Joseph V. Russo, PhD
Curriculum Vitae
EDUCATION
2016 PhD – University of Nevada; Focus Area: Counselor Education and Supervision; Dissertation Title: The Effects of Social Media Marketing on Help-Seeking Behavior: An examination of the ethical dilemmas posed by the presence of psychotherapists on the various social media platforms.
2013 MBA – University of Nevada; Focus Area: Social Media Marketing; Minor: Accounting and Finance
2010 MA – University of Nevada; Subject Area: Educational Psychology; Focus Area: Marriage and Family Therapy
1979 BBA – Accounting and Finance – California State University Northridge; Minor: Business Ethics
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCES
2015 – Present Professional Life Coach, Private Practice, based in Laramie, Wyoming
As a Life Coach I tap my many years of experience as a professional mental health counselor and executive mentor (detailed later in this CV). Life Coaches are not that different from what you can expect from a mental health therapist. We engage our clients as they wish to be engaged, set goals and objectives for our work together, and offer alternatives approaches to the challenges wrought by life and career. Most of my clients are US-based (and most of those from around the country, not just in Wyoming), some are from Australia and Europe, and many have been with me for several years. The work is incredibly satisfying, and (I hope and pray) productive for both me and my client.
2015 – Present Part-Time Instructor, College of Education, University of Wyoming
I was retained as an adjunct member of the faculty of the College of Education to teach, on an as-needed basis, various courses within its School of Teacher Education. Courses taught face-to-face include Professional Ethics, Foundations of Human Growth and Development, and Research Methods. Online courses taught include Foundations of Human Development and Research Methods. Teaching evaluations have been consistently high (averaging 4.8 – 4.99 out of 5, with 100% student participation in the evaluation process). In years 2018, 2019, 2020, and again in 2022, I was awarded the prestigious UW PIE Award recognizing my role in the Promoting of Intellectual Engagement of freshmen students at UW. In 2023, I received top honors as a Mortar Board-Top Prof here at the University of Wyoming.
Supervisors in this role: Dr. Alan Buss, Associate Dean of the School of Teacher Education, and Dr. Scott Thomas, Dean of the College of Education.
2015- 2021 Part-Time Instructor, College of Business, University of Wyoming
Invited to be a part-time instructor within the University’s College of Business, I taught Introduction to International Business and its MBA Capstone Class within the College’s MBA program. Tapping my experience gained from several foreign country postings for Microsoft and other employers, the College asked me to lead its MBA students through a survey course intended to prepare them for multi-national enterprise employment. In the Capstone Class, I “wrapped up” their training as MBAs with a wide-ranging examination of case studies and other matters intended to cement their business learnings. MBA candidates at the University of Wyoming partner with Pforzheim University in Pforzheim, Germany, for an intensive month-long immersion in European Union business activity.
Supervisor in this role was Dr. Ben Cook, Director of the MBA Program.
2015 – 2018 Program Director, Distance Counseling Initiative, College of Outreach Studies, University of Wyoming.
The University of Wyoming, as one of America’s Land Grant Institutions, has long offered what used to be called “correspondence studies.” Of late, such studies have been offered online to non-traditional students residing outside of Laramie, Wyoming (the site of UW’s traditional campus-based, in-class teaching). Students online, however, are no less susceptible to mental health issues than on-campus students – suffering from maladies such as depression, loneliness, anxiety, relationship issues, etc. – but have been under-served by the counseling profession. The initiative, which ended for me in early 2018, sought to offer mental health services via online modalities through what has come to be known as tele-counseling, tele-mental health, and tele-medicine. At program’s completion, we served 86 students, accruing some 900 hours of treatment with a 100% return rate and zero no-shows.
2014 – 2015 Member, Board of Trustees, Counseling Association of South Australia
As a member of the Executive Governing Committee of this professional organization, I assumed specific duties as its Membership Convener, responsible for both clinical and professional membership applications, as well as renewal requests. Accomplishments during this time frame included a successful restructuring of membership categories to match those mandated by the country’s highest governance authority, the Psychotherapist and Counselor Federation of Australia (PACFA). I also drove a complete re-design of the Association’s database in support of the membership restructuring, and a complete overhaul of the Association’s social media presence and communication strategy.
