Technical Management Faculty – Office of Professional Programs

Toby Gouker, Ph.D. | Graduate Program Director

Ph.D., Applied Management and Decision Sciences, Walden University
M.B.A., University of Houston
B.S., Chemical Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Toby Gouker, an Associate Teaching Professor and Graduate Program Director with UMBC since 2011, has over 38 years of management experience in industry and academia. For the past five years, Toby served as the Provost and Chief Academic Officer for the SANS Technology Institute. In addition to his work with SANS, Toby held a number of academic positions over the past 10 years. As the Provost at Lyman Spalding Institute, he led the effort to build a global continuing education program for scientists and engineers, as the Vice President of University Affairs at American Graduate University, he functioned as the lead academic and operating officer, and as Executive Director at Laureate Education he led National Technological University through its merger with Walden University.

In addition to his academic endeavors, Toby has worked extensively in industry. He worked as the Chief Strategy Officer for LongView International Technology Solutions and as Chief Operating Officer for Computer Technology solutions to build federal healthcare information technology and security practices. Prior to his federal contracting positions, he was the Director of Operations at CertisUSA where he managed several biotech facilities, a Research and Development Manager at W.R. Grace commercializing power plant and other source air pollution control products, and a Project Leader for several synthetic fuels ventures at Exxon Research and Engineering.

Dr. Gouker received his Ph.D. in Applied Management and Decision Sciences from Walden University, his M.B.A. at the University of Houston, and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Dr. Gouker is also a Graduate Faculty member at American Graduate University and DeVry University.

Jonathan Jett-Parmer, M.S., M.B.A. | Assistant Graduate Program Director
M.S., Systems Engineering, UMBC
M.B.A., Old Dominion University
B.S., Mechanical Engineering, University of South Florida

Jonathan Jett-Parmer joins the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) as the Assistant Graduate Program Director and Assistant Teaching Professor, bringing a wealth of experience from his distinguished career in the U.S. Navy, the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods supply chain industry, as well as an extensive background in engineering and leadership. A native of Tampa, Florida, his background spans both military and industrial experience.

A twenty-seven-year career Naval officer, serving in the Navy Reserve as a Captain, Jonathan holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of South Florida. He is a licensed professional engineer in Maryland and Virginia. In 2004 he earned his MBA from Old Dominion University. Later he attained an MS in Systems Engineering, with honors, from UMBC. He also holds postgraduate certificates in College Teaching and Learning Science and Cybersecurity Strategy and Policy. He has worked as an adjunct professor for UMBC since January of 2024 teaching the graduate capstone course in systems engineering.

His civilian work spanned more than 30 years in supply chain engineering, for Nestle, Perrier and Unilever. His work included factory design, construction, automation systems, logistics, operations, and product development.  Assignments included engineering, manufacturing, and multi-site director roles. As a senior director, he developed and led Unilever’s global high hazard and safety engineering team, retiring in 2021. 

During his Navy career, Captain Jett-Parmer served in numerous high-profile roles. Most recently as the Director of Military Programs at the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) SEA 00M. His previous roles include six prior Commanding Officer tours. Notably, he is a qualified Heavy Lift Docking Observer and has supported the recovery operations of the USS JOHN S MCCAIN (DDG 62) and USS FITZGERALD (DDG 56). He has played crucial roles in various operational assignments, including the repair of USS COLE (DDG 67), PANAMAX 05, UNITAS 06, and the Deepwater Horizon GOMEX Spill Response.

Don Gantzer | Adjunct Instructor

M.S., Operations Research, OhioState University
M.A., Urban Affairs, Virginia Tech University
B.S. Industrial (Systems) Engineering, Ohio State University

Donald Gantzer, a recent retiree, is a seasoned government employee (Operations Research Analyst, DOT and DOE) who most recently served as a Senior Systems Engineer at SAIC. In this position, he supported the Department of Defense’s Systems Engineering office in policy guidance, assessment of acquisition programs, review of SE plans, STEM program for universities, and acted as the Lead Standardization Authority for DoD’s ASSIST tool.

