Dr. Calabrese brings an international business background to UNCP's MBA program

UNC Pembroke's new MBA Director Carmen Calabrese started his business career as an engineer and became the chief operating officer of a multi-million dollar international corporation.

Besides a career on the rise, the other constant in his life has been a love for teaching. Dr. Calabrese has nurtured a long-time habit of teaching in Master of Business Administration programs.

"Everywhere I have been, I have taught on an adjunct basis," Dr. Calabrese said. "I enjoy watching my students succeed, and I enjoy teaching and sharing ideas with students because it helps me stay on top of the latest technology."

"My strength is taking other people's theories and research, teaching it and then applying it in the workplace," he said. "I can teach best practices to my students and show them how it works in practice."

Before joining UNCP, Dr. Calabrese was a professor at Walsh College in Oakland, Mich. Before that, he was Director of the MBA program at Pfeiffer University in Misenheimer, N.C.

Dr. Calabrese's last stop in management was as President and COO of Nachi-Fujikoshi, Ltd., a Tokyo-based company that manufactured and marketed machine tools, robotics, bearings and cutting tools.

Dr. Eric Dent, Dean of UNCP's School of Business, said the MBA program has benefited from a series of good leaders.

"We've been fortunate to have strong leadership in the MBA program, and we are looking forward to Carmen's continuing that string and leading the program as it continues its evolution and maturity," Dr. Dent said.

Dr. Calabrese said UNCP's MBA program represents a familiar challenge.

"The MBA program at UNCP is still relatively new, and my background is in starting and growing new businesses," he said. "The same process is involved in growing products, whether they are capital or academic."

One of the first jobs facing the new director is creating and marketing a "day" MBA program to compliment the evening program already in place.

"The night program is about career growth for working people, and the day program is about creating career opportunities for students preparing to enter the job market," Dr. Calabrese said. "We want to be the engine of change that accelerates the careers of business leaders. We are about creating those critical business competencies that spell success for our graduates."

Dr. Calabrese is a Philadelphia native who received his Bachelor of Science in Engineering degree from Drexel University, a Ph.D. in Science and Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from Eastern Michigan University.

He has published many papers on topics ranging from alloys to manufacturing processes to management and technology.

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