Jonathan Thomas

Kristine Webster

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Associate Professor, Accounting, Finance, and Real Estate, La Sierra University

Kristine Webster is an Associate Professor of Accounting, Finance and Real Estate at the Zapara School of Business at La Sierra University and is a doctoral student at Claremont Graduate University. She is a Certified Public Accountant, Certified Fraud Examiner, Certified Forensic Accountant, Notary, insurance producer and Realtor with 28 years of accounting, finance, real estate and insurance experience, including 20 years as Chief Financial Officer of both public and private companies. Her public accounting experience includes working for both Ernst & Whinney and Ernst & Young. Kristine has been an IRS VITA Site Coordinator for multi years overseeing and preparing hundreds of returns. She is currently serving as The Transresearch Consortium controller. She has also served as a detail-oriented, hands-on CFO/Vice President Finance for entities including:

• Tapout, LLC, the world’s leading mixed-martial arts apparel, gear and lifestyle brand for men, women and children on the market today;

• San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, one of the largest employers in the Inland Empire encompassing gaming, governmental operations and other enterprises employing over 3,000 people;

• Family Service Association of Western Riverside County, a nationally recognized non-profit agency that has responded to the changing dynamics of families, by expanding the scope of services to include comprehensive care for families in need;

• Shopping.com, among the first and largest online retailers in the dot com era. She took the company public in 1997 and was instrumental in arranging for its sale to Compaq Computer Corporation—for $220 million—via a reverse triangular merger in 1999.

Michelle A. Benson

Department of Political Science at the University at Buffalo

Associate Professor
Email: mbenson2@buffalo.edu

Michelle A. Benson is an associate professor in the Department of Political Science at the University at Buffalo. Her most recent work focuses on the effects of the United Nations on civil war, including sexual violence and conflict outcomes. Her other research focuses on state-to-state ties, trade and intergovernmental organizations and international conflict. Professor Benson is also interested in how state and IGO preferences affect actions in both civil and international war. Her work has been published in such journals as the Journal of Conflict Resolution, Journal of Politics, Comparative Political Studies, the Journal of Peace Research, International Interactions, Social Science Quarterly, Conflict Management and Peace Science, Nationalism and Ethnic Politics, and the Journal of Political Science.

Nicholas Stowell

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Nicholas Stowell is a doctoral candidate in political science at Claremont Graduate University with a focus on world politics and computational analytics. His research interests include political demography, political instability, inequality, polarization, and conflict. He has published works on threats to democratic electoral processes as well as cost-benefit analysis. He specializes in econometric and computational methods. Nicholas holds a master’s degree in political science from Portland State University and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from The University of Wisconsin.

Kristina Khederlarian

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Name: Kristina Khederlarian
Academic Title: Assistant Professor in the School of Business and Management at Azusa Pacific University

Kristina Khederlarian, PhD, serves as an Assistant Professor in the School of Business and Management at Azusa Pacific University. Her areas of expertise include management, leadership, data analysis, and international relations. Prior to joining APU, Khederlarian worked in public and private industry for over 10 years, holding various management positions. Throughout her corporate career and consulting career, she led teams through major system implementations and spearheaded change management activities for companies in the US, Canada and Europe. She is active in the International Studies Association.