Mr. Schmoke was elected to Andrew Jackson University’s board of directors and appointed as Chief Executive Officer and Corporate Secretary on June 10, 2005. He is responsible for developing and implementing Andrew Jackson University’s strategic direction and supervising AJU’s executive management team. His long and distinguished business career includes an early stint on Wall Street, then over thirty years as an entrepreneur and advisor specializing in rapid growth companies. He founded and built several companies and also served as advisor to venture capital companies, private investment companies, NASD broker-dealers, and other entrepreneurs. He specializes in the strategy, structuring, financing, and then directing or assisting in the operations of companies that have strong growth prospects.
He has also served as advisor to the board of directors of CyberGate, the Southeastern U.S.’s fastest growing Internet service provider, and Musa Motors Moscow, Eastern Europe’s largest independent franchised auto dealership group. While at Musa Motors, Mr. Schmoke established business relationships in Moscow, Riga Helsinki, Paris, Frankfort, London and Geneva. He also served on the boards of SECOM General, a publicly held company, and Auto University, a private training organization.
Mr. Schmoke is a published author, Vital Business Secrets for New and Growing Companies (Dow Jones-Irwin, 1989), and has been designated Distinguished Lecturer by The Graduate School of Business at Florida Atlantic University. He has served on the international board of directors and as an officer of the Association for Corporate Growth, and at the request of the Florida Department of Commerce, founded and was the first president of the Gold Coast Venture Capital Club. His formal education includes the University of Detroit (Finance) and Wayne State University (non-degree Law Studies).
Mr. Kassner brings over twenty years of financial and operations management to the Andrew Jackson team. Until moving to Alabama in 2005 with his family to join the University, Mr. Kassner managed financial operations and developed companies in many different industries including web development, software development, web hosting, computer manufacturing, data
infrastructure and construction management.
In addition to his duties at Andrew Jackson University, Mr. Kassner owns University Development and is CFO for UCI Web Group and Onlinefocus Development, LLC.
Mr. Kassner earned his BA and MA in Economics from San Jose State University where he has served as a departmental advisor since 1997 and has been a member of the faculty since 2003.
Since he joined Andrew Jackson University, Mr. Kassner led the effort to convert the University to an online entity, has developed key strategic partnerships and has restructured the University's operation so that all departments have a student focus. In addition, Mr. Kassner represents the University at all accreditation meetings and serves as a member of the DETC educational standards subcommittee and was recently appointed to the business standards review team.
Mr. Kassner lives in Hoover Alabama with his wife Tammy - who works at the university - and his son Mike.
Lydia Ortega Ph.D.
Provost, Vice President of Academic Affairs
Dr. Lydia Ortega is currently Professor and Chair of the Department of Economics at San Jose State University where she has been teaching since 1989. She took her B.S. in economics from Loyola Marymount University and an M.A. and Ph.D.
in economics from George Mason University. She went to George Mason to study Public Choice economics with Nobel Prize winning economist, James Buchanan.
Her publishing and research interests include industrial organization, political economy, and the economics of education. She was the principal investigator on a National Science Foundation grant to develop software to teach critical thinking and problem solving in economics. She plays an active role in providing economic information to the public through appearances on public affairs panels, local radio and news reports. She has been a founding member and active board member of several community-based organizations including the Hispanic Foundation of Silicon Valley.
Larry V. Flegle, D.B.A.
Director of Education
Dr. Larry Flegle has over 28 years of teaching experience and has taught courses in 83 distance education programs. He is an advocate for and a pioneer in distance learning and has written over 60 college courses (graduate and undergraduate) for online delivery.
Dr. Flegle has taught online for Northcentral University, Walden University, Kennesaw State University, Thomas Edison State University, Strayer University, University of Hong Kong, Central Texas College, University of California Berkeley Extension and National American University.
Dr. Flegle’s extensive background in education includes Lead Faculty for Track C – Introduction to Business in the School of Business at Kaplan University. He also served on several re-accreditation teams, which has given him insight into the value of accreditation and importance of meeting the standards.
He received the Wagner Leadership award from the Distance Learning Administration Conference for his leadership in distance education.
Peter Burns
Dean of the College of Entrepreneurship
Peter Burns is a serial entrepreneur who specializes in the establishment and operation of niche market multi-location businesses. He is an innovative businessman who creates many new concepts from the ground up, such as the first integrated media-rich commercial e-mail marketing business, the “Insert-A-Zine” niche-publishing concept and the first accredited College of Entrepreneurship in the United States at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix. In recent years, Peter founded Club E Factory and Club E Network. Club E Factory is a development and mentorship group made up of and for entrepreneurs. Club E Factory is launching several initiatives, including We Are America’s Bailout. Club E Network is an association of entrepreneurs, which started with Burns’ initial 19 students from the Barrett Honors College at Arizona State University. It has since grown to over 7000 members and it is the largest network of entrepreneurs in the country.
Early in his career, Peter established the first U.S. motorized bicycle rental and proceeded to expand initial operation into an international chain of 100 units, creating the largest recreational rental operation in the world. Burns was also a founding member of (YEO) Young Entrepreneurs Organization.
Peter has been featured in publications and television shows including The Arizona Republic, CNN, FOX News, FOX Business, Entrepreneur Magazine, Nations Business, The Phoenix Business Journal, The State Press, USA TODAY, and The Wall Street Journal.
Danielle Babb, PhD, MBA
Dean of the College of Business
A Business and Technology professional, Dr. Danielle Babb is an experienced consultant and professor. She is a frequent guest expert on various Fox News, CNBC, and CNN programs and hosts her own show on Fox Business Channel called The Fox Docs. She has published in journals and has written two books, both of which have been purchased by major publishers.
Dr. Babb is a Business and Technology professional with experience in consulting, business management, real estate, and technology integration. She’s spent most of her professional days helping to make IT departments solid by identifying a strategy and helping to identify gaps in their business models. Now, her focus has turned to consulting work as she engages with Healthcare organizations and Real Estate organizations to provide the best possible IT solutions. She is an engineer by trade and specializes in data communications and networking with a strong management background.
Dr. Babb teaches for several universities at the doctoral, masters and undergraduate level. She is serving as chair for doctoral learners and is the lead at two major institutions. She was an on-ground professor for seven years in addition to her role as an IT Director, and now works primarily for online schools. She regularly presents at school colloquia and residencies and speaks nationally on the Internet and its use in the marketplace.
Dr. Babb has a PhD in Organization and Management, with an IT emphasis from Capella University. She has an MBA with an Information Technology emphasis from the University of Redlands, and a Bachelor of Science in Business from the University of California at Riverside.
She lives in Orange County, California and enjoys traveling to new places, reading, and researching. She also enjoys real estate and investing, and loves a good debate. She spends her recreational time figure skating and roller blading, and working on home improvement projects.
She has a web site for her teaching profession at www.drdaniellebabb.com
Her book sites are: www.commissions-at-risk.com and (coming soon) www.teachonlinebook.com.
L. Joseph Schmoke
Follow Joe Schmoke on twitter @AJUceo.
Lydia Ortega Ph.D.
Larry V. Flegle, D.B.A. 
Peter Burns 
Danielle Babb, PhD, MBA 