About the Authors
Lori Anderson, PhD
Lori Anderson has led organizations in the private, public, and nonprofit sectors and taught at universities in the U.S. and the U.K. Lori has taught at the undergraduate, graduate, and executive levels, enjoying her time with students in face-to-face, online, and blended environments. Prior to joining Virginia Tech as an Associate Professor of Practice, Lori served as an Associate Professor with Alliance Manchester Business School at the University of Manchester in the U.K. Lori is a business owner and works as a private consultant.
Dirk Buengel
Dirk Buengel is an accomplished, broadly qualified, and internationally experienced senior executive with a proven track record in achieving profitable and sustainable growth in various global Fortune 500 companies. His experience includes leadership positions at Siemens, Henkel, Cognis, and BASF. In his last position as Senior Vice President of BASF, the world’s largest chemical company, Dirk guided an industry-leading business with a team of approximately 1,000 employees and annual revenue of $2 billion.
In his current role, Dirk works as an Associate Professor of Practice in the Department of Management at Pamplin College of Business at Virginia Tech. His passion is to develop the next generation of successful business leaders, enabling them to drive profitable growth in their business while making a positive and sustainable impact in a global business environment. Dirk teaches undergraduate- and graduate-level courses on strategic management, management consulting, ethical leadership and corporate social responsibility, sustainable business management, and change management.
Beyond his full-time position at Virginia Tech, Dirk works as a management consultant for the international consulting firm SustainUp. Dirk consults companies in their journeys toward sustainable business model transformation and robust, value-adding business sustainability strategies.
Joseph J. Simpson, PhD
Joseph J. Simpson is the Director of the Integrated Security and Education Research Center and Collegiate Associate Professor of Management at Virginia Tech. His research has been published in top business journals, including Academy of Management Annals, Annals of Tourism Research, Tourism Management, and Journal of Travel Research. His research interests cover topics ranging from organizational security to computational linguistics within strategy and entrepreneurship. He has over 20 years of experience in military, security, and entrepreneurship. He currently owns and manages multiple successful small businesses.
