Aspire Academy - Faculty - aspireacademy-backup

Take a look at the people who led Aspire Academy 2011 and 2012.

Harvard University
Professors and Lecturers

Guest
Speakers

Arthur Daemmrich - Harvard Business School

Arthur Daemmrich teaches in the Business, Government and the International Economy Unit at HBS. His research focuses on international comparative studies of regulatory institutions and sector-level research on pharma and biotech. Before joining the HBS faculty, Daemmrich was the founding director of the Center for Contemporary History and Policy at the CHF in Philadelphia, where he led a group carrying theoretical and applied work on innovation and entrepreneurship. He holds a Ph.D. in Science and Technology Studies from Cornell and a B.A. in History and Sociology of Science from UPenn.

Luciana Herman - Harvard Kennedy School

Luciana Herman has taught writing and political rhetoric courses over the past fifteen years at Harvard and the University of California, Berkeley. In addition to policy writing and public speaking, her academic interests include American political rhetoric, racial formation, and immigration policy. Following work on Capitol Hill in the area of water policy, Dr. Herman earned her PhD in English at the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Herman also advises undergraduates on fellowship opportunitites and funding for public service projects. She is now completing a book manuscript focusing on U.S. policy and political party formation in reponse to the Haitian Revolution.

Phil Malone - Harvard Law School

Phil Malone is a Clinical Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and the Director of the Law School’s Cyberlaw Clinic at the Berkman Center. As a Clinical Professor, he researches and teaches courses on Practical Lawyering in Cyberspace, Cybercrime and Antitrust, Technology and Innovation and an introductory class on the Law of the Internet. Prior to joining the Law School in 2004, Phil served as federal prosecutor with the Antitrust Division of the US Department of Justice, where he had the opportunity to take the role of lead counsel in the investigations of Microsoft in the US vs. Microsoft Corp. case. Phil graduated from Harvard College and the University of Arizona College of Law.

Andreea Gorbatai - PhD Harvard Business School

Andreea is a doctoral candidate in Organizational Behavior / Sociology and an instructor for the most popular social science/ entrepreneurship course at Harvard College. Her dissertation work focuses on the social mechanisms which alleviate the risk that collective production fails to address social needs and retain contributors. Andreea will teach the Organizational Behavior, Marketing and Negotiations sessions, and conduct a dance workshop focused on exploring the concepts of Leadership and Followership.

Matthew Lee - PhD Harvard Business School

Matthew currently teaches Social Entrepreneurship at Harvard Department of Sociology. The sphere of his research is social entreprise and public - private cooperation. Previously, Matthew worked in non-profit strategy consulting at the Bridgespan Group, an affiliate of Bain and Company, where he worked with clients in education, mentoring, housing and workforce development sectors. He was also a Fulbright scholar in Malaysia, worked at the US Embassy in the same country, and had a brief stint at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies

Megan Bernard - PhD Harvard Business School

Megan is currently a doctoral student in the strategy department at Harvard Business School. Her work focuses on developing an understanding of firm trade-offs between exploration of new opportunities and exploitation of current resources. One of her favorite projects in this area includes research on understanding the roster composition choices for professional sports teams. Prior to business school, Megan graduated from Princeton University with a degree in Operations Research and Financial Engineering and subsequently worked in finance at Merrill Lynch. As a former college soccer player, she still enjoys every opportunity to get out on the pitch in her spare time .

Amanda Cotterman - MBA Harvard Business School

Amanda is a graduate of Wellesley College in Economics and Chinese Studies and a recent graduate of Harvard Business School. She has extensive experience in emerging markets across Asia, the Middle East and Africa and has worked in both finance and consulting with Morgan Stanley and McKinsey. In her free time, Amanda enjoys long distance open water swimming and traveling in developing nations.

Dan Pascariu - Finance

Dan is the President of the Board for UniCredit Tiriac Bank. He previously served as president of the Board of Bank Austria Creditanstalt Romania, which he led for 9 years.

Irina Anghel - Founder Triple Helix

Irina is one of the pioneers in advising private equity funds in Eastern Europe, serving now as the Secretary General of SEEPEA, the South Eastern European Private Equity and Venture Capital Association. She earned a Mid Career / Masters in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School. She teaches law at both the Law School and the Business School in Bucharest. Irina is currently the President of Harvard Club of Romania and Moldova.

Roxana Damaschin Tecu - Venture Philanthropy

Roxana is the Enterprise Development Director for the Central and Eastern Europe region and also a founding member of De Partea Ta Association, a CSO encouraging the idea of traveling and promoting local cultures from all over the world. She is recipient of the prestigious Eisenhower Fellowship.
She loves outdoor sports, photography, and reading.

Bogdan Georgescu - Education

Bogdan has been the Managing Director of Colliers Romania for over 10 years and is currently working to start Teach for Romania.

Mihnea Constantinescu - Public Administration

Mihnea has been a career public servant for over 20 years and has served as Chief of Staff for Ministers and Prime Ministers across the political spectrum – Theodor Stolojan, Nicolae Vacaroiu, Adrian Nastase and Calin Tariceanu. Ziarul Financiar described him as "one of the most powerful men in politics."

