By Lauren Campbell, Staff Writer
Originally Published February 6, 2024
The McKenna School of Business welcomed several new professors at the start of the 2023 Fall Semester, including Accounting Instructor Christina Gibson and Finance Professor Dr. Christian Kalhöfer.
Gibson is excited to bring her experience in the corporate world, especially her work with companies like EY and Deloitte, to the students at Saint Vincent College (SVC). She is excited to transition into an academic setting after spending nearly 14 years working in the accounting department at Kennametal. Professor Gibson lives in Greensburg, PA, with her husband, Mark, and their two daughters.
“I wanted to make a change from corporate life to academia. To start this transition to academia, I had been adjusting at SVC, as well as some other local institutions,” said Gibson. “I found that SVC was the best fit for me, with small class sizes allowing for a personalized touch, the benediction values, and the friendliness of both students and staff. I really loved it from the beginning and was thrilled when an opportunity to teach full time at SVC presented itself.”
Now at SVC, Gibson hopes to accomplish higher enrollment rates for the accounting department by promoting the program to various local high schools. She spoke highly of the school’s accounting program, which has both high job placement and CPA pass rates.
“I think prospective students from these local high schools don’t always realize the educational value that is right in their backyard,” said Gibson.
Kalhöfer is married with two children and holds a Ph.D. in Finance and a master’s degree in Business Administration and Mechanical Engineering. He previously worked as a professor of Finance in Egypt, Cairo, Paris, and several places in Germany. Most recently, he was Academic Director for the Master of Science Programs at a private Business school in Montabaur, Germany.
Dr. Mattias Hühn, a professor at the McKenna School and a good friend of Kalhöfer, was the one to bring SVC to his attention. Kalhöfer spoke highly of the school and his colleagues in the McKenna School.
“I like [SVC] a lot. The colleagues at McKenna are great, the students are friendly, willing to learn, and very polite.”
Kalhöfer’s hopes to use his time at SVC to get more students interested in the field of finance and improve the school’s bank management.
“I want to get students excited about finance because it is an important and extremely interesting field. In addition, I would like to strengthen the school’s competence in state-of-the-art bank management, which is my second area of expertise.”
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