The President of the GBA is the primary student representative for all RCB graduate students during interaction with the deans, members of the administration, faculty, outside organizations and businesses, as well as other business schools. Together with his executive management team, he is responsible for establishing the vision, mission and goals for the organization aimed at benefiting the entire student body.

Originally from Buffalo, Ron moved to Atlanta in May 1997 after taking a position with Scientific-Atlanta. After working 3 years with Scientific-Atlanta, Ron pursued a program management position with Century Electronics. During his tenure with Century, Ron worked exclusively with Century's main customer Arris Interactive leading the transfer of designed electronic products from Arris to Century's manufacturing facility in Marlborough, Massachusetts. To augment Ron's technical background, Ron went back to school at Georgia State in the summer of 2001 and completed a Bachelor's degree in Finance with honors the following summer.

Prior to 1997, Ron worked with Motorola in Elma, New York and Manutronics in Kenosha, Wisconsin after attending the State University of New York at Buffalo in the early 1990s where he studied chemical engineering.

Ron is actively involved in the community. He chairs the finance committee for the Gwinnett Habitat for Humanity and also attends the organization's board meetings. He also participates in special events such as the Great Service Days of Gwinnett and the Hands-on-Atlanta volunteer day every October.

Ron is pursuing his MBA in management and marketing with plans to graduate in May of 2005. His career interests after graduating are strategic management consulting and brand marketing with his ultimate career goal to be a CEO of a large multinational corporation.

Eric was born, raised, and attended college in the San Francisco Bay Area. He has worked in several different fields ranging from Broderbund, a major home software company, to church based non-profit organizations. He lived in the Democratic Republic of Congo administrating and teaching in a Bible Institute located in Kinshasa, the nation's capital. He graduated from Christian Life International with High Honors with a Bachelors Degree in Biblical Studies.

In 2003, Eric moved to Alpharetta, Georgia to pursue his MBA at Georgia State. Eric recently began working at Church’s Chicken Corporate Headquarters as a Creative Services Specialist in Advertising and Promotions. Eric is actively involved in the community. He is a licensed minister and volunteer youth pastor at Northside Family Worship Center. Also, Eric is the vice-chairman of the Forsyth County Young Republicans and a volunteer soccer coach for a U14 boys’ team for the city of Alpharetta.

As the Senior Vice President of Internal Affairs, Trupti works to strengthen the relationships between all GSU MBA/MS (current, EMBAs, and MBA/MS Alumni) and the Atlanta business community. She is responsible for assisting the graduate career management center in promoting career-related workshops such as networking receptions and net-weaving events. She is responsible for developing relationships with the faculty at the Robinson College of Business and internal organizations such as the International Business Association, Georgia State Alumni Association and the Entrepreneurship club. She also develops ties between the GBA and industry-specific associations such as the American Marketing Association in an attempt to co-host or enable access to career-related functions/workshops.

Trupti graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. After receiving her BS, she worked for Lucent Technologies in Atlanta as a Technical Consultant and then later as an Account Executive. While working for the sales team at Lucent, she supported both Bellsouth and Cingular Wireless.

In her free time, Trupti enjoys traveling and learning about different cultures. She also enjoys cooking and learning about different wine.

Trupti is pursuing a MBA with concentrations in marketing and entrepreneurship with plans to graduate in May of 2005. Her career interest after graduation is to work in B2B sales and marketing. Specifically, she wants to focus her efforts on business development and building marketing strategies.

The Vice President of Professional Development is responsible for developing strong ties with executives from the Atlanta business community and prominent Georgia State alumni. This individual courts executives to participate in GBA sponsored panel discussions, the GBA speaker series, and other networking functions.

Craig Mendel is an Atlanta native of many generations. A graduate of the Woodward Academy in College Park, he holds a Bachelor's of Business Administration in Finance from the University of Georgia.

Craig's background includes Corporate Finance with Bank of America and experience in Capital Markets with a retail real estate developer. For the last four years, he has worked in Corporate Real Estate services for the international real estate firm Jones Lang LaSalle.

Craig is pursuing his MBA in Management and Real Estate with plans to graduate in 2006. Outside of work and MBA studies, Craig enjoys traveling, dining and cycling.

