Williamson Center of International Business Advisory Committee

Some faculty members who lead Williamson College of Business Administration Study Tours:

DR. BIRSEN KARPAK

Dr. Karpak is Professor of Management at Youngstown State University.  Teaches variety of classes such as Quantitative Analysis for Business Decisions, Management Science, Operations Management, and Information Systems for Management. She had secured grants from National Science Foundation and NATO and directed an International Advanced Study Institute on Multiple Criteria Decision Making and Risk Analysis. Dr. Karpak received numerous awards in research and service including distinguished professorship award in research from Youngstown State University.

Her research interests are in developing international cases, Applying Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis in Business problems such as Supply Chain Management, Total Quality Management, and Prioritizing Big Emerging Markets. Her publications appeared in referred journals including Transportation, Journal of Applied Business Research, European Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management, and The Journal of Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis. Karpak enjoys integrating her research into her teaching.

She extensively traveled and lived in a variety of countries for both professionally and as well as a tourist. She taught at Manchester Business School, invited to present her research to Finland, South Africa, Japan, Turkey, Germany, Switzerland, and Canada. She lived in London and worked for Scientific Control systems Ltd, as a NATO scholar for two years, participated in an international Management Information Systems (MIS) program in Paris for six months. She organized International Institute for Applied System Analysis Symposium, and “Business and Investment Opportunities in Turkey, field study in Istanbul cooperating with Ball State University. She was born in Istanbul and lived in Turkey and taught in Istanbul University for eighteen years prior to joining Youngstown State University. She still visits Turkey and spends her vacations as a faculty intern for a manufacturing company and develops her case studies based on this experience.

Dr. Karpak serves variety of university committees including Global Awareness Committee, co-chair (2001-2002) and University Advisory Committee on International Affairs ( 2002- present). She received her Ph.D. in Business Administration from Istanbul University. Karpak is married and has a son living in Chicago.

DR. RAMMOHAN KASUGANTI

Dr. Kasuganti is professor and chairperson in the management department of the Williamson College of Business Administration. He joined YSU in 1977 and currently teaches courses related to global business, strategic management and total quality management. Dr. Kasuganti received his DBA in 1976 from Kent State University. He has led numerous business study tours around the world including India, Brazil and Italy.

DR. MARK TONCAR

Mark Toncar earned his PhD from Kent State University in 1994 and joined the marketing department at Youngstown State University in 2002. Prior to joining YSU, Mark was on the faculty of Lycoming College in Williamsport, PA. Mark has expertise in the area of international marketing and has published numerous articles related to international franchising, international advertising and overseas study programs. His research has appeared in the International Journal of Advertising, the Journal of International Consumer Marketing, the Foreign Trade Review and the Journal of Marketing Education. Mark is an advocate of study abroad programs and has led numerous study abroad travel abroad to Western Europe. Recently, Mark and Dr. Kos led a YSU Executive MBA travel program to Brazil.