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Program Faculty
The faculty for the Executive Education Program combines the internationally recognized scholars of IR/PS and UCSD with leading business executives who provide hands-on, practical knowledge. Faculty members are dedicated and accessible before, during, and after each program to help answer questions and maximize the IR/PS learning experience. Our programs are kept to a small size to encourage ample interactions between faculty and participants as well as amongst fellow participants.

Leading faculty members:

Charles Bergman, Director - China Services, Meridian Resources Associates

Nick Criss, Director, Cushman & Wakefield Mexico

Amb. Jeffrey Davidow, President, Institute of the Americas

Dr. Barry Naughton, Professor, IR/PS

Dr. Susan Shirk, Professor, IR/PS

Dr. Richard Sinkin, Partner, InterAmerican Group, LLC

Ricardo Vidal, President, Clevite de Mexico

Dr. Christopher Woodruff, Professor, IR/PS & Director, Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies

Program Faculty Biographies

Read about other IR/PS faculty

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BRYAN BATSON
President & Founder
The China Business Group
  • Ms. Bryan Batson is the founder and president of The China Business Group (CBG), which helps companies achieve rapid, sustained success in China through comprehensive advisory and investment services.
  • Ms. Batson has helped U.S., Asian, and European companies in a wide range of industries to enter the China market and establish profitable operations. CBG's clients include companies such as Agilent Technologies, New Balance Athletic Shoe, Parker Aerospace, Hormel Foods, TRW, Genzyme Corporation, and Danaher Corporation.
  • Ms. Batson has been involved with China since 1982. Prior to founding CBG in 1995, she worked for other China advisory firms as well as the U.S.-China Business Council in Washington, D.C. She also served as Chairman of the Board of the Greater China Business Network, a private, not-for-profit corporation that brought together leading executives and government officials from the U.S. and China for information exchange and business development.
  • Ms. Batson has a B.A. in East Asian Studies from Vanderbilt University and an M.A. in International Economics and China Studies from The Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies.

KIMBERLY BENSON
Vice President
Cange International
  • Ms. Kimberly Benson is the Vice President of Cange International, Inc., a San Diego-based international sales management company and international business consultancy. Cange International's client base includes several major U.S. and foreign manufacturers, including Viking Range Corporation, Northland Corporation, Marvel Industries, Stival, and others. On behalf of these client companies, Ms. Benson spearheads the successful establishment and ongoing management of distributor relationships worldwide.
  • Prior to joining Cange International in 1991, Ms. Benson served as Senior Marketing Representative for the Export Import Bank's export credit insurance division in their Los Angeles office, where she was recognized as the top sales producer in the nation for the division. Ms. Benson has lived and worked in Buenos Aires, Argentina, developing sales in the U.S. and European markets for Consultores Economicos Financieros, an Argentine trading and consulting company. Fluent in Spanish, she has also assisted U.S. corporations with project feasibility analysis and implementation of manufacturing projects, joint ventures and trade throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.
  • Ms. Benson holds a B.A. in Psychology from Westmont College and an M.A. in International Business Administration.
  • Ms. Benson currently serves on the Executive Committee of the San Diego World Trade Center, the Board of Directors of the California Council for International Trade, and the California Youth Advocate Program. She is a member of the San Diego chapter of Women in Business and the Dean's Roundtable of the UCSD Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies. In 2002, Ms. Benson was selected by the San Diego Business Journal to receive their coveted San Diego Women Who Mean Business Award.
  • Ms. Benson is frequently quoted in international trade-related newspaper and magazine articles and has given more than eighty speeches on a wide array of international trade topics, including export finance, the development of product distribution channels for exports, distributor selection, and management and international trade policy.

CHARLES BERGMAN
Director - China Services
Meridian Resources Associates
  • Mr. Charles Bergman is the Director of the Asia Pacific Region at Meridian Resources Associates.
  • Mr. Bergman has been assisting companies in China for over 20 years. He speaks Mandarin fluently, has a first-hand understanding of China and its history, and has participated in the evolution of Chinese business practices since China's opening in the late 70s.
  • Mr. Bergman focuses on leadership, strategic partnerships, and organization development for Western and Chinese companies in China. He consults with management teams, and trains and coaches professionals who wish to expand their communication, negotiation, and problem-solving skills when starting or expanding their business in China.
  • Mr. Bergman consults for a broad range of multinational firms in China including AMD, Kodak, Seagate, Universal Instruments, Fluor Corporation, and W. L. Gore & Associates. He also consults for leading Chinese companies including Legend Computers, Beijing Founder Electronics, and the cities of Xian and Shenzhen.
  • Prior to joining Meridian Resources, Mr. Bergman served as a member of IBM's founding team in China, beginning work there in 1983.
    o Mr. Bergman has a B.A. in mathematics from Amherst College and an M.A. in East Asian Studies from Stanford University. He is married to a native of Taiwan and is currently working on a book focusing on successful strategies for U.S. businesses in China.