I was also a professional member of Australia’s highest governance authority for mental health professionals (PACFA) and served on a special committee responsible for nation-wide implementation of codes of ethics, research standards, operational optimization, and governmental inquiries. Achievements included a successful reorganization of the body. Australia remains one of the few countries in the world which still permit professional bodies to self-govern. Also see Consulting Activities below.
2013-2015 Chair, Key Group N° 119, The Executive Connection (TEC), Adelaide South Australia.
When my wife was appointed to a professorship at the University of South Australia in May of 2013, we relocated to Adelaide, South Australia. I joined this executive coaching firm shortly thereafter and assumed chair responsibilities for a group of mid-sized company key executives. The position leveraged my background as a business leader as well as my new-found skills as a counselor and mediator. A chair assists his clients to achieve greater success in business and personal life, acting as a: Business coach – Chairs have broad business experience and training they share with their clients to use in their organization; as a Mentor –a Chair act as a trusted confidant to help inspire, challenge and guide executives and leaders to greater personal success; and as a Change agent – Chairs inspire and assist their clients to tackle the tough challenges in their business and personal lives.
2013 – 2015 Marriage and Family Therapist, Adelaide, South Australia
Shortly after relocating to South Australia, I also began practicing as a therapist serving the greater Adelaide metropolitan area, as well as those located (in some cases) many hundreds of kilometers from Adelaide. My work centered principally on the needs of individuals, men in transition (from active working lives to retirement), returning servicemen and women, couples in distress, and families. My theoretical orientation is based on the tenets of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy. I pioneered distance counseling while in this role, seeking to serve South Australian’s living far away from the state’s capital. Their mental health needs were substantial during a time when traditional “bush industries” such as mining were undergoing a rapid decline.
2012 – 2013 Special Assistant to the Vice Provost for Student Learning Objectives
Reporting to the Vice Provost of the University of Nevada at Reno, I developed an entire program around the establishing of “student learning objectives” (SLOs) as a measurable indicator of student and institutional success. I integrated the SLO framework into campus-wide systems, and then introduced the SLO program to all faculty and staff in this 17,000-student institution of higher learning in Northern Nevada.
2007 – 2013 Graduate Teaching Assistant, University of Nevada, Reno.
As a full-time doctoral student at UNR, I taught eight undergraduate and graduate-level courses in educational psychology, organizational psychology, counselor ethics, and financial management in the mental health care sector. Among courses designed and then taught were:
Introduction to Counseling Psychology; Family Systems; Mental Health Practica; Counselor Ethics; and Mental Health Practice Management Essentials
2002 – 2006 Regional Vice President, Xerox Business Services, San Francisco.
I began work at Affiliated Computer Services (now a part of Xerox) in 2002 as a senior manager responsible for new business development. In 2004, I became the first Strategic Business Unit Manager appointed by ACS to look after its relationship with key national and international accounts (in my case, American President Lines in Oakland, California, an account worth some $27M to ACS worldwide).
I was awarded the company’s Rising Star® commendation in 2003 after a successful first year and the saving of a key piece of business in the firm’s western region.
Later, in 2005, I was promoted to Regional Vice President for ACS’ west region, responsible for a budget of $170m, and an employee base of 1,700. As ACS underwent restructuring for its eventual acquisition by Xerox, I left the company and returned to graduate school full time.
1999 – 2001 Senior Manager, Microsoft Licensing Worldwide, Reno, Nevada.
In my role as Senior Manager, I managed a group of senior staff responsible for the relationship between Microsoft and its largest account re-sellers (LARs) throughout North and South America. Overall growth in this period was on the order of 20% year-over-year, resulting in complex organizational and procedural challenges. I was responsible for innovative and systemic process changes, including the establishment of a “franchising approach” to corporate legal oversight of various contract documents, the changes to which while significant were too numerous for corporate legal to handle efficiently. We took on this responsibility locally and then reported on activities back to Corporate Counsel in Seattle, resulting in large savings of time, money, and customer satisfaction. I earned the respect of many LARs throughout a region that had previously not been adequately served by Microsoft.
