Business Faculty

Laurinda Calongne, EdD

Dr. Calongne received her MSW degree from Tulane University and her Master of Education from University of Southern California. She completed a one-year fellowship in Medical Education at USC Keck School of Medicine. She earned her Doctor of Education with a specialization in leadership and management from Capella University. She has an executive certification in Strategy and Innovation from MIT and is a certified executive coach.

In 2001 she was appointed by President George W. Bush to represent all teaching hospitals to the Council on Graduate Medical Education (COGME) and served in that role for four years. During her tenure on COGME, the council published four congressional reports including two landmark reports “Minorities in Medicine: An Ethic and Cultural Challenge for Physician Training” and “Women in Medicine”. These congressional reports served as foundation for federal policy and grants encouraging medical schools to increase the enrollment of women and minorities in medicine.

Prior to joining FranU, Dr. Calongne served as Chief Academic Officer and Designated Institutional Officer for Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center. During her leadership tenure the hospital transitioned from a community hospital to a nationally recognized academic medical center, experienced a 400% growth in medical residents rotating on campus, developed the research enterprise, won the Alliance of Independent Academic Medical Centers (AIAMC) Innovation Award and was selected as one of eight institutions by the Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) to participate in their Pursuing Excellence Initiative.

Pearce Cinman, MBA, MPA

Pearce Cinman, Program Director, Business and Assistant Professor of Business and Management, received his MBA and MPA from Louisiana State University. He has served as an educator for over 23 years, and has over 15 years of direct experience in business programing and development, including as a small business owner, a fiscal analyst at the state legislative level, a public/private sector policy researcher (BI), a business lobbyist, and seven years in HiEd as Business faculty. Pearce is a 3-time alumnus of Louisiana State University; he possesses a BA with a focus on Industrial Sociology, as well as master's degrees in Business Administration (MBA) and Public Administration (MPA) focusing on Public Policy, Economic Development, and Organizational Behavior. He is also a graduate of LSU's Center for Internal Audit program.

Riaz Ferdaus, PhD

Dr. Riaz Ferdaus, Associate Professor and Director of the Health Services Administration program, received his Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) from Dhaka Medical College in Bangladesh in 1997. Dr. Ferdaus continued his studies at the Institute of Health Economics, Dhaka, Bangladesh. He was awarded Post-Graduate Diploma in Health Economics in 1999. He earned his Ph.D. in Health Policy from Nelson Mandela School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs at Southern University and A&M College, Baton Rouge, LA in 2008.