Prior to his time at SAIC, Mr. Gantzer has consulted for numerous government agencies, such as NASA, FAA, Depts. of Energy and Transportation, IRS, EPA, etc., while working at Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, MITRE, and CNA. His specialties include implementing best practices for process improvement with strong focus on measurements, project management emphasizing risk management, systems analysis & design, operations research, program evaluation, and policy analysis.

Mr. Gantzer received his B.S. in Industrial Engineering and M.S. in Operations Research from the Ohio State University and a M.S. in Urban Affairs from Virginia Tech. He has served on many working groups and committees in the SE sector and has taught as an adjunct faculty member at several universities in systems engineering, engineering management, systems analysis & design, process improvement, systems/software engineering models and standards, statistics, practical software and systems measurements and analysis.

View more by visiting Mr. Gantzer’s public LinkedIn profile.

Michelle Jones | Adjunct Instructor

M.S., Accounting and Business Advisory Services, Towson University and University of Baltimore
B.S., Business Administration, University of Baltimore

Michelle Jones has several years of experience in various accounting management positions. Currently, she serves as Controller of Janet, Janet, & Suggs, a law firm that serves clients with medical malpractice and product liability cases. In this role, she is responsible for overseeing the financial, banking, budgeting, payroll and administrative operations for the firm.

Prior to joining Janet, Janet, & Suggs, Ms. Jones held a CFO and several Corporate Controller positions, managing the day-to-day accounting of financial reporting, accounts receivables and collections, accounts payable and payroll. Ms. Jones has also been responsible for year-end financial, bank and 401K audits, reporting and filing payroll, sales tax and personal property tax returns, budgeting and forecasting. She has also participated in several system implementations, worked on acquisitions and dissolutions, benefit and insurance renewals, 401K administration, developed and completed Sarbanes-Oxley documentation and compensation plans used in labor union negotiations.

Ms. Jones holds a B.S. in Business from the University of Baltimore, and a joint M.S. in Accounting and Business Advisory Services from Towson University and the University of Baltimore. She is also a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and a member of the Maryland Association of Certified Public Accountants and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

Keith R. Kirkwood | Adjunct Instructor

M.S., Engineering Management, UMBC
B.S., Computer Information Systems, Eastern Washington University
Graduate, U.S. Army Computer Science School

Mr. Kirkwood has almost 30 years of leadership and management experience in both industry and the U.S. Army. He is currently an Engineering Program Manager for Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems in Linthicum, MD. He has been with Northrop Grumman for 18 years in a variety of leadership and management positions. His assignments include serving as the Communications Integrated Product Team lead for the Tactical Exploitation System, Department Systems Engineering Manager for the C4ISR Department, Lead Systems Engineer and Chief Engineer for the Distributed Common Ground System – Army (Version 4), and the manager for the Processing Architectures Department in the Advanced Concepts & Technology Division. Keith has also served as technical business development engineer and has been a functional manager for the previous 9 years.

Prior to joining Northrop Grumman, Keith served as a Cavalry officer and a Systems Automation Acquisition officer for the United States Army for 11 years. As an acquisition officer, he was responsible for the software lifecycle management for the All Source Analysis System (ASAS). As a Cavalry officer, Keith was fortunate to be able to witness firsthand the fall of the East-West German border.

Keith’s principal areas of interest include cyber security, system of systems engineering, processing architectures, intelligence processing systems, component based software engineering and model driven engineering.