Lucian Mandruta - Media

Lucian he is a remarkable media personality who has most of his career experience in journalism. He was the director at "Ziarul Financiarul" and he is currently pursuing entrepreneurship roles in companies such as Sign Factor and Alter Media. He has studied Journalism and Communication at the University of Bucharest.

Charles Frank - Media

Charles was the CFO of the largest media group in Eastern and Central Europe, Central European Media Enterprises and now serves as Director of the Related Party Transactions Committee and the Treasury/Finance Committee.

Ivan Patzaichin - Sports

Ivan is a well-renowned canoe sportsman who won seven Olympic medals and eight world championships in canoeing.
Currently he is developing the ecological entrepreneurship project, "Rowmania".

Razvan Lucescu - Football

Until a few months ago, Razvan was the head coach of the national team of Romania. He previously coached FC Brasov and now returned to Rapid Bucharest which he led to a UEFA Cup Quarter Final in 2006. He is considered one of the most promising soccer coaches of the younger generation.

Peer Advisers

Andrea Gonzalez

Andrea Gonzalez is a 1L at Georgetown University Law Center and holds a B.S. in International Business, with a focus on Marketing, from the University of Tampa. As part of her undergraduate work she studied abroad at Oxford University where she focused on International Law and Business. She is a co-founder of HouseReach, a new Georgetown club focused on volunteering locally to assist the DC homeless community and educate the law community on issues surrounding homelessness. Prior to law school, she co-founded Hand-Up Nabdam, a micro-finance organization in Northern Ghana.

Tingting Ye

Tingting Ye is currently a graduate student at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Previously she was a Consultant with Boston Consulting Group in Greater China, and pioneered company’s social impact community work focusing on migrant children education in Shanghai. She likes traveling, singing and being challenged all the time.

Raj Jeyakumar

Raj Jeyakumar is a graduate student at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and has a Bachelors and Masters in Physics from Oxford University. Raj spent five years working as a management consultant at Marakon in both US and European offices. He also worked as a volunteer consultant with TechnoServe in Nairobi, Kenya working on a Gates Foundation project to develop the local dairy industry. He likes visiting foreign places, meeting new people and discussing innovative ideas.

David Heckler

David is a rising Senior in the School of Foreign Service concentrating in history and international development. The majority of his academic work focuses on Latin America; however he studied extensively the history and politics of East Central Europe. On campus David is involved with Delta Phi Epsilon Professional Foreign Service Fraternity. In his spare time he volunteers in the DC public school system where he works with Younglife, a Christian youth group where he tutors and also serves as head swim coach. David is originally from Indianapolis, Indiana.

Jen Rygler

Jen Rygler recently received an MBA from the Wharton School and a Masters in International Studies from the Lauder Institute, both at the University of Pennsylvania. Previously she was a Senior Consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton, and an Analyst at UBS Investment Bank. She has also worked as a volunteer consultant at Endeavor in Argentina. She likes traveling, baking, and sports.

Anthony De Guzman

Anthony De Guzman is currently pursuing an MBA at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He graduated from Georgetown University with a bachelor's degree in International Economics. Prior to Wharton, he worked at ABRY Partners, a Boston-based private equity firm, after working at Morgan Stanley in New York and London. Upon graduating from Wharton Anthony will join McKinsey & Company in Southeast Asia. He enjoys writing, traveling, soccer and basketball.

Vikram Viswanathan

Vikram Viswanathan is currently pursuing his MBA at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He previously taught high school and middle school math through Teach For America in Philadelphia, worked in consulting at Bain & Company in Boston, and externed at a charter school management organization in Los Angeles. He is passionate about education entrepreneurship and reform and enjoys rowing, playing tennis, and learning to play ice hockey.

Dasha Pryamitsyna

Dasha is a rising Senior studying Science, Technology & International Affairs with a concentration is Business, Growth & Development. While she originally hails from St. Petersburg, Russia, she also calls Austin, Texas, her second home. Currently, Dasha is studying abroad at Universidad Complutense de Madrid in Spain, where she is focusing her studies on economics and international relations. In her spare time, she enjoys photography and traveling as much as possible.

Yana Topalova

Yana Topalova is an MBA candidate at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Previously she was a Research Manager at Mindshare, responsible for designing and implementing research studies that measure the effectiveness of advertising. She enjoys traveling, cooking and singing.

Sam Hyman

Sam is a Junior pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Physics with a minor in Government. He is involved in student government activities, Delta Phi Espilon Professional Foreign Service Fraternity, and is also the Captain of the Georgetown University Ballroom Dance Team. Sam has been dancing for the past three years and is also teaching salsa lessons periodically on campus. He is from Greensboro, North Carolina, loves sweet tea, peaches, and barbecue.

Andrew Wojtanik

Andrew is a rising senior in the School of Foreign Service studying international politics and African studies. In college, he is involved in political organizations, conducts research for a professor, and edited numerous articles on international relations. Andrew is currently working at the U.S. Department of State on political-military issues. As hobbies, Andrew loves to hike, camp, travel, and play frisbee and golf. He is originally from Kansas, home to the world's largest ball of twine, a barbed wire museum, and the Wizard of Oz.

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