Fellows

Dr. Julie Booke completed a Bachelors of Recreation Studies at the University of Manitoba. After completing her undergraduate degree she worked for the Hurricane Island Outward Bound School and the University of Missouri’s Experiential Education program before returning to the University of Manitoba to complete a Master of Arts degree focusing on the impact of wilderness education on youth at risk. Julie’s PhD is from the University of Calgary in the Department of Graduate Division of Educational Research. Her dissertation focused on the impact of an educational development program on university instructors teaching assumptions, philosophies and practices.

Julie has had the opportunity to teach at a variety of institutions including the University of Missouri, the University of Maine at Presque Isle, Red River College and the University of Calgary.

Julie is currently researching the impact the mandatory Respect in Sport parent program has on parental behaviors at minor hockey games. Her other research project focuses on what students say about their classroom experience in an anonymous forum.

Dr. Frank Cotae is an Associate Professor of International Business at Mount Royal University. His research interests focus on internationalization theory, strategy, emerging and developing markets and international development. He has over 2 decades experience as operations director, global strategist and international trade consultant with completed expat assignments in over 90 countries. He has taught in Switzerland, USA, China, UK, India and France. The results of his research have been published in over 30 countries, with a total of over 100 professional and academic publications. He has earned his BA in Finance from California State University, Fullerton, USA; MBA in General Management from University of Arizona, USA and PhD in International Business Management from ISM at St. John’s University, USA.

Dr. Geoff Gregson is the JR Shaw Research Chair in New Venture and Entrepreneurship at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) in Edmonton, AB. His research interests cover SME growth, entrepreneurship, technology commercialization, innovation (strategy, systems, policy and evaluation) and equity risk capital. Prior to NAIT, he was Deputy Director of the Centre for Entrepreneurship Research at the University of Edinburgh (UK) and remains associated with Edinburgh as a visiting scholar with the Institute for the Study of Science, Technology & Innovation (ISSTI). Geoff has led projects funded by the Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), British Academy, Technology Strategy Board, Scottish Executive, Marie Curie (European Commission) and Santander Bank.

As an entrepreneur, Geoff has started up three ventures and continues to support entrepreneurs in building successful enterprises. He is a co-founder and Board Chairman of Axienta Ltd., a Malaysian-based enterprise mobility company and is a Board member of JB Equity, a Hong Kong-based private equity firm focused on agri-businesses. Geoff holds a PhD in Management, LLM in Intellectual Property Law and MSc in Social Research from the University of Edinburgh, MBA from the Haskayne School of Business, University of Calgary and BPE from the University of Alberta.

Sharon McIntyre has shared her passion for creativity, marketing and branding with global corporations, start-up enterprises, public sector organizations and students for over 25 years. She has held senior leadership positions and consulted in a variety of domains including software, energy, telecommunications, housing, publishing and the arts. 

Co-founder of New Cottage Industries & Co., Sharon is working at the intersection of innovation, values and creative culture. As Chief Social Scientist, she consults to the leadership team at Chaordix, a crowdsourcing technology and methodology pioneer in the brand and product innovation space. Sharon is also consulting in technology marketing and frugal innovation with the electrical utility company of Cameroon in West Africa. 

She has been a visiting lecturer at the Copenhagen Business School, taught and catalyzed the development of a new marketing degree program at Mount Royal University's Bissett School of Business, and is an SME/Curriculum Developer in Marketing & Innovation for the University of Alberta's Executive Education program. She is also a doctoral candidate at Royal Roads University, researching a new model of entrepreneurial innovation in Canada. 

Sharon has lived and worked internationally, communicates in English and French, and holds dual Canadian and Irish (EU) citizenship. She contributes online as @shazzmack.

Dr. Chad Saunders is an Assistant Professor in Entrepreneurship & Innovation at the Haskayne School of Business, University of Calgary.  Chad holds adjunct appointments with the Department of Community Health Sciences and the Department of Medicine at the Cumming School of Medicine, where he is the eHealth Services and Strategy Lead with the healthcare innovation incubator the Ward of the 21st Century (w21c.org).  Dr. Saunders received a BSc (Applied Mathematics, 1996) and MBA (Information Systems, 2000) from Memorial University of Newfoundland and a PhD (Management Information Systems, 2006) from the Haskayne School of Business. As part of his commitment to effective corporate governance, Chad holds the ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors.   His research interests include the impact of technology use in professional practices and the support that entrepreneurs draw upon with a particular interest in the role of academic-industry collaborations and academics engaged in entrepreneurial activities. His work is published in leading journals, including Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice, Journal of Business Venturing, IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, and Research Policy.  Chad’s program of research is funded through various grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI), Alberta Innovates (AIHS), and the Government of Alberta.

