Health Care UST MBA
Faculty
A key element of the Health Care UST MBA program’s success is the blend of theory and practical application delivered by our outstanding faculty.
Each faculty member is deeply rooted in both academic discipline and actual management experience. Furthermore, faculty have chosen St. Thomas for its commitment to the personal side of a business education, acting as teacher, mentor and career coach.
The Health Care UST MBA faculty are also excellent resources in networking, research and professional development. Our faculty make themselves available to all our students, even if they have not yet had them in class.
We are pleased to list them here, along with short bios.
David Durenberger, J.D.
is the senior health policy fellow at the University of St. Thomas. He served as a senior United States Senator for Minnesota from 1978-1995. During his time in office, he served on numerous key Senate committees including 16 years on the Finance Committee with responsibility for all Medicare, Medicaid and tax policy. He currently influences national policy as chair of the National Institute for Health Policy (NIHP) at the Opus College of Business and a member of the Medicare Payment Advisory Committee (MedPAC), the Kaiser Commission on the Future of Medicaid and the Uninsured, the National Committee on Quality Assurance (NCQA) and the National Commission for Quality Long-term Care.
Dawn Elm, Ph.D.
is a professor of ethics and management at the University of St. Thomas. Prior to coming to UST, she spent five years as a product development manager for the Procter & Gamble Company in Cincinnati, Ohio. She has served on the editorial board of the Journal of Business Ethics and has published numerous articles on business ethics and ethical decision making. She is a past president of the Social Issues in Management Division of the National Academy of Management and an active member of the International Association for Business & Society and the Society for Business Ethics.
Frederick (Fritz) J. Wenzel, MBA, FACMPE
is an assistant professor of management at the University of St. Thomas. He was executive director of the Marshfield Clinic Medical Research Foundation for 16 years, executive director of the Marshfield Clinic in Marshfield, WI, for 17 years, and executive vice president and CEO of the Medical Group Management Association in Englewood, CO, for three years. He provides consulting to medical groups and hospital systems and has authored a number of papers and two books on medical and leadership topics.
Jack Militello, Ph.D.
is a professor of management at the University of St. Thomas and the program director of the Health Care UST MBA. He has 25 years of experience in teaching, research and consulting on issues related to strategic planning and executive leadership. He currently sits on the boards of directors of four firms. His consulting has centered on strategic planning, change management, leadership development and strategic alignment. He has worked with both large and small organizations from the business, nonprofit and government sectors. His clients have included IBM, ReMax, Du Pont, The National Catholic Education Association, The Pew Charitable Trusts, The Minnesota State Bar Association, City of Philadelphia, State of Tennessee and the United States Department of Justice.
Joseph White, CPA, MBA
is a principal for LarsonAllen, LLP and specializes in serving physician groups and health care systems. He has more than 20 years of experience in consulting, tax and assurance services in the health care field. He is a licensed CPA and is a member of Medical Group Management Association, Minnesota Medical Group Management Association, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Minnesota Society of Certified Public Accountants and the Health Care Financial Management Association.
Katie White, Ed.D.
is a research associate with the Division of Health Policy and Management at the University of Minnesota. Most recently, she was a research investigator at HealthPartners Research Foundation. Katie has more than 20 years of management experience, including senior positions within two academic health centers and an integrated delivery system. Her work includes large-scale organizational change, strategic planning, new business development, team building and executive coaching. In 1995, she joined retired U.S. Senator David Durenberger to develop the National Institute for Health Policy. Her volunteer activities include joint leadership of the Baby Steps to 2030 project with the Citizens League for the Minnesota Department of Human Services and leadership of the board of Mental Health Resources.
Mark Fisher, MBA, FACMPE
is the senior vice president for Shared Services at the University of Minnesota Physicians (UMP). Most recently, he served as the interim president and CEO of Aspen Medical Group, a division within the Allina Hospitals and Clinics Health System. Mark was also the CEO of Minnesota Healthcare Network and Triium, LLC; executive administrator of the Stillwater Medical Group; chief administrative officer of Park Nicollet Medical Center; executive vice president of Central Ohio Medical Group, a multi-specialty medical group in Columbus, Ohio; business manager for the pediatric department at the University of Minnesota; and is a founder and board member of MedCare Compare. Mark is a past president of the Minnesota Medical Group Management Association and is a fellow in the American College of Medical Practice Executives.
Mike McIlhon
earned his graduate degree in public finance economics from the University of Iowa and has been teaching graduate and undergraduate economics for 32 years. Mike's areas of interest include money and banking, economics of public policy and, of course, health economics. In addition to stints as an investment portfolio manager and public policy consultant, Mike served as executive director and research director of taxpayer associations in Iowa and Minnesota. Mike joined the University of St. Thomas in 1991 and is also currently on the economics staff at Augsburg College and in the MnSCU system.
Ronald Menaker, Ed.D., FACMPE, MBA, CPA
is the administrator for cardiovascular and the administrator for faculty development in the Department of Medicine at Mayo Clinic in Rochester. Prior to joining Mayo Clinic, Ron was the executive vice president of Prevea Health Services in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and an assistant director of patient care at Marshfield Clinic in Marshfield, Wisconsin. Ron has been actively involved in MGMA and ACMPE, serving on both boards of directors, and is past chair of The American College of Medical Practice Executives (ACMPE).
Ryan Johnson, J.D.
is an attorney with Fredrikson & Byron, P.A. He represents numerous physician groups, hospitals, medical device companies and others on legal and business issues specific to the health care industry.
Sally Power, Ph.D.
is a professor of management. She has a Ph.D. in organizational communication and her fields of study are career development, general management, organizational behavior and business ethics. Specific areas in which she has worked include managerial decision making, the comparison of the Myers Briggs Type Indicator and the Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument, various business ethics topics and Japanese management practices. Her book, The Mid-Career Success Guide, Planning for the Second Half of Your Working Life was published in October 2006 by Praeger, an imprint of Greenwood Publishing.
Sanjeev Bordoloi, Ph.D., MBA
is an associate professor of operations management at the University of St. Thomas. He has published in several journals, including Health Services Management Research and Health Care Management Review. His research interests include service operations (health care, call centers, airlines and hospitality management), process analysis and design, and project management. He has worked full time in the industry for seven years at the executive level, mostly in project management and technology management. He has consulted for several firms, including Sentara Healthcare, Archer Daniels Midland, Northwestern University medical unit and Fairbanks Memorial Hospital.
Thomas Ressler, Ph.D.
is a professor of management at the University of St. Thomas, specializing in the application of statistics and mathematics for management decision making. He has degrees in mechanical engineering, industrial engineering, and operations research from the University of MN. He brings 25-plus years of teaching experience to the program.
