Westmont Magazine Businesslike Faculty

David Newton
The author of three books (“Entrepreneurial Ethics,” and two from McGraw-Hill, “How to Be a  Small-Cap Investor” and “How to Be an Internet-Stock Investor”), Professor Newton writes monthly on growth capital for Industry Week Growing Companies and contributes on-line commentary for entrepreneur.com (small firm financing) and eRaider.com (small-cap stock analysis). He founded the Westmont Small Business Barometer to track local entrepreneurial activity, and is an active consultant to emerging ventures in California. He joined the faculty in 1990 after teaching five years at Pepperdine and has a doctorate from U.S. International University.

“It is good for entrepreneurs to be well-rounded and not narrowly trained. A broad, liberal education that emphasizes critical thinking and inquiry is the best preparation for launching a venture. I encourage my students to be creative, develop vision, ‘think differently,’ and consider commerce from a Christian perspective, so they can look beyond making a profit to see calling and stewardship rationales in business ownership.”

Ed Noell
By exploring the history of economic thought on economic justice, Professor Noell gains new insights into current issues. His focus is on the Scholastics and Protestant Reformers, and he is currently working on a book that incorporates his scholarly papers on the just wage. He also serves as the book review editor for Faith and Economics, a review published by the Association of Christian Economists. He earned his doctorate in economics at Louisiana State University and came to Westmont in 1986.

“I’m interested in problems facing transition economies, which have moved from socialism to evolving forms of capitalism. For example, Russians have little experience with free markets and a necessary framework for fair exchange. Calvin and other Christians wrote in a time of economic transition and speak to the importance of trust and the problems of fraud, coercion and unfair bargaining. Their work can help us address the phenomenon of Russian mafia-dominated capitalism.”

Roy Millender
Professor Millender keeps his feet in two worlds: business and academia. For over 25 years he has taught business courses at Westmont and directed student internships while maintaining a law practice and participating in a variety of business ventures. Currently he is president and CEO of Flavia Group Inc. A specialist in international business and small business issues, he earned his law degree at UC Berkeley. He has led 18 summer programs to Europe and Asia for business majors, and he started the Westmont in Asia program.

“When the Soviet Union posed a nuclear threat to the world, we took students to Russia to learn more about that culture. Today the threat comes from the Chinese economy, so we are traveling and studying in Asia. The Chinese have become our major competition, so we need to understand how they think and what is happening in their country. Their strengths include the huge size of their market and their strong work ethic. It is very valuable for students to see how business works in a different culture and to get to know the wonderful Chinese people and their 5,000-year-old society.”

Paul Morgan
Professor Morgan is completing an intermediate macroeconomic text book that discusses major concepts in a readable and relatively non-technical style. This approach suits most economics and business majors, who are headed for careers in business. Committed to teaching economics more successfully, he is converting all his lectures to Power Point presentations, complete with charts, sound, and animation.  He came to Westmont in 1979 and earned his doctorate in economics at Illinois State University.

“We have enjoyed spectacular success in our economy during the last century. Although markets produce very efficient results, capitalism can’t supply a value structure, and the system fails without a respect for law and order. We teach ethics and values in all our classes and discuss biblical concepts and the works of Christian thinkers. I believe God calls us to different circumstances, and I encourage students to consider where God may be leading them.”