Originally from Minnesota, Matthew graduated with a degree in accounting from Mercer University, Atlanta. He currently works for the world’s largest hotelier, Intercontinental Hotels Group, providing technical support for specialized in-house applications. Matthew expects to graduate with an MPA in May 2005.

The Vice President of Marketing and Communications coordinates all efforts to promote the GBA's mission, vision and goals, as well as publicize all events and activities sponsored by the organization. The VP of Marketing conducts all communications with entities inside and outside the Robinson College of Business and serves as a spokesperson to various media outlets.

Lee grew up in Atlanta and attended Marist School. Upon completing her bachelor’s degree, she began her career in financial services in Charlotte, NC, where she earned her Series 7 and 63 licenses. Prior to entering the Robinson program, she worked in Merrill Lynch’s Global Private Client Group as a Registered Client Associate in the Atlanta-Buckhead office. Lee is currently a full-time student, but still manages to find time to work as a sales associate for Nordstrom, play team tennis with ALTA, and volunteer for the Atlanta Opera. She loves traveling and hopes to some day live and work abroad.

As VP of Technology, Steve works to develop the strategy for web site deployment and development that is consistent with supporting the needs of activities consistent with the GBA's mission and goals. He is also responsible for assessing and recommending technology solutions for given needs as identified by the management team, including project scope, vendor/partner identification, contract negotiation, and manage product/service implementation.

Steve moved to Atlanta in 1996 to attend the Georgia Institute of Technology. While obtaining his degree in computer science, he worked as the Director of Information Technology of an Atlanta-based Internet service provider. Now, in addition to attending GSU, Steve currently works full time at Bellsouth heading up the Internet Security and Authentication team. In his free time, he enjoys outdoor activities such as hiking, cycling, and boating.

The Vice President of Special Events works to provide environments where students, alumni, and corporate recruiters can network. The VP of special events negotiates deals with local restaurants, pubs, etc. to give enhanced benefits to GBA members who attend. This individual also works with other officers to coordinate unifying and cohesive events that promote school spirit among the Robinson College of Business community.

Frank Weber is a native of Bad Wildbad, a small Black Forest town near Stuttgart, Germany. After finishing his Abitur degree, he pursued a Bachelor's degree in International Business at Florida State University. During his studies, he began working as a Marketing and Sales Manager for a small, Florida-wide ISP, Florida Digital Turnpike (FDN). He then worked in the Private Client Group of Merrill Lynch. Upon graduation, he worked in parts marketing at the North American headquarters of Porsche Cars, in Reno, Nevada. Upon relocation of the Porsche headquarters to Atlanta, Frank began working in Sales and Marketing for the Atlanta based photo-plastic extrusion firm, Orasee Corporation. Within two years, he assumed the position of Vice President and was responsible for a European joint-venture with Agfa Corporation working with sales, production and marketing.

In early 2004, he co-founded TCP, Inc., a telecom and IT consulting firm, where he currently holds the position of Chief Financial Officer. Frank enrolled in the MBA program at Georgia State in 2002 and has been an active GBA member since 2003. His concentration is International Business and he expects to graduate in the fall of 2005.

Melissa works closely with the VP of Professional Development, Sr. VP of Internal Affairs and the Student Affairs Directors, to enhance the GBA member student population by giving the students more opportunities to give back to the community. She is focused on building relationships between the GBA and the GSU and Metro Atlanta communities.

Born in Miami, while raised in Jamaica, Melissa moved to Atlanta in July 2003.

Melissa attended Immaculate Conception High School in Jamaica and Ridley College in Canada. She then completed a Bachelor of Science degree in Actuarial Science at Florida State in December 2002. After that she worked as an Actuarial Analyst prior to moving to Atlanta.

Melissa enjoys participating in volunteer events. She also enjoys planning them. Melissa obtained the position of community service chairperson for several organizations at the undergraduate level.

Melissa is currently a Financial Planning intern at Cornerstone Advisors Group, LLC. Melissa plans to take the CFP exam in summer of 2006, and plans to meet all requirements for CFP designation in approximately three years from then.

The VP of Career Development is responsible for working with the Graduate Career Management center at Georgia State and also soliciting hiring managers and recruiters to attend GBA sponsored events.