Dr. Stephen Roper joined WBS in the Enterprise and Innovation Group in January 2008. He is Director of the Enterprise Research Centre, an independent research centre which conducts policy relevant research on SME growth and development. The ERC is a partnership between Warwick Business School, Aston Business School, Birmingham, Imperial College Business School, Strathclyde Business School and Birmingham University Business School. Funding is being provided by the Economic and Social Research Council, the UK government Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, the British Bankers Association and the Technology Strategy Board.

Prior to joining WBS, Stephen was Professor of Business Innovation at Aston Business School and before that he was Assistant Director of the Northern Ireland Economic Research Centre, Belfast. Stephen holds a BA Hons in Economics from the University of Durham, an MPil in Economics from Oxford University and a PhD in Economics from LSE.

Stephen's main research interests are in innovation, enterprise growth and development, regional development, and industrial policy evaluation. Previous projects have been supported by the Economic and Social Research Council, the EU, the British Academy, and the Royal Irish Academy as well as a number of government departments in the UK, Ireland, US and Israel.

Stephen has consulted on aspects of innovation and enterprise policy for a wide range of organizations including the OECD, the DTI, the Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform, the UK government's Small Business Service, East Midlands Development Agency, Advantage West Midlands, the Scottish Executive, Invest Northern Ireland, Forfas (Dublin), Enterprise Ireland, Northern Bank, InterTradeIreland, the Department of Enterprise Trade and Investment (Belfast), and the Department of Education and Learning (Belfast).

Stephen was previously a member of the ESRC Strategic Priorities Board (2008-11). He is a consulting editor of the International Journal of Small Business, a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

In 2009 Stephen Roper led a project commissioned by Nesta as part of the UK Innovation Index called 'Measuring firm-level innovation performance in six areas of the UK economy'.

At WBS Stephen teaches a second year module - International Perspectives on Enterprise and a third year module - Innovation and Alternative Energy Technologies. He also leads MBA modules in Innovation and Creativity and Innovation and Alternative Energy Technologies.

Dr. Gashaw Abeza is an Assistant Professor at Towson University. Previously, he  taught graduate and undergraduate students at Southern Methodist University, University of Ottawa, and guest lectured at four different universities (University of New Brunswick, McMaster University, Algonquin College, and Addis Ababa University). He was a visiting research fellow at the University of New South Wales (Australia) and Addis Ababa University (Ethiopia), 2014 -2015. Prior to returning to academia, Gashaw had a successful 7-year career as an international sport manager and marketer, highlighted by his work in more than 15 countries and his role as an organizer for global sporting events.

Since his return to academia, Gashaw has received six scholarships and grants during his doctoral study: Joseph-Armand Bombardier (Canada’s Prestigious Doctoral award - 2014), the North American Society for Sport Management Doctoral Research Grant (2015), Michael Smith Foreign Study Supplements (Canada - 2015), the Ontario Graduate Scholarships in 2013-14 and 2014-15, and the University of Ottawa Excellence Scholarship (2014-2017). Gashaw has two conference paper awards and four most viewed research works/articles. His research interest is in marketing communication, with specific areas of expertise in social media related to sponsorship, ambush marketing, branding, relationship marketing, and research methods in sport. His work is published in peer-reviewed journals and edited volumes in the area. He also serves as a member of editorial board (IJSC) and reviewer to different academic journals.

Dr. William (Bill) Foster is a Professor of Management at the Augustana Campus of the University of Alberta. His primary research interests include sports fans, rhetorical history, social memory studies, service learning, and business ethics. He has been published in journals and books such as Journal of Management, Journal of Management Inquiry, Business History and Journal of Business Ethics. He is the Editor-in-Chief of Academy of Management Learning and Education and serves on the Editorial Review Boards of Organization Studies, Academy of Management Review and Business History.

He has taught courses in organizational behavior, strategy, sustainability, marketing and management. His teaching style is Socratic and is focused on engaging students through various techniques such as experiential learning, service learning, case studies and classroom discussion.

Dr. David Legg is actively involved as an educator, researcher, and volunteer in sport management and adapted physical activity. In addition to his role as a Professor and two-time Acting Chairperson at Calgary’s Mount Royal University, David was a visiting professor at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada, in 2004 and at Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia, in 2008-09. For the past five years David has also been a visiting scholar for the Erasmus Mundus Masters in Adapted Physical Activity at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium.

David is past President for the Canadian Paralympic Committee, past Board Member for the 2015 Toronto Pan/Parapan American Games, Member of the International Paralympic Committee’s Sport Science Committee and a Leadership team member of Canadian Sport for Life.

