Program Staff
- bgmap@wsu.edu
- 360-546-9533
Program Faculty
Alexander Kier, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship
Teaches ENTRP 492: Small Business Strategy and Planning, a senior-level capstone course that hosts growth-focused Business Growth MAP student consultancy projects.
Kier joined the faculty in 2017, after completing his Ph.D. and working as a visiting assistant professor in the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University Bloomington. Prior to earning his Ph.D., Kier worked as a certified public accountant and certified fraud examiner at PricewaterhouseCoopers and Grant Thornton LLP. His research focuses on entrepreneurial imaginativeness, entrepreneurial decision making/cognition and entrepreneurial escalation of commitment.
Alberto Sa Vinhas, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Marketing
Teaches MKTG 495: Marketing Management, a senior-level capstone course that hosts marketing-focused Business Growth MAP student consultancy projects.
Sa Vinhas joined the faculty in 2009 after working for almost eight years as an assistant professor of marketing at Emory University. Sa Vinhas’s primary research interests are in business-to-business marketing, services marketing, channels of distribution and customer relationship management. He has published articles in many leading academic journals and has taught the core MBA marketing class, and the sales management, international marketing and marketing management electives in the undergraduate program. Sa Vinhas earned a Ph.D. from INSEAD in France.
Douglas Steck, MBA
Executive in Residence / Instructor of Management
Teaches ENTRP 492: Small Business Strategy and Planning, a senior-level capstone course that hosts growth-focused Business Growth MAP student consultancy projects.
Steck joined the faculty in 2012, bringing with him more than 25 years of experience in corporate strategy, sales, operations, finance and information technology. As a former CEO, COO, CFO, CIO and sales professional, Steck has worked for a variety of companies ranging from IBM, Intel and E-Trade to small startups. Steck earned a Master’s of Business Administration from Eastern Washington University. Outside of WSU Vancouver, Steck serves as a management consultant and executive coach, helping others develop their organizations and cultivate the talents they need to advance their careers.
Benjamin Warnick, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship
Teaches ENTRP 492: Small Business Strategy and Planning, a senior-level capstone course that hosts growth-focused Business Growth MAP student consultancy projects.
Warnick joined the faculty in 2016. His research focuses on entrepreneurs’ passion and motivation, well-being, emotional expression and entrepreneurs who start businesses related to their hobbies (hobby-based entrepreneurship). Warnick earned his Ph.D. in entrepreneurship and strategic management from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University. Prior to earning his Ph.D., Warnick helped establish and build a non-profit microfinance program in Uganda, teaching entrepreneurship courses and issuing microloans, and consulting with over 100 entrepreneurs in impoverished regions.