Tim was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia. After graduating as a National Merit Scholar from high school, he attended the Georgia Institute of Technology for several years before joining his family owned commercial general contracting business. During his tenure with the family business, he gained experience in all facets of the company with a strong focus on project and financial management.

Tim has also worked in different industries. Tim spent several years in the management of fine dining restaurants. In 2000, he decided to enter the computer networking field and received the Cisco Certified Network Associate designation and then worked several years for a computer repair call center.

In January of 2002, Tim decided to formalize his education and returned to college at Georgia State University. In 2003, Tim became president of the prestigious Beta Alpha Psi honors accounting fraternity. In August of 2004, he graduated Magna cum Laude with a Bachelor's degree in accounting and finance. In the fall of 2004, Tim begins the GSU MBA program.

Tim's area of concentration in the MBA program is accounting information systems design and assurance. After graduation, he plans to work for a local or regional accounting firm performing audit and IT related services. He will take the CPA exam in summer of 2005, and plans to meet all requirements for CPA designation in approximately two years from then.

The Student Affairs Director serves as the primary liaison and advocate for the graduate business students at the Alpharetta campus. Alison works with the Board of Directors to identify areas for development and helps promote opportunities as well as potential student leaders. She also works with the Senior Vice President of Internal Affairs with student life issues and performs other duties at the request of the President and other officers.

Alison grew up in central New York and moved to the Atlanta area in 1992. During her undergraduate studies, she interned at Lockheed Martin and was an officer of the student government. She earned an Industrial Engineering degree from Southern Polytechnic State University and has since worked in the HVAC industry in various sales positions. In her spare time, Alison enjoys hiking and mountain biking.

Alison is looking forward to pursuing a new career in project management or product development after completing her MBA in May 2005.

The Student Affairs Director serves as the primary liaison and advocate for the students at the downtown campus. Andrew works with the Board of Directors to identify areas for development and helps promote opportunities as well as potential student leaders. He also works with the Senior VP of Internal Affairs addressing student life concerns and performs other duties at the request of the President and other officers.

An internship that Andrew took in Argentina during his undergraduate studies gave him a passion for working in the international business arena for learning other languages. After graduating from Furman, he took a year off to travel and do non-traditional vocations such as working on a fishing boat in Alaska and teaching English in Central America. Thereafter, he began working for the shipping company DHL. He has been in the part-time program in GSU's excellent graduate business program since January '03, but will attend full-time starting in the fall '04. He is an active volunteer with Grady Hospital's Spanish Interpreting Group. Andrew lives in Atlanta, but hails from Dalton, Georgia. In his limited free time enjoys backpacking, outdoor photography, and rugby.

The Director of Technology is responsible for working with the VP of Technology in configuring and operating the back-end of the website, database design, and any technology issues associated with the Graduate Business Association.

Venky is currently working as a Senior Analyst for Cingular Wireless. He has lived in Atlanta since 1999 and has held software positions at Manhattan Associates and Hewlett Packard. Venky enjoys traveling, playing cricket and racquet ball. Venky was born and raised in Madras, a southern city in India.

The Director of Internal Affairs assists the Sr. VP of Internal Affairs on attracting faculty to GBA sponsored events, coordinating events with internal groups and promoting cohesiveness amongst the student body and all stakeholders associated with the Robinson College of Business.

Sumedh grew up in the western part of India. Sumedh did his undergraduate work in Electrical Engineering and had the distinction of being the Gold Medalist at the University level. During his undergraduate studies, he was the Chairman of the IEEE Chapter at the School. After he graduated, he worked as a Network Engineer for a company that had an alliance with Cisco Systems. His profile involved installation, configuration and troubleshooting of Cisco firewalls, security agents, secure NIDS and VPNs. After working for a couple of years in this position, he decided to go back to the school and enrolled at Georgia State in the fall of 2003 to do his MBA. For the past year, he has worked on a research project with a focus group at Georgia Tech, studying the "Drivers for Residential Broadband Access." During the same time, he has also assisted Dr. Rajeev Dhawan, the director of Economic Forecasting Center, on Dhawan's forecasting and research projects. This past summer, Sumedh interned at Apower Solutions as a business analyst conducting data mining and business intelligence. With his strong technical, analytical and leadership skills, Sumedh plans to pursue a career in Business Analytics and Project Management once he finishes the MBA program.