NICK CRISS
Director
Cushman & Wakefield Mexico
  • Mr. Nick Criss, Director of Industrial Services of Cushman and Wakefield of Mexico, provides the bridge for foreign investors entering the Mexican market.
  • With sixteen years of corporate real estate experience in Mexico serving international clients in every corner of Mexico, Mr. Criss combines an intimate knowledge of Mexican market "know who" with a real understanding of corporate real estate requirements and process. He serves as the primary point of contact for foreign clients and the coordinator for the diverse services offered by Cushman and Wakefield. He is the single point of accountability for a seamless investment product.
  • Mr. Criss has served many clients in Mexico including International Rectifier, Gillette, Nortel, Frito Lay, Cooper Industries, Sony, Samsung, Asahi, GTE, Monroe, Tenneco, Whirlpool, Fortune Brands, Molex, NCR, Lucas Varity, Tenneco, Sylvania, TRW, Collins & Aikman, and Chevron.
  • Mr. Criss holds a bachelor's degree from Princeton University and two advanced degrees in Business and Public Administration. He served in the U.S. Navy as a fighter pilot, retiring as a Captain in 1987.
  • Mr. Criss has been extremely active in the development of the real estate markets of Mexico and is a featured speaker with the ULI, ICSC, IDRC, IIR and the Conference Board. He has been widely quoted on Mexican real estate in Commercial Property News, The Wall Street Journal, Shopping Centers Today, and others. He is currently an international affiliate of the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors (SIOR) and an Officer of the Industrial Development Research Council (IDRC) in Mexico.

JEFFREY DAVIDOW
Former U.S. Ambassador to Mexico
President
Institute of the Americas
  • Ambassador Jeffrey Davidow assumed the presidency of the Institute of the Americas on June 1, 2003. Upon completion of 34 years in the State Department, he retired as America's highest ranking diplomat, one of only three people to hold the personal rank of Career Ambassador at that time.
  • During his Foreign Service career, Amb. Davidow focused much of his efforts on improving relations with Latin America. He served in increasingly senior positions in the U.S. embassies in Guatemala, Chile, and Venezuela, and then later returned to Venezuela as ambassador from l993-1996. From 1996 to 1998, he was the State Department's chief policy maker for the hemisphere, serving in the position of Assistant Secretary of State. He then served as ambassador to Mexico from 1998 to 2002. Initially appointed to that position by President Clinton, he was asked to remain in his post for an additional 18 months by President Bush.
  • After leaving Mexico in September 2002, he became a Visiting Fellow at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government and the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies. There he worked extensively with undergraduate and graduate students and wrote a book on U.S.-Mexican relations. El Oso y El Puercoespin: The United States and Mexico was published in Mexico by Casa Editorial Grijalbo and in English (The U.S. and Mexico: The Bear and the Porcupine) by Markus Weiner Publishers.

DR. DENISE DRESSER
Professor
Instituto Tecnologico Autonomo de Mexico
  • Denise Dresser is a professor of political science at the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM) and Director of the "North American Futures" Project at the Pacific Council on International Policy.
  • Dresser has been a visiting research fellow at the Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies, University of California, San Diego, and a Senior Visiting Fellow at the Inter-American Dialogue in Washington D.C. She also taught at the University of California-Berkeley and Georgetown University.
  • She is the author of Neopopulist Solutions to Neoliberal Problems: Mexico's National Solidarity Program and of numerous articles on Mexican politics and U.S.-Mexico relations. She writes a political column for the Mexican newspaper Reforma and for the news weekly Proceso.
  • She was the host of the political talk show "Entre Versiones" on Mexican television and does a weekly radio commentary on U.S,-Mexico Relations for W Radio in Mexico City. She has also written on Mexican affairs and U.S.-Mexico relations for the editorial pages of the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, and La Opinion.
  • A former Fulbright scholar, Dr. Dresser is a member of the Research Council of the Forum for Democratic Studies, the National Endowment for Democracy, the World Academy of Arts and Science and the editorial board of the Latin American Research Review.
  • Dr. Dresser holds a Ph.D. from Princeton University.