Sam Negahban Ph.D. | Adjunct Instructor
Ph.D., University of Maryland, College Park
M.S., Civil Engineering (Construction Management, Water Resources), Drexel University
B.S., Civil Engineering (Construction Management, Transportation), Drexel University
Fluent in Persian-Farsi
Doctoral Thesis: Utilization of Enterprise Resource Planning Tools by Small to Medium Sized Construction Organizations, A Decision Making Model

Dr. Sam Negahban has been a fixture in the Maryland Commercial Construction Industry for over 30 years. He is a Senior Vice President with Brawner Builders, Inc. based in Hunt Valley, MD. Currently he is managing Brawner Builders Inc.’s facilities renovation programs for Federal, State, and local agencies. He has successfully developed a program to allow Brawner Builders, Inc. to compete and be awarded multiple Task Order, IDIQ, On-Call, Time & Material, Design Build Contracts. In addition, he has developed and managed a team that is currently competing successfully in public and private sector construction contracting.

Over the last twenty years, Dr. Negahban has developed an expertise for completing projects for Universities and local school districts under severe budgetary and time constraints. These projects have consisted of renovations to dormitories, lecture halls, class rooms, theaters, sport facilities, laboratories, and offices

Dr. Negahban has published numerous research articles in journals and international conferences.

Michael Oliver, J.D. | Adjunct Instructor

J.D., University of Baltimore
B.S., Case Western Reserve University

Michael Oliver has been in the private practice of law for 19 years, currently concentrating his practice in transactional intellectual property matters, primarily in acquisition, protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights in computer and internet technology including domain names, trademark prosecution including opposition, cancellation and interference proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, copyright acquisition and enforcement, and advertising law including Lanham Act cases (false and misleading advertising, dilution, tarnishment). Mr. Oliver also has extensive experience in licensing of computer software, and licensing and ownership resolution of digital information on the internet.

Mr. Oliver received his J.D. from the University of Baltimore. He has taught numerous courses, seminars and workshops including: Introduction to Intellectual Property and Cyberspace law at the University of Maryland School of Law, and is a regular speaker for the Maryland Institute of Continuing Professional Education for Lawyers and for the Pennsylvania Bar Institute. Additionally, he has also authored and co-authored numerous articles and seminar materials that have been published by the American Bar Association and in the Maryland Bar Journal.

Mr. Oliver is also active in local community organizations, including playing a key role in organizing the Maryland State Bar Association’s Intellectual Property Section, and regularly assisting low income artists for the Maryland Lawyers for the Arts. In his off time, Mr. Oliver enjoys playing classical guitar, being a past president of the Baltimore Classical Guitar Society, writing database and ecommerce based software, and digital photography.

Jonathan Powell | Adjunct Instructor

M.B.A., University of Maryland
B.S., Systems Engineering, U.S. Naval Academy

Jonathan Powell, a Senior Program Manager for CACI, has over two decades of leadership experience both in industry and through service in the U.S. Navy. In his current position, he leads large complex software development efforts for the U.S. Army. Previously, Mr. Powell was a Project Executive for IBM’s Corporate Global Pandemic Strategy Task Force. His other assignments at IBM included leadership roles on software implementations for various Federal Civilian and Classified organizations. During this time he also achieved IBM certifications as a Senior Project Manager and Java Platform Enterprise Edition (J2EE) Designer. As an officer in the Navy, Mr. Powell was a Submariner as well as a Regional Director for Admissions at the U.S. Naval Academy.

Mr. Powell received his Bachelor of Science in Systems Engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy and his M.B.A. from the University of Maryland. He also holds several advanced certificates, including a Master’s Certificate in Project Management from George Washington University, Project Management Professional (PMP), Certified Government Financial Manager (CGFM), and the Cyber Security credential Security+. Mr. Powell’s written work has been featured in numerous publications, including the magazines PM Network and Contract Management, respectively, as well as the journal CrossTalk.

In 2015, Mr. Powell was appointed to the Maryland Cybersecurity Council by the State Attorney General

View more by visiting Mr. Powell’s public LinkedIn profile.