1982 – 1999 Various Senior Executive Positions at Centergistic Solutions, Inc., Newport Beach, California.
I joined this telecommunications company — headquartered in Newport Beach, California, with offices in Toronto, London, New York and St. Louis — after performing its certified audits for three years, as Accounting Manager. As the company grew, so did my role in its financial affairs.
In 1983 I became Controller, in 1984 Chief Financial Officer and Member of the Board of Directors.
In 1985, I was entrusted with the development of the company’s various real estate holdings, including construction of the company’s headquarters building in Los Angeles and an historic redevelopment of the company’s data center building located in a revolutionary war-era series of storefronts in Troy, New York.
In 1986, as acting-CEO and a member of the Board’s executive search committee, I was responsible for the hiring of a new chief executive officer (CEO). In 1988, I led a team that successfully completed the purchase of a division of IBM Corporation, and later that year worked in the San Francisco Bay Area to amalgamate that purchase into the larger company.
In 1990, I was part of a team that successfully acquired Metropolitan Tele-Communication Systems (MTC) of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and in 1991, I was selected to move to Toronto complete the merger of MTC and assume responsibility for the company’s Canadian affairs. In 1993, I was a part of what was then the company’s largest sale to date: a sale of various telephony systems to British Telecom in London. I spent considerable amounts of time in London during this period and at one point spent the better part of a year on the ground running operations.
In 1995, I relocated to New York City as the company’s regional vice president and worked to consolidate the recent acquisition of a telecoms billing and auditing firm. In 1997, I led a team which successfully acquired Affinitec Computer Corporation of St. Louis, and later that same year, I relocated to Missouri to run the division.
In 1998, I was relocated again back to the firm’s HQ in Newport Beach where I was Executive Vice President during a time of hectic growth within the Internet and Broadband communications sectors. I transferred shortly thereafter to a Microsoft operational unit in Reno, Nevada.
1979 – 1981 Staff Accountant/Audit Supervisor, Grant Thornton LLP Certified Public Accountants
Then known as Alexander Grant and Company, Grant Thornton was just outside of the group of Big Eight accounting firms. It offered its staff very real exposure to a multitude of industry types, from gaming (Caesar’s World Entertainment was its largest client worldwide at the time), to local government (where I gained invaluable exposure to governmental accounting methods), to small independent banking concerns throughout California. I was recruited into the firm out of college and progressed from Staff Accountant to Audit Supervisor for a number of mid-size certified audit engagements. The exposure was priceless and groomed me for all the financial management and leadership positions that were to come.
VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE AND CAUSES
Member, Board of Directors, Wyoming Catholic Ministries Foundation – in this role, I served at the pleasure of the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Wyoming, along with several other notable businesspeople from around the state as well as leading members of the priesthood who serve various parishes in places such as Laramie, Sheridan, Jackson Hole, Casper, and Cheyenne. The Foundation is tasked with managing a sizable endowment dedicated to the furtherance of Catholic ministry in the state, contributions to the Cathedral Home for Children in Laramie, and to individual parishes by means of grant money to further activities in their locales.
Chairman, Wyoming Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association of America, Laramie, Wyoming – in this role, I chaired a board comprised of eight members from around the state all of whom are committed to assisting the Executive Director of the state chapter as he seeks to both broaden and deepen the reach of the Association into rural Wyoming. The charter of the Association includes the dissemination of information and available resources intended to help those with loved ones suffering from the dreaded condition.
Child Protective Officer – Archdiocese of Adelaide, South Australia – Civil Rights and Social Action – in this role, I served the Archdiocese in all matters pertaining to the protection of its children from abuse, both from within the Church and without.
Chair of the Board of Trustees – MetRX Foundation for Health Enhancement – With an endowment of US$1.2Bn, the Foundation had worldwide impact in the area of engineered food distribution into impoverished parts of the planet.
Chair of the Board of Directors – Lifesavers International – the original bone marrow transplant database formed in the late 1970s and later merged into America’s March of Dimes.
Member, Board of Directors – Nevada Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, a chartered state organization of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapists (AAMFT).