PAUL FLASK
Executive Chairman & Founder
GlobeOne Sourcing & Fulfillment Services
  • Mr. Paul Flask is the Executive Chairman and a founder of
    GlobeOne Sourcing & Fulfillment Services, Inc., a company that will turn key for clients in Asia, beginning in China, product sourcing and packaging, consolidation, inventory maintenance and financing, and delivery services as required by its clients.
  • Mr. Flask is also the CEO of Challenge Holdings Inc., a private equity investment company that he founded in 1987.
  • Mr. Flask has over forty years of international business experience. He first went to China in 1982 to negotiate offshore natural gas utilization projects and promote the sale of engineering services. Later, as a senior executive of The Signal Companies in La Jolla, he made several trips to China to promote the sale of the companies' products. His own company has invested in an auto engine manufacturing plant in Mexico and a U.S. hand and power tool manufacturer with a large engineering and procurement staff in Shanghai that sourced from approximately forty Chinese manufacturers.
  • Mr. Flask is a Director of Knight Industries, LLC, in Northfield, Illinois, the largest U.S. manufacturer of fiber board that is exploring a floor tile manufacturing venture in China.
  • Following his retirement from AlliedSignal, Mr. Flask was Managing Director of Korn/Ferry International Inc. in Chicago from where he assisted the firm to establish and improve executive recruitment services in Eastern Europe, Russia, and China.
  • Mr. Flask has a law degree from Georgetown and a liberal arts degree from John Carroll.

DR. GEORGE KOO
Director - Chinese Services Group
Deloitte & Touche
  • Dr. George Koo is the Director of Chinese Services Group at Deloitte & Touche. For the last 20 years, Dr. Koo has been helping technology companies form strategic alliances with local entities in Asia, as well as helping Asian companies find partners in the U.S. He advises clients on strategic issues preparatory to establishing a local presence and assists in cross-cultural communications and negotiations.
  • Dr. Koo had been a board member of Aeolus Thomson Co. Ltd., a Sino-American joint venture he helped formed in 1985 and now an advisor to newly formed Dongfeng Fuji Thomson, a rare Sino-Japanese-American JV. He also serves as advisory board member of WI Harper Group, a venture fund that focuses on Asia. Prior to founding International Strategic Alliances and Bear Stearns China Trade Advisors, he was Vice President and co-director of Chase Pacific Trade Advisors of Chase Manhattan Bank.
  • Dr. Koo received his S.B. and S.M. degrees in chemical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sc.D. from Stevens Institute of Technology and a MBA. from Santa Clara University. His technical expertise is in polymer material science. He is a former Chairman of Asian American Multi-technology Association and has been chairman of several past conferences on Asian financing and alliances sponsored by the AAMA and held in Silicon Valley.
  • Dr. Koo is a frequent speaker in various public forums on how American business can succeed in Asia. He writes for Pacific News Service on issues relating to Asia. Since 1997, he has been a member of the Committee of 100, a national organization of prominent Chinese Americans, served as the chairman of their national conference held in May 2002 in San Jose and is currently a vice chairman of the organization.

JOSE LARROQUE
Partner
Baker & McKenzie
  • Jose M. Larroque is a Partner at Baker & McKenzie Abogados, S.C. in Tijuana, Mexico.
  • His areas of practice include real estate; hotels, resorts & tourism; construction; mergers & acquisitions; corporate restructuring.
  • He is a member of the National Association of Corporate Attorneys.
  • Mr. Larroque earned a JD degree from the University Iberoamericana in 1983 and an LLM from Columbia University in 1989.

