McDowell Summer Institute for Entrepreneurship

Dr. Kristen Shanine brings a dynamic blend of academic insight, interdisciplinary research, and real-world experience to Middle Tennessee State University’s Executive Education program, where she leads the McDowell Summer Institute for Entrepreneurship.

Dr. Shanine holds a Ph.D. from the University of Alabama and an M.B.A. from Bradley University. Her professional background spans the public, private, and academic sectors, giving her a well-rounded perspective on the challenges and opportunities entrepreneurs face today.

At MTSU, Dr. Shanine teaches courses in Family Business, Introduction to Entrepreneurship, and Social Entrepreneurship. Her research focuses on the intersection of psychology, sociology, and entrepreneurship, with particular attention to succession planning in family firms and gender dynamics in entrepreneurial ecosystems. She has published in leading academic journals such as Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, Family Business Review, Journal of Small Business Management, and Academy of Management Annals.

In addition to her scholarly work, Dr. Shanine is an active contributor to the entrepreneurial community. She chairs MTSU’s chapter of Sigma Nu Tau (Entrepreneurship Honor Society), serves as a member of Rutherford Cable, and was recently honored with the Jones College of Business State Farm Outstanding Professor Award.

Drawing on her research and community engagement, Dr. Shanine equips students and professionals alike to lead ventures with strategic clarity, social awareness, and entrepreneurial resilience.

Dr. Joshua R. Aaron is a Professor of Management at Middle Tennessee State University and the holder of the Pam Wright Chair in Entrepreneurship.  Dr. Aaron is originally from Lenoir City, TN.  He has held academic positions at Georgia State University and East Carolina University before arriving at MTSU in 2014. 

Prior to academia, he was an auditor at Ernst and Young, LLP in Birmingham, AL.  He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Small Business Institute. He is a member of the Murfreesboro Young Professionals and serves on the Tennessee Small Business Development Center Advisory Board as well as the advisory council for the MTSU ACE Learning Center.  He has served as the President of the Board of Governors at Ironwood Country Club in Greenville, NC and the Rachel Lynn Smith Foundation in Durham, NC. He has consulted with several for profit businesses, nonprofits and civic organizations.

His research focuses on executive compensation for large and small firms, leadership, strategic issues facing small and medium enterprises and corporate reputation.  He teaches Strategic Management at both the undergraduate and MBA levels.  He has published 21 peer-reviewed articles in journals such as Journal of Business Research, Journal of Management Education, Journal of Small Business Strategy, Journal of Business & Entrepreneurship, International Journal of Organizational Analysis, Journal of Business Strategies, Journal of Education for Business, Nonprofit Voluntary Sector Quarterly and Corporate Reputation Review.  

Dr. Raj Srivastava is a professor in the Department of Marketing at the College of Business at MTSU. He holds an undergraduate degree in production engineering, an MBA, and a PhD in marketing.

He has taught courses including Principles of Marketing, Retail Marketing, Marketing Management, Global Marketing, and Social Media Marketing. He is also a TikTok influencer (@DRRAJPROF).

Dr. Phillips worked as a Nicholas C. Metropolis Post-doctoral Fellow at Los Alamos National Laboratory before joining the Department of Computer Science at MTSU in 2014.

Phillips’ research interests are in AI, machine learning and computational biophysics. Particular examples include neurobiologically inspired models of working memory for robust AI, unsupervised machine learning applied to computational electrostatics for protein engineering and HIV vaccine development, and AI-inspired methods for accelerating in-silico protein folding.

He has collaboratively helped secure over $3.5 million in funding from the National Science Foundation for student scholarships, undergraduate research, and applied machine learning research. He also helped develop MTSU’s B.S. in Data Science program, and continues to aid development of Data Science programs at the graduate level.

Brent Taylor is the founder and principal of Three Times Left, where he creates experiences that develop people and ideas. 

He spent ten years at a design thinking consultancy, Stoked, leading over 100 education, innovation, and culture projects for clients across diverse industries including Tenet Healthcare, Chick-Fil-A, Bridgestone, AARP, Healthways, Cigna, Allstate, Health Care Service Corporation, Marvin, KPMG, Expedia, RetailMeNot, 3M, T-Mobile, HealthSpring, Tapestry, Uber, Tennessee Valley Authority, Amgen, Eli Lilly, and the State of Minnesota, among others.

He has lectured at Stanford, Wesleyan, and Vanderbilt Universities. He started as an investment banking analyst at Avondale Partners before becoming a finance associate and then the Director of Clinical Quality at e+CancerCare, driving data-driven quality initiatives using design thinking principles. 

He has a BA in economics from Wesleyan University, loves dogs, sports, music, and being outside, especially fly fishing.

Patrick R. Geho is a faculty member in the Jennings A. Jones College of Business, Department of Management at Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU). He is also on assignment to the President’s Division, serving as a Cabinet member and as state executive director of MTSU’s Tennessee Small Business Development Center network (TSBDC). The TSBDC consists of 20 office locations across the state providing technical assistance and training to the business community. In his position with the TSBDC he has managed over $50,000,000.00 in university, state and federal programs under various economic development contracts. His research has been published in a number of entrepreneurship journals. Dr. Geho along with others, assisted with the development of the entrepreneurship major by contributing a justification proposal to the Tennessee Board of Regents. He teaches the capstone course in the entrepreneurship major.  

Dr. Geho’s J.D. was earned at the Nashville School of Law and his undergraduate degree at Saint Leo University. Additional graduate studies pursued at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and Tennessee Technological University. Prior to coming to MTSU, Dr. Geho was co-owner of SCIC, Inc. a tier II automotive subassembly and metals coatings manufacturing plant serving Dana Corporation, Chrysler, General Motors, Mercedes, Nissan, and Toyota. As CEO of the firm he grew the plant population to over 130 employees. He was also co-founder of Consolidated Investors, Inc. a firm specializing in the development of commercial and industrial properties. As an entrepreneur Dr. Geho was recognized by the White House for his business development activities. In 1995 he was named a Presidential Delegate to the White House Conference on Small Business. He also serves as an officer on several statutory economic development boards.

A longtime resident of Middle Tennessee, Galen Longo has lived much of his life in Maury County.  He joined MTSU’s Small Business Development Center(SBDC) in July 2023 after spending 20 years in the banking industry. 

As Director of MTSU’s SBDC, Galen is an expert regarding matters related to small business banking and relationship management, with an emphasis on business planning, strategic planning, business development, leadership, lending, credit, and cash flow analysis. 

He graduated from MTSU in 2011 with a Bachelor of Science in Liberal Arts with concentrations in Finance and Science and since completed several other professional training certifications, including Tennessee Bankers Association’s Southeastern School of Consumer Lending in 2020 and the Southeastern School of Banking in 2022.  Galen graduated again from MTSU in August 2024 with a Master of Finance. 

Galen feels incredibly fortunate to have the opportunity to direct the MTSU SBDC’s efforts and activities with regards to local area small business owners and stakeholders.  He personally takes great pride in imparting his knowledge of Finance and Business Development to his clients and teammates.  His MTSU Service Center Team serves a 14-county service area spanning from the southern I-24 corridor all the way west to the TN River. 

An avid fisherman and hunter, he has mastered most of the waterways in Middle Tennessee in pursuit of several species of fish.  Galen and his wife Candace have two wonderful children, and they spend most of their spare time outdoors and/or on the water.