Kiyan Shafieizadeh

Samuel Jay

Samuel Jay, Ph.D., is a professor of Communication Studies and interim executive director of Online Learning at Metropolitan State University of Denver.

Kelly Evans

Kelly Evans, Ph.D., is a sports management associate professor in the Department of Exercise and Sport Sciences at Metropolitan State University of Denver. She teaches a variety of courses, including sport promotion/marketing, sport enterprise/finance and intro to sport management.

As a practitioner, Evans was an integral member of a summer collegiate baseball team in the Coastal Plain League in South Carolina. She worked her way to become the league’s first female general manager within seven years. Evans also worked closely with MiLB, MLB, NFL and NBA teams in the areas of marketing, operations, sales, event management and finance. Her other work included helping plan local festivals, charity events and concerts in South Carolina.

Her research interests include sport and entertainment marketing, sport sponsorships and consumer behavior. Evans has presented her research at national and international conferences where she won research grants to continue her work in sport sponsorships.

Evans earned her doctorate, master’s and bachelor’s degrees in sport management and sport marketing from University of South Carolina in 2019, 2014 and 2010 respectfully.

Darrin Duber-Smith

Darrin C. Duber-Smith, M.S., MBA, is a senior lecturer at Metropolitan State University of Denver’s College of Business, where he teaches Sports Marketing, Green Marketing, Seminar in Marketing Management and Advertising Management courses.

Duber-Smith has more than 30 years of specialized expertise in the marketing and management profession, including decades of work with natural, organic and green/sustainable goods and services.

As president of Green Marketing, Inc. from 2000-16, Duber-Smith was a co-founder of the Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability market/industry model and was leader of the first U.S. industry task force that helped frame the Natural Products Association’s definition of natural in 2005.

He has co-authored several academic papers, including “State of the Economy and Attitudes Toward Sales Careers,” “Student Disposition Towards Sales as a Career,” “The Evolution of an Award-Winning Assessment Plan” and “Gender Bias in Consumer Perceptions of Salespeople.” He has published over 90 marketing-related articles and book chapters in various business publications, and he has been an invited speaker at over 50 executive-level events.

Duber-Smith has been the most frequently-interviewed marketing expert in Colorado media since 2005, and he authored Cengage Learning’s “KnowNow! Marketing” blog from 2011-2019.

Duber-Smith received The Wall Street Journal’s In-Education Distinguished Professor Award in 2009 and WSJ’s Top 125 Professor Award in 2014.

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