Allan Marson
Partner
Baker & McKenzie, LLP
  • Mr. Allan Marson is a member of Baker & McKenzie’s China Practice Group and heads the China Desk at Baker & McKenzie’s Palo Alto office. He served as a foreign legal adviser in Taipei, Taiwan, from 1986 to 1991, resident lawyer in Baker & McKenzie’s Beijing office from 1994 to 1999, and member of the Asia Desk of Baker & McKenzie’s New York office in 1993 and 2000.
  • Mr. Marson’s practice focuses on direct investment in and cross-border transactions with the People’s Republic of China, including structuring and organization of foreign invested enterprises, technology transfers, software licensing, tax, distribution agreements, foreign exchange, employment issues, and acquisitions of Chinese and foreign-invested enterprises.  Mr. Marson is a regular presenter at conferences on investment, licensing and tax in China.

DR. BARRY NAUGHTON
Professor
Graduate School of International Relations & Pacific Studies (IR/PS)
  • Dr. Barry Naughton is an authority on the Chinese economy, with an emphasis on issues relating to industry, trade, finance, and China's transition to a market economy.
  • Dr. Naughton's recent research focuses on regional economic growth in the People's Republic of China and the relationship between foreign trade and investment and regional growth. He is also completing a general textbook on the Chinese economy.
  • Dr. Naughton's recently completed projects have focused on Chinese trade and technology, in particular, the relationship between the development of the electronics industry in China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, and the growth of trade and investment among those economies.
  • Dr. Naughton's book, Growing Out of the Plan: Chinese Economic Reform, 1978-1993,which was published in 1995, is a comprehensive study of China's development from a planned to a market economy that traces the distinctive strategy of transition followed by China, as well as China's superior growth performance. It received the Ohira Memorial Prize in 1996.
  • Dr. Naughton is the author of numerous articles on the Chinese economy and is editor or co-editor of three other books: Reforming Asian Socialism: The Growth of Market Institutions, Urban Spaces in Contemporary China, and The China Circle: Economics and Technology in the PRC, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.
  • Dr. Naughton joined IR/PS in 1988 and was named to the Sokwanlok Chair in Chinese International Affairs in 1998.

DR. SUSAN SHIRK
Professor
Graduate School of International Relations & Pacific Studies (IR/PS)
  • Dr. Susan Shirk is a political scientist whose research focuses on Chinese politics and economics, Chinese foreign policy, U.S.-China relations and U.S. policies toward Asia.
  • From July 1997 to July 2000, Dr. Shirk served as deputy assistant secretary for China, Taiwan and Hong Kong in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
  • From 1991-97, Dr. Shirk was the director of the University of California's system-wide Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation (IGCC), based at UC San Diego, during which time she founded the Northeast Asia Cooperation Dialogue, a track-two security forum. At present she is a research director for security studies at IGCC.
  • Dr. Shirk is the author of How China Opened Its Door: The Political Success of the PRC's Foreign Trade, and Investment Reforms and The Political Logic of Economic Reform in China, and editor of Power and Prosperity: Economic and Security Linkages in the Asia Pacific.
  • Dr. Shirk's previous publications include The Challenge of China and Japan and Competitive Comrades: Career Incentives and Student Strategies in China. She has also written numerous scholarly articles on Chinese politics and foreign policy.
  • Dr. Shirk has served on the Defense Policy Board, the board of governors of the East-West Center in Hawaii, the boards of the U.S.-Japan Foundation and the National Committee for U.S.-China Relations, the editorial board of the American Political Science Review, and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

DR. RICHARD SINKIN
Partner & Founder
InterAmerican Group
  • Dr. Richard Sinkin is the founder and Partner of InterAmerican Group (IAG), a diversified consulting, management, and investment firm headquartered in San Diego, California, with an office in Mexico City. Founded in 1987, the company specializes in structuring and implementing investment and sales activities in Latin America. IAG principals have managed the direct investment of over $500 million in Latin America, including the start-up of 26 manufacturing operations in Mexico that now occupy over 2 million square feet and employ over 3,000 direct workers. IAG also provides in-depth market research for companies seeking to sell products and services in Latin America.
  • Prior to forming IAG, Dr. Sinkin was the Vice President of the Institute of the Americas in La Jolla, California, one of the nation's leading centers of private and public sector collaboration on Latin American business issues.
  • During the 1980s, Dr. Sinkin was a director of Texas Bank in San Antonio, Texas, where he assisted in the development of the bank's international financial operations in the Mexican capital markets.
  • From 1981 to 1986, he was the Executive Director of the Latin American Studies Association, the world's largest organization of Latin American specialists. In 1979, he was appointed Senior Policy Analyst at the U.S. Department of State, Agency for International Development, where he directed an international development program with an annual budget of $100 million.
  • From 1969 to 1986 Dr. Sinkin was a professor of Latin American history at the University of Texas at Austin. He has published a book on 19th-century Mexican political development and more than a dozen articles on Mexican politics and economics.
  • Dr. Sinkin is an elected member of the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, the Pacific Council on International Policy in Los Angeles, and the San Diego Dialogue in San Diego. He received a B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. from the University of Michigan

