BIOGRAPHIES
discusses the strategies police agencies use to market innovative programs, and how high
profile media cases impact police agencies. Dr. Chermak’s research has been funded by
the Department of Homeland Security, National Institute of Justice, and the Michigan
State Police. He has published two books, 10 edited books, and numerous research
reports. His research has appeared in a number of journals including Criminology and
Public Policy, Justice Quarterly, Policing, and the Journal of Quantitative Criminology.
Before joining the faculty at Michigan State University in 2005, Dr. Chermak was faculty
member at Indiana University in Bloomington from 1992-2005.
Rachel Croson joined the MSU College of Social Science as dean in August, 2016. Her
previous positions include dean of the College of Business at the University of Texas at
Arlington, professor and director of the Negotiations Center at the University of Texas at
Dallas and associate professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Between 2010 and 2012 she served two years as the National Science Foundation’s
division director for Social and Economic Sciences. Dr. Croson’s research has
concentrated on experimental and behavioral economics, investigating how people make
a variety of economic decisions. Her research is diverse, drawing on and contributing to
multiple disciplines, and has been published in academic journals in economics, business,
political science and sociology. In addition to her research, she has held a number of
professional leadership roles, including serving on the board of the Committee on the
Status of Women in the Economics Profession, where she was pivotal in developing and
running mentoring workshops for female junior faculty. Dr. Croson earned her
undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania, with a double major in
economics and philosophy, and a minor in political science. She earned her doctorate in
economics from Harvard University.
Ron Davis recently retired from Qualcomm as the Senior Director of Brand Protection.
Recruited in 2005 to establish their Brand Protection Program, Ron was responsible for
management of their global brand protection/intellectual property rights investigation
and forensic evaluations. In this role, he traveled to China and Asia multiple times each
year and worked closely with the Chinese citizens that composed his brand protection
team there, as well as the Quality Brands Protection Committee (QBPC) in China . Prior
experience includes United States Marine Corps combat helicopter pilot, FBI Special
Agent; big-four international security consultant; security director for General Dynamics
Space Systems; volunteer security director for Dennis Conner’s successful America’s Cup
campaign; global director, corporate security for Honeywell; and anti-counterfeit leader
for Cisco Systems, living in Hong Kong, where he created and managed their program to
complement ongoing IPR and gray market efforts. He continued his long involvement in
the industry as the only U.S. based Vice Chairman of the 215+ corporate member QBPC.
Upon announcing retirement Ron was elected as QBPC’s Vice Chairman Emeritus and
“Goodwill Ambassador” to the United States. He has been designated a Certified
Protection Professional (CPP) and Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE). He is also a long term
member of the Board of Directors, not-for-profit, Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC).
Mr. Davis was selected in May, 2011 as a member of the A-CAPP Industry Advisory Board
and served a term as President. Given his unique experience, Ron is recognized as one of
the most experienced professionals in the brand protection space and brings a valuable
perspective from having lived/worked in Hong Kong/China/Asia. Ron is currently working
with the A-CAPP Center as an Industry Fellow and pursuing opportunities to share his
unique knowledge with other brand protection professionals.
Will Demere is completing his PhD in Accounting and Information Systems at Michigan
State University. He received his BS and MS in Accounting and Information Systems from
Virginia Tech. Prior to starting on his PhD, he worked as an external auditor for Deloitte
and as an instructor at Virginia Tech. His research interests include subjective performance
evaluation, corporate governance, human capital, and developing new approaches to
measurement.
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