Date: Thursday, June 16, 2022 | 2 p.m.
Host: Kathleen Grave, Social Science, '82
Presenter: Dr. Eddie Vela, Dean, College of Behavioral and Social Sciences
After graduation from Chico State in 1982, Kathleen Grave earned her doctorate in business administration at the University of Liverpool in the United Kingdom, with a scholarly focus on strategic, integrative, and sustainable smart cities. She currently serves in multiple leadership roles, including CEO of Lassen Labs, managing partner and board member of Enterprise Ireland (EI), and practitioner/professor of strategy, business management, and analytics at Pepperdine University. Grave’s 25 years of experience in international business spans across several industries, with her most recent focus in health science. Her leadership and senior management talents include engineering, sales, business development, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, and general management. Grave has applied her expertise to advancing business opportunities, defining strategies, and executing complex implementations. Grave’s early career began in Silicon Valley's high-energy startup environment, and she remains an active member of her local venture capitalist/angel investor community today. As a strategic change leader, Grave is focused on bringing positive growth and improvements to new organizations, and she finds success through strong leadership and by applying her unique approach to affect change leadership in emerging business arenas.
Dr. Eddie Vela serves as the dean of the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences. Dr. Vela completed his undergraduate work in 1980 at Texas State University with majors in psychology and philosophy. He received his master's degree in 1987 from Texas A&M University, where he subsequently earned a Ph.D in cognitive psychology in 1989. He came to CSU, Chico as a faculty member in the Department of Psychology in the fall of 1989. Dr. Vela has held several leadership positions throughout his career at the university, notably as chair of the Student Evaluation of Teaching committee for many years and also as Director of the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching from 2006-2007.