RICARDO VIDAL
President
Clevite de Mexico
  • Mr. Vidal is president of Clevite de Mexico, a Mexican corporation dedicated to producing engine bearings for gasoline and diesel applications. Clevite de Mexico is located in Mexico and services export markets to 20 different countries worldwide.
  • Mr. Vidal has been a professor with tenure at the Engineering School at UNAM (National University of Mexico) for 35 years. He has also taught for 10 years at the Business School at UNAM. Currently, he is also teaching in the Business School of the UIA ( Iberoamerican University).
  • Mr. Vidal is a board member and serves on the executive committees of different Mexican corporations: John Deere, Moresa, KS Mexicana, Electronica Precision, FAPARTEL, Guillermo Murguia, Industrias Tecnos, VAC Inject Diesel, Herramientas Trupper, Vistar, Torres Marmex and Clevite de Mexico.
  • Mr. Vidal is also a member of the Board of Directors and Technical Committee of INA (National Autoparts Industry), Consejo Coordinador Automotriz (Coordinated Board of the Automotive Sector) and CANACINTRA (National Chamber of Manufacturing Industry).
  • He was involved in the negotiations of NAFTA. He is presently in charge of the automotive sector for the negotiations of free trade agreements between Mexico and most of the Central and South American countries.
  • Mr. Vidal received his Mechanical - Electrical Engineer and MBA from UNAM (National University of Mexico)

DR. CHRISTOPHER WOODRUFF
Director, Center for U.S. Mexican Studies
Professor
Graduate School of International Relations & Pacific Studies
  • Dr. Christopher Woodruff is Director of the Center for US Mexican Studies at UCSD and an associate professor of economics at the Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies at UCSD.
  • His research focuses on the challenges faced by small and medium sized enterprises operating in developing countries, including underdeveloped financial markets and inadequate legal systems. His research spans a broad area that includes Mexico, Vietname, and Eastern Europe.
  • He is currently working as a consultant to the Mexican government on a project analyzing the impact of recent reforms in laws governing the country's financial institutions. He research has influenced the policy of the World Bank, the Interamerican Development Bank, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, where he has also served as a consultant.

ANDREW ZHU
International Tax Senior Advisor
Deloitte & Touche
  • Mr. Andrew Zhu is the International Tax Senior Manager of the Chinese Services Group at Deloitte & Touche. He has more than 14 years of experience in the U.S. and China tax practices. Since joining Deloitte & Touche in June 1999, he has worked in the Detroit and San Jose offices. He has been actively involved in a variety of outbound and inbound projects serving multinational clients such as General Motors, Sears, John Hancock, and GMAC as well as many high-tech companies such as Cisco, Commerce One and Shanghai Hua Hong.
  • Mr. Zhu has extensive experience on global tax planning and structuring. He also provides cross-border business and tax consulting services on Chinese business and tax issues such as entry strategy, tax incentives, transfer pricing, expatriates, foreign exchange control rules and cross-border mergers & acquisitions.
  • Prior to joining Deloitte, Mr. Zhu had 7 years of experience working with the Chinese State Administration of Taxation (national office). During his tenure with the Chinese "IRS", he had senior responsibilities included drafting two of 18 current Chinese tax laws and other policies. He also acted as the Chinese government representative regarding foreign investment in China.
  • Mr. Zhu is an Eli Broad Scholar and received his MBA with honors with concentrations in finance and accounting from Michigan State University. He received his B.A. in Economics from the People's University in China.
  • Mr. Zhu is a CPA both in China and the United States. He has published more than 20 articles and (co-authored) 3 books on Chinese taxation both in English and Chinese and is a frequent speaker regarding Chinese business and tax issues at various conferences. He is also involved in numerous activities in the local Chinese business communities and serves as a board member of numerous business associations.


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Last Updated: 06/07/2006 13:14
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