Jeff Ray, D.Mgt. | Adjunct Instructor
D.Mgt. SMC University (Zurg, Switzerland)
J.D. University of Maryland School of Law
M.S. Civil Engineering, University of Maryland
M.S. Engineering Management, George Washington University
B.S. Civil Engineering, University of Maryland

Dr. Jeffrey Ray, who began teaching for UMBC in 2011, is a Project Manager and Senior Systems Engineer at Northrop Grumman with 30 years of broad based problem solving experience related to the structured acquisition of information technology systems. Through his various positions at Northrop Grumman, Dr. Ray has managed the development and integration of software and computer hardware systems into military vehicle platforms, a Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosive (CBRNE) Integration and Test Lab (CITL) that brought in $25M worth of sales, implemented a data labeling system wrapper into the WinNT OS, qualified the integrated Command & Control software applications and introduced a streamlined IRAD documentation methodology adopted across the company.

Dr. Ray is a Subject Matter Expert in the areas of technical resource planning, staffing, and resource management, project planning and control, Scheduling, budget forecasting, and status reporting, systems engineering, integration and test, bringing structured process controls to software development, integration and test activities, and new business development and capture planning.

He received his B.S. and M.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Maryland, a M.S. in Engineering Management from George Washington University, his J.D. from the University of Maryland School of Law, and his D.Mgt. from SMC University, Zurg, Switzerland.. Additionally, Dr. Ray is a PMI certified Program Management Professional (PMP), INCOSE Certified Systems Engineering Professional (CSEP), licensed Attorney at Law, certified six sigma black belt, registered Professional Engineer, and instrument rated private pilot with detailed knowledge of the national airspace system.

View more by visiting Dr. Ray’s public LinkedIn profile.

Denean Robinson, Ed.D. | Adjunct Instructor
Ed.D, Educational Leadership, Argosy University
M.S. Executive Management, University of Maryland, Global College
B.S. Family Studies and Counseling, University of Maryland, College Park

Denean Robinson received her B.S. Degree in Family Studies and Counseling in 1994 from the University of Maryland, College Park, MD. In 1998, she earned a master’s degree in Executive Management from the University of Maryland Global College. In 2009, Dr. Robinson completed her doctoral degree in Educational Leadership from Argosy University in Arlington, Virginia. Dr. Robinson over the last sixteen years has been developing and facilitating Marketing, Human Resource Development, Organizational Behavior, Organizational Development and Change Management courses/seminars at various universities and organizations across the Washington, DC metropolitan area. In addition, Dr. Robinson has developed customized curriculums and educational programs for various state government and private agencies in the areas of career development, personal management, and strategic planning. In 2010, Dr. Robinson began to receive personal invitations from Chapter Presidents to present Human Resources/Executive Training courses to various Society of Human Resource Management Chapters across the area. She started her own Educational, Business and Technology Consulting Company four years ago in Montgomery County entitled “Strategic Creations.” Strategic Creations mission is to enhance professional knowledge, skills, and attitudes of executives of profit and nonprofit organizations. Strategic Creations develops 21st century training as a purposeful and intentional process. We consciously design our training to bring about positive change and improvement.

Lawrence Stout, Ph.D. | Adjunct Instructor

Ph.D., Electrical Engineering, Arizona State University
M.S., Electrical Engineering, Kansas State University
B.A., Economics and Political Science, University of Wisconsin, Madison

Lawrence Stout, specializing in quality and reliability engineering and management, lean principles, and associated statistical methods, is the Branch Chief of Microphotonics in the Electro-Optics and Photonics Division at the Army Research Laboratory in Adelphi, MD. He currently manages a group of scientists and engineers doing basic and applied research and development in a number of different areas of opto-electronics and photonics, provide technical leadership, and facilitate technology transitions into systems. Prior to this position, he was an associate professor of electrical engineering at Idaho State University and has taught 17 different engineering courses and received almost 2M dollars of research and equipment funding as either the principal investigator (PI) or as a co-PI. Dr. Stout has extensive leadership, management, supervisory, planning, mentoring, and budgetary skills and a wide range of technical hardware and software abilities. Additionally, he has five years of active duty military experience as an Army field artillery officer with expertise in field artillery, combat arms, planning, operations, intelligence and personnel

