Dr. Ryan Ladner moved to Northwest Arkansas in 2015 to teach at JBU and lead the undergraduate department in the College of Business. In 2017, he transitioned from the department head for undergraduate studies to the department head for the Graduate Business Programs.  He has a B.S.B.A., in Personal Financial Planning from The University of Southern Mississippi, an M.B.A., from Mississippi College, an M.A., in Theological Studies from Liberty University, and a D.B.A., in Marketing from George Fox University.

Before his role at JBU, Dr. Ladner was a District Sales Leader in the Frito-Lay division of PepsiCo North America. After leaving PepsiCo, he served in various roles in higher education including Director of Enrollment and Assistant Professor of Business at Bryan College and Assistant Professor of Marketing at Palm Beach Atlantic University.

Dr. Ladner teaches courses in strategy and marketing at the undergraduate and graduate levels and he conducts research as well as presents in the areas of active learning, college choice theory, team-based learning, and digital marketing. He also earned the online marketing certified associate designation and serves as the Director of Marketing for the Christian Business Faculty Association.

Dr. Ladner enjoys working out, playing sports and competing in intramurals. He is married and has two children – one boy and one girl. He and his family reside in Siloam Springs.

With both her B.S.B.A. and M.B.A. from JBU and her D.B.A. from George Fox University, Dr. Eva Fast teaches courses in entrepreneurship and innovation, as well as, marketing and management at the undergraduate level.  Prior to teaching, she worked in the marketing department at Simmons Foods where she gained valuable experience assisting in marketing research, conducting demand planning and participating in national trade shows.

Dr. Fast has led several student teams to compete annually in the Reynolds Governor’s Cup Business Plan Competition. Those teams have brought home over $100,000 in cash prizes.  She likes to see students develop their gifts and surprise themselves in the process. She also values hard work and strives to build confidence in her students through her walk with God.

Dr. Linda Vytlacil, former Vice President for Data Science/Global Data & Analytics Platforms for Walmart Labs, is a recognized people leader and commercial manager with extensive experience in building teams and creating analytics capabilities to harness profitably the power of big data analytics.  With business development experience and P&L responsibilities in global consulting services, Dr. Vytlacil is a successful and award-winning team leader who is skilled at identifying and developing talent.  She brings numerous skills to the classroom including technical credentials in advanced analytics across customer domains such as strategy, loyalty, digital marketing, pricing strategy, retail, product innovation, market research, econometrics, demand forecasting and performance measurement.