian Trust Company;

Credentials and Education MBA from the Haub School of Business at SJU where he is also an Adjunct Professor of Finance, Frequent speaker with both for-profit and nonprofit organizations to conduct Financial Literacy and Financial Management workshops, Holds the Certified Financial Planner Professional designation. Received an honorable discharge from the United States Marine Corps.of Modern Wealth Concepts LLC Corporate & Personal.

Theo Schweitz

Theo Schweitz
Chief Executive Officer, Drive Wheel Peer Groups

Theo Schweitz is the CEO of Drive Wheel Peer Groups, where he organizes peer groups for Food and Consumer Packaged Goods Leaders. He is driven to create opportunities for: collaboration, benchmarking, networking, and strategizing. These methods give leaders assurance they have the information they need to make confident business decisions.

With 25 peer groups covering all aspects of Sales, Marketing, Logistics, and Management, Theo can offer leaders confidence that when they present a new idea, it is well vetted by the best minds in the industry. Previously, Theo was the Director of Private Brand Food at Target where he oversaw brand positioning, product development, and promotional strategy for Target’s portfolio of brands. He was the VP of Strategy at BBDO advertising agency. An undergraduate from the University of Pennsylvania, he also holds an MBA and Culinary Arts degree.

Zhe Deng
Professor of Decision and System Sciences, Saint Joseph’s University

Zhe (Joe) Deng is an assistant professor of Decision and System Sciences at Saint Joseph's University and serves as the supply chain management course coordinator. His research interests span various disciplines, including microeconomics, cognitive psychology, behavior science, and design science.

His work involves leveraging methodologies such as field experiments, econometrics, machine learning, and video analytics to examine technology adoption policy. Zhe's commitment to advancing knowledge in this area is evident through their numerous presentations at prestigious conferences and workshops, as well as his collaborations with esteemed colleagues on impactful research projects. Prior to joining Saint Joe's, Zhe was a post-doctoral fellow at Carnegie Mellon University and gained his PhD at Temple University.

Brian Gornall

Brian Gornall
VP Category Management, Cash-Wa Distributing

Brian Gornall began his retail career with Albertsons where he worked in Merchandising, and later in the planning and strategy arm of Marketing. He became a leading force in Private Label consumables during his years with Target and the UP & UP brand.

And later became one of the founding leaders to establish Amazon’s launch of several Private Label Food and Beverage brands. When he’s not consulting, he’s a YouTube personality with a focus on Business and Personal Finance.

Sara Williamson
PhD – Faculty, SUNY College at Old Westbury

Dr. Sara Williamson is an Assistant Professor of Marketing with an expertise in consumer psychology. Her research investigates how choice, consumption, and disposal of packaged goods can be impacted by contextual cues related to product design, labeling, and retailing. Her research has been featured in regional and national media outlets.

And has been awarded by the American Marketing Association for its societal impact. Currently a faculty member at The State University of New York (SUNY), Sara has been teaching undergraduate and MBA marketing courses for 13 years and has previously served as a faculty member for the Haub School of Business Food Marketing Department at Saint Joseph’s University. Sara also offers more than a decade of industry experience in sales and marketing within both private and public sectors, working with stakeholders along the value chain to foster successful relationships among retailers, restaurants, and food suppliers. Sara is a life-long learner and educator who enjoys connecting with others, sharing ideas, and finding solutions. She currently resides in New York City, where you can find her exploring a local park, farmer’s market, grocery store, or restaurant.

Chris Gardier

Christopher Gardier
Chief Commercial Officer, Caro-Nut

Chris Gardier is the CCO at Caro-Nut, a leading Private Label supplier in Snack Nut and Nut Butters. Over his career, Chris has established a track record of transforming business results at Kraft Foods, Frito Lay, Pepperidge Farm, Hain Celestial and John B. Sanfilippo & Son, Inc. In 12 years, leading sales at JBSS, he commercialized their Private Brands value proposition.

Which helped achieve growth of +19% CAGR net income and +23% CAGR shareholder value. At the same time, retailers recognized the contribution to their business by awarding them vendor of the year twice at both Walmart and Target. Christopher and his wife Mary reside in Fresno, CA.

Chris Skyers
EVP, Sales Strategy Services, Grocery Channel Lead, Market Performance Group (MPG)

Chris Skyers is EVP, Sales Strategy Services, Grocery Channel Lead with Market Performance Group (MPG). In this position he leads all aspects of the Grocery Channel, supporting high-level strategic planning and management of a dynamic team developing sales and marketing solutions...

long- and short-term market channel strategies, and ongoing customer solutions. Prior to MPG, Chris spent more than 20 years with Wakefern Corp, where he led the teams and strategies for banner brands including ShopRite, Price Rite, The Fresh Grocer and Dearborn Market. As Vice President, Private Label and Own Brands, in 2018 Chris spearheaded the overhaul of the ShopRite brand and created two completely new and proprietary brands, Bowl & Basket and Paperbird.

George Latella
Food Marketing Professor, Saint Joseph’s University

George Latella has taught Food Marketing at Saint Joseph’s University for 30 years. He has received three Teaching Excellence awards and was voted the best Professor in the Haub School of Business in 2016 by students.

He has conducted numerous U.S. study tours for International Scholars through the USDA and has also led the Senior Leadership of Ferrero Germany on facilitated tours. He has also done seminars for the NASFT regarding selling your products into specialty stores. He brings 35+ years of Sales/Marketing executive experience with Tastykake & his consulting into the classroom. Key positions at Tastykake included: Director of Key Accounts, Director of National Sales/New Business Development, Director of Customer Relations/E-Commerce, & Director of Marketing.

Executive Education