Dr. Nadège Levallet is an Assistant Professor of Strategy in the College of Business and Economics at the University of Guelph, Ontario. Previously, she was Assistant Professor of Management Information Systems at Ohio University. She earned her Ph.D. in MIS at the Smith School of Business, Queen’s University, Ontario. Her research focuses on the impacts that digital technologies have on organizational performance. Some of her research examines the role that digital technologies play in enabling effective strategic improvisation in organizations. She also studies the effects of technology on knowledge management and organizational learning. Nadège’s work has been published in internationally renowned outlets, including journals such as MIS Quarterly Executive, Journal of Knowledge Management and conference proceedings. Nadège was awarded Canada’s Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council research fellowship and a Smith School of Business D.D. Monieson fellowship for her Ph.D. research. Prior to joining academia, she spent more than a decade in progressive management positions in various private and public organizations in Canada and France.

Dr. John Nadeau is an accomplished scholar with 39 papers published in refereed journals, 59 presentations at conferences, and another 15 educational or non-refereed contributions. His work is generally rooted in consumer behaviour by exploring the influence of images on consumer decision making and has examined related questions in the applied marketing areas of sport and tourism. His work has received several national and international awards and appears in A and A+ ranked journals according to the ABDC Journal Quality List 2013 (i.e. International Marketing Review, Journal of Strategic Marketing, Journal of Sport Management, Marketing Intelligence & Planning, and Annals of Tourism Research).

Dr. Nadeau was a recent Director of the School of Business at Nipissing University, Director of the undergraduate program in sport management at Ohio University and was President of the national Administrative Sciences Association of Canada. Previous to his academic career, he gained professional experience in the high technology, media and forestry industries which informs both his teaching and his research.

Dr. Norm O’Reilly is recognized as one of the leading scholars in the business of sports. He is the Assistant Dean of Executive Programs & Professor at the College of Business and Economics at the University of Guelph. Previously, he was the the Richard P. and Joan S. Fox Professor of Business and is Chair of the Department of Sports Administration at Ohio University’s College of Business. 

Dr. O’Reilly has expertise in a range of business topics, including analytics, marketing, sponsorship, social media, sport finance, social marketing, tourism management, and management education. He has authored or co-authored eight books, 14 case studies in the Harvard/Stanford series, and more than 100 peer-reviewed journal articles. His books include the 2016 release Sports Business Management: Decision Making Around the Globe with George Foster and Tony Davila, and the 2015 book Global Sport Marketing: Sponsorship, Ambush Marketing and the Olympic Games, with Richard Pound, Rick Burton, Benoit Seguin and Michelle Brunette. At conferences, he has won 11 Best Paper awards and has more than 150 conference presentations to his credit. Dr. O’Reilly is the lead researcher on the Canadian Sponsorship Landscape Study, a highlight of the annual Canadian Sponsorship Forum since 2007, currently in its twelfth edition. In 2015, Dr. O’Reilly was awarded the Career Achievement Award by the American Marketing Association’s Sport Marketing Special Interest Group.

Dr. O’Reilly was ‘Assistant Chef de Mission’ for the Canadian Paralympic Team headed to the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio, Brazil. Recently, his work was highlighted publicly in the media as part of the Canadian Hockey League legal case around player compensation. Dr. O’Reilly taught at the University of Ottawa, the David Falk Center for Sport Management at Syracuse University, the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University, the School of Sports Administration at Laurentian University, and the Ted Rogers School of Management at Ryerson University. He has previously held positions as school director, vice-dean and director of a research centre. In recent years, Dr. O’Reilly has taught courses in Athabasca University’s MBA in Ice Hockey, the graduate program at the Russian International Olympic University in Sochi, and with Ohio University in Mumbai, India.

Dr. O’Reilly holds a PhD in Management from the Sprott School of Business at Carleton University, a MBA from the Telfer School of Management at the University of Ottawa, a MA in Sports Administration from the University of Ottawa, and a B.Sc. (Kinesiology) from the University of Waterloo. He currently holds visiting/adjunct appointments in Canada, the United States and Australia, and also holds the CGA/CPA Accounting Designation.

Prior to joining academia, Dr. O’Reilly had involvement as an administrator, including senior policy officer at Sport Canada, team manager and office manager at Triathlon Canada, and event manager for the 2008 Toronto Olympic Bid. In addition to his leadership role for Team Canada at the 2016 Paralympic Games, he has been a member of the 2004, 2008 and 2010 Mission Staff for the Canadian Olympic Committee at the Olympic Games, and attended the 2012 Olympic Games in a research capacity.