PHILLIP S. BESSLER

Professor Bessler served as Vice President and General Manager for Rockwell Automation/Allen Bradley, a unit of Rockwell International, from 1989 through 1998. In this position, he was responsible for new business ventures and the start-up of new business segments. Later, he served as President of Spang Power Electronics, a product and systems solution provider in the industrial power controls market. In addition, he has helped companies grow revenue and streamline operations through his consultative work as the founder of the Bessler Consulting Group LLC.

Professor Bessler currently is an Associate Professor and Director of the Business Clinic at Baldwin-Wallace College, Berea, Ohio. He is responsible for both teaching and program development in the area of free enterprise. He has established The Business Clinic for entrepreneurs and small business owners. "This clinic," says Bessler "is part of the B-W vision to become a major force in accelerating business growth and job creation in NEO." Since it's inception in 2003, the Business Plan Clinic has grown by serving over one hundred companies and is now part of B-W's Center for Innovation and Growth.

Professor Bessler has served for 14 years as trustee and board chair of Diversity Center of Northeast Ohio, Inc., formerly know as The National Conference of Community and Justice and the National Conference of Christians and Jews (NCCJ), the Race Relations Organization, a human relations organization fighting bias, bigotry and racism through education and intervention. He is also a board member of the Anti-Defamation League ( ADL), an organization that has been combating anti-Semitism and bigotry of all kinds for over 90 years.

He is a graduate of Northeastern University (Boston), where he earned a B.S.E.E and M.B.A.