Finance and Economics Faculty and Staff

Glenn Brace is a veteran of the global insurance industry and, over a 30-year career, has completed several influential roles in the London insurance market. He has served as the chief claims officer of both Equitas, the Lloyd's of London reinsurer and run-off agent, and Catlin, formerly the largest Lloyd's of London syndicate. He oversaw operations in Europe, Asia, North America and Australia that were repeatedly recognized as the top-performing claims services in the Lloyd's of London community. He has also served on the Board of Directors of other insurance industry organizations. An honors graduate of the University of Virginia (BA) and the University of Virginia School of Law (JD), he was, prior to his career in insurance management, a partner in a major New England law firm and a member of the adjunct faculty of the University of Connecticut School of Law. Mr. Brace teaches the Principles of Insurance course at UTC.

Dr. Merita Cani has over 27 years of experience in the Albanian public and private sectors. She has worked in banking, microfinance, and consumer protection, and has been heavily involved with training, consulting and advisory services, and project management. She has over 12 years of academic teaching experience in Albania and Kosovo at both the undergraduate and graduate levels and serves as a coach for online courses in the USA, including for UTC's PMBA program. She has an MBA from George Washington University and a Ph.D. from the State University of Tirana, Albania. Dr. Cani will teach International Finance at UTC.

Mike Cloud has thirty years of experience in the banking industry, with most of his experience in the areas of lending, loan review, compliance and credit administration. He is currently a Commercial Loan Review Officer with FirstBank. Mr. Cloud has taught finance courses for UTC since August 1998. He graduated from UTC with a BS in Accounting and an MBA with a concentration in Finance. He has also taught Introduction to Corporate Finance at the undergraduate level at Dalton State College, and the undergraduate and MBA levels at Bryan College. When he is not working, Mr. Cloud enjoys spending time with his family and friends, and photographing natural scenery. Mr. Cloud teaches Financial Statement Analysis at UTC.

Dr. Peggy Douglas received her BA, M.S., and Ph.D. in Environmental Economics from the University of Tennessee. She has had a dual career in college teaching (economics, peace studies, and sociology), as well as, serving as a community and economic development consultant. Her educational pedagogy was significantly influenced by her experience working with two rather famous "popular" educators, Paulo Freire from Brazil and Myles Horton from the Highlander Folk School. Both were engaged in an adult form of education that centered on helping oppressed people create social and economic change in their communities. Dr. Douglas's publications and professional research have focused on environmental, economic and social justice which allowed her to teach and work in Appalachian and Latin American colleges such as the University of Tennessee, Antioch College, Livingstone College, and the University of Londrina in Brazil. She has been teaching college, both online and on-ground for over thirty years. Dr. Douglas teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in Economics at UTC.

Caroline Douglas-Bell received a B.S. in Wildlife & Fisheries and an M.S. in Agricultural Economics from the University of Tennessee. She started teaching economics in 2010 and prior to that worked 20 years in a corporate environment developing economic models that identify and measure key business drivers. She has experience teaching 250 managers and directors on the economic principles and practical use of analytic tools so they can develop effective management strategies and tactics to maximize customer satisfaction, revenue and minimize cost. She states “my years of experience using economic principles and guiding managers to successfully apply economics in their daily work provides a unique and effective environment for teaching the principles of economics.” Ms. Douglas-Bell teaches Principles of Economics for the Finance/Econ Department at the UTC Rollins College of  Business.

Mark C. Fleck is a Portfolio Manager at Patten and Patten, Inc., a wealth management firm in Chattanooga. Prior to joining the firm in 2008, he worked as a Senior Portfolio Manager for Highland Capital Management in Memphis, Tennessee. At Highland Capital, he was a member of the Equity Investment Selection Committee and also managed all municipal bond holdings for the firm. Mr. Fleck has worked as a Portfolio Manager for the State of Kentucky managing an investment portfolio of the state's operating funds. He has also served as the Investment Officer for the city of Columbus, Georgia, where he managed the city's investment portfolio and advised the city's Pension Board. He is a current Board Member and past President of the CFA Society of East Tennessee and a past member of the Board of United Cerebral Palsy in Memphis, Tennessee. He has also served on the School Advisory Board for Our Lady of Perpetual Help School ("OLPH"). Mr. Fleck earned a B.S. in Accounting from Christian Brothers University and an MBA in Finance from the University of Memphis. He earned his CFA designation in 2000. Mr. Fleck teaches Financial Institutions at UTC.

Eric James Kruger works as an international management consultant. For the past few years, he has been the lead international management consultant for Volkswagen Inc. in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He serves on the Board of the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce’s International Business Council, as well as on the Mayor of Chattanooga’s Violence Reduction Initiative. Mr. Kruger has worked for the United Nations, the InterAmerican Development Bank and for multinational corporations such as Johnson and Johnson, Heineken and Volkswagen; not-for-profit organizations, such as the Siskin Hospital for Children and the East Harlem Community Association; the World Trade Group of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey; and in private consulting. He has extensive experience in economic development in Africa, Latin America and the Middle East. He holds degrees in international economics from the London School of Economics, University College, London and the Graduate Faculty of the New School University in New York. Mr. Kruger has taught graduate and undergraduate courses in international business, public policy economics, and business at Columbia, Cornell and New York Universities. He is the author of several books and articles on international business and political economy and cross-cultural communication. Mr. Kruger teaches Principles of Macroeconomics at UTC.

Mark Miles has worked for both large and small firms with revenue ranging from $500,000 to $5 billion annually. His business expertise ranges from strategy development, financial reporting, financial analysis, budgeting, capital planning, procurement, and process improvement. Mr. Miles attended Shorter University in Rome, Georgia where he graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration with a dual concentration of Finance and Management and followed that up with his MBA. He received the prestigious Wall Street Journal Award for Excellence and was the Vice President of the Phi Chi Theta Business fraternity his senior year. Mr. Miles teaches Essentials of Managerial Finance and Small Business Finance at UTC.

Raymond V. Ryan is the President and a Portfolio Manager at Patten and Patten, Inc., a wealth management firm in Chattanooga. Prior to joining the firm in 1999, he worked in several areas of the capital markets, including investment banking for SunTrust Equitable Securities Corporation in Nashville. Prior to his tenure with SunTrust Equitable, Mr. Ryan worked in capital markets, including institutional fixed-income sales and trading, for Lehman Brothers. He is a CFA Charter holder and has served as an instructor with a leading CFA preparatory organization. He is a member of the American Economic Association and is a past President of the CFA Society of Chattanooga. Mr. Ryan is a member of the Advisory Board for the UT Chattanooga College of Business and the SMILE Fund, and serves on the Board of Trustees for The Bright School and The Chattanooga Girls Leadership Academy. Mr. Ryan has an A.B. in Economics from Princeton University. He teaches Derivative Securities at UTC.