Dr. Stout received his B.A. in Economics and Political Science at the University of Wisconsin, an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Kansas State University, and a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Arizona State University. Dr. Stout has frequently been published and has attended many workshops and conferences to present on a variety of topics. He is also a member of The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

Charles R. Swassing, II | Adjunct Instructor

M.P.S., Cybersecurity Strategy and Policy, UMBC
B.A., Health Science and Policy, UMBC

Mr. Swassing has nearly 30 years of leadership and executive management experience in the information technology and healthcare fields serving as Chief Information Officer, Chief Technology Officer, and Chief Executive Officer. He founded and led three Maryland-based IT firms serving civilian government and military agencies, intelligence community, academia, and the private sector for 24 years.

Currently, Mr. Swassing is consulting as virtual CIO/CISO for firms in financial, manufacturing and construction industries. In these roles, he provides the leadership to assure IT capabilities, policies and cyber resiliency fully support corporate mission and performance objectives. Prior to this, Mr. Swassing served as CIO for a large regional healthcare provider. In this role, he managed the development of the IT mission, collaborated with the executive board to establish operational, governance and security policies and their application in electronic medical records systems. Previously, Mr. Swassing served as Management Information Systems Center Director for a U.S. Navy contractor, Computer Facility Administrator to the U.S. Department of Transportation, and Physical Scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Mr. Swassing received both his B.A. in Health Science and Policy and his M.P.S in Cybersecurity Strategy and Policy from UMBC. Mr. Swassing has published papers at international scientific community consortiums and IEEE conferences in the fields of ocean surface currents, digital signal processing, and RADAR and sonar applications in oceanographic research. Mr. Swassing is a member of IEEE since 1984.

Richard Wilson | Adjunct Instructor

M.A., Philosphy

Richard Wilson, a member of the UMBC Faculty since 2000, has been teaching philosophy for 30 years with a focus in applied ethics for 20 years. Currently, he is a full-time member of the UMBC philosophy department, where he developed a series of ethics courses and is currently teaching Ethical Issues in Science, Engineering and Information Technology, Ethical Issues in Information Technology, and Business Ethics at UMBC.

For the last 20 years, Mr. Wilson has taught traditional topics in applied ethics focusing on Medical and Bioethics, Business Ethics, and Environmental Ethics. He has been an ethics trainer for the Department of Justice with a focus on ethical issues in Police and Law Enforcement Agencies for the last 8 years. Additionally, Mr. Wilson has conducted numerous courses, seminars and ethics training workshops, including annual lectures during Ethics Week for the Community College System of Baltimore. Consultation work has included ethics training as part of Continuing Professional Education for the Administrative Judges of Maryland as well as numerous police agencies.

Mr. Wilson has also authored a number of books including Logic: Deductive, Inductive and Informal Reasoning; Logic, Values and Ethical Analysis; and, Business Ethics and Contemporary Issues. In his off time, Mr. Wilson currently is the chairman of the Board of Directors and ethics advisor for Family Building Center, Inc., a licensed child placement agency, and a board member of the Baltimore Museum of Art’s Print, Drawing and Photography Society (PDPS) of the Baltimore Museum of Art.

James Ziegler | Adjunct Instructor

M.B.A., Finance, Loyola College
B.S., Accounting, Towson University

James Ziegler, a financial officer with 25 years of experience, is Vice President of Finance and Administration at Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN) in Baltimore, MD. In his current position, Mr. Ziegler manages a staff of seven professionals and is responsible for all facets of Accounting, Financial Reporting, Cash Management, Human Resources and Traffic related activities. During his tenure at MASN, he has successfully implemented a five year business plan and assisted in the network achieving its short and long term financial goals.

Mr. Ziegler holds a B.S. in Accounting from Towson University and a M.B.A. with a Finance Concentration from Loyola College. He is also a Certified Public Accountant (CPA).

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