Our Teaching Focus

Biola's role as a Christian graduate university is not to make a leader, but rather to educate, sharpen and deepen the raw leadership abilities placed there through God's design and your early life experiences. The MOL has brought together a faculty possessing extensive real life experience and theoretical understanding to provide the insight, developmental environment, coaching, personalized feedback and skills training that can make the difference between leadership excellence and mediocrity for students of the program.

REPRESENTATIVE LIST OF FACULTY FOR THE MASTER OF ARTS IN ORGANIZATIONAL LEADERSHIP

Jeffrey Decker
Ph.D., Drucker School of Management, Claremont Graduate School/University
MBA, Kent State University
B.A. in Business, Kent State University

Jeff Decker brings several years of high-level management experience to the MOL program through his previous role as a senor-level executive in the insurance industry. His teaching career includes that of professor and director of the executive management and MBA programs at the Peter F. Drucker Graduate School of Management. Jeff received the Harry S. Nerhood award for teaching excellence at Whittier College in 1997. In addition, he has taught at Pepperdine University's Graziadio School of Business and Management.

Jill Bedell
Ed.D., Human Development, Biola University
M.A., Personality and Vocational Development, Azusa Pacific University
M.A., Counseling, Biola University
M.A., Bible and Theology, Talbot Theological Seminary
B.A. Physical Education, Westmont College

Jill Bedell is a noted expert in the field of outdoor experiential learning, personality and vocational development. She has worked as a career counselor and as a seminar speaker and team leader for Summit Adventure. Most recently she has been a professor of Bible and theology at Biola University.

Philip Diehm
M.B.A., Pepperdine University
B.A., California State University, Long Beach

Philip Diehm is president of Strategic Marketing Concepts, a marketing research consulting group serving a wide range of educational, service and professional organizations. As a marketing consultant, researcher, author, teacher and speaker, Philip has developed a wealth of practical experience and the ability to implement business solutions.

Rex Johnson
Ph.D., Fuller Theological Seminary
M.R.E., Talbot School of Theology
M.A., Biola University
B.A., University of California, Los Angeles

Rex Johnson is Associate professor of Christian Ministry and Leadership at Talbot. He is one of the cornerstone professors in the Intentional Character Development program at Talbot as well. Rex trains teachers and pastors in Russia, Ukraine, Mozambique and other countries around the world. He has contributed to Christian magazines, journals and texts and has published several books, including Characteristics of a Caring Home with Dr H. Norman Wright.

Scott Rae
Ph.D., Social Ethics, University of Southern California
M.A., Ethics, University of Southern California
Th.M., Dallas Theological Seminary; B.A., Economics, Southern Methodist University

Nationally known for his five books and dozens of published articles on ethical issues, Scott Rae is also the ethical advisor to numerous Southern California hospitals in the area of medical ethics. He is the co-author of Beyond Integrity, a textbook on business ethics from a Christian perspective.

Ronald Smedley
M.S., Industrial Psychology, California State University, Long Beach
B.S. Psychology, Biola College

As Director of Human Resources for well-known Southern California manufacturing companies and a consultant in HR and labor law for the past 15 years, Ron Smedley has developed a wealth of practical experience filtered through a biblical world view. He has been an adjunct faculty member at Biola for over 10 years and was a founding faculty member of Biola's bachelor's degree in Organizational Leadership. In addition to corporate clients, Ron has consulted foreign governments, the U.S. Department of Justice and the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

Van Wray
M.S., Computer Science, California State University, Fullerton
B.S. in Computer Science, California State University, Stanislaus

Van Wray serves as Vice President of Development for the Evangelical Christian Credit Union, and specializes in internet development and e-commerce. He has done extensive project management in this area, and has spoken at conferences and written articles on the subject. In addition, he has taught at Biola for both the BOLD program and the Crowell School of Business.