CONSULTING ACTIVITIES
1997 Consultant to The Red Rose Catalog, a specialty products catalog with distribution to 2.5m households in the US and Canada, on matters pertaining to a massive shift from an exclusively print media marketing strategy to a hybrid digital/print media strategy. I was engaged to optimize the Catalog’s fulfillment operations, then based in San Francisco, into a new distribution center based in Tennessee, rationalize digital subscription and purchasing methods to the new distribution center, and to make personnel recommendations for new management structures.
2009 As a function of a grant awarded by AmeriCorps, I was asked to assist in anger management workshops inside of an inner-city elementary school in Reno, Nevada. Working primarily with 7th and 8th graders, the work consisted of group sessions with identified problem children with anger issues, as well as with interested faculty in the management of in-class challenges.
2010 Informal consultation to the University of Nevada and its Downing Counseling Teaching Clinic, at the request of the Department Chair, as it sought to implement state-of-the-art real time monitoring of master’s student practicum activities involving both University students and members of the local community. I assessed existing networking and audio-visual infrastructure, recommended new infrastructure to support the new monitoring technologies (cameras in every treatment room, a central monitoring station, with links to professor offices for ad Hoc observation of activities).
2011 Consulted to the Associate Dean (Dr. Thomas C. Harrison) for the College of Education, University of Nevada, Reno, on its CACREP renewal for the years 2012-2016; assisted the Associate Dean in compilation of all renewal application attachments, researched relevant data in support of the application, liaised to faculty whose classes required syllabi adjustment to CACREP standards, and other assorted data mining activities in support of the application process.
2014 Consultant to the Psychotherapy and Counseling Federation of Australia, PACFA, as it moved to institute a variety of operational changes to conform to government requests, as well as a modernization and rationalization of its code of ethics to conform to the Australian Psychology Association Code of Ethics as well as to achieve some degree of fidelity to both British and American codes.
2015 Consultant to Scaled Management Systems, a South Australian firm engaged in food and factory floor safety audits, to assist the company with a period of rapid growth. Work originally began as a function of my role as TEC Chair (detailed above in Professional Experiences) but was then engaged separately.
2018 I led a team of, and was faculty adviser to, MBA Candidates engaged in a summer consulting project with Blue Federal Credit Union based in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Our work resulted in a detailed examination of credit union operational best practices and commentary on how to leverage Blue’s tremendous corporate culture into newly acquired banking units.
2019 I led a team of, and was faculty adviser to, MBA Candidates engaged in a summer consulting project with Sky Dex, a $20mm company based in Denver, Colorado. Our work resulted in a detailed examination of alternative applications for the client company’s innovative mattress products. New markets and new products were extensively examined.
2021 I led a team of, and was faculty adviser to, MBA Candidates engaged in a summer consulting project with Manufacturing Works (MW), a joint-Federal and State program aimed at increasing business presence in the State of Wyoming. Our work resulted in a comprehensive examination of MW’s outreach to both existing companies in the state, and those thinking of coming to the state, as to what brought them to the state and (more importantly) what keeps them here.
CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS
Russo, J. V. (2011). Ethnographic and Qualitative Research Conference (June 2011). Master Student’s Psychotherapy Theoretical Orientation: A Qualitative Inquiry into the Decision-Making Process as to the Selection of a Counseling Theory of Choice. Cedarville, Ohio.
Russo, J.V., and Bruce, M.A. (2017). Matthew Shepard Symposium. Tele-mental Health and The Under-served in the State of Wyoming. Laramie, Wyoming.
Russo, J.V. and Bruce, M.A. (2017). Wyoming Counselor’s Association. Click here for help: Tele-Mental Health to Wyoming’s Rural Population. Cody, Wyoming.
Scull, W.R. and Russo, J.V. (2017). Distance Teaching and Learning Conference, 2017, University of Wisconsin, Madison. Innovations in Mental Health Care: Distance counseling at the University of Wyoming. Madison, Wisconsin.
Russo, J.V., Bruce, M.A., and Scull, W.R. (2017). Wyoming Innovations in Education Conference 2017. Tele-Mental Health Delivery at the University of Wyoming: Innovation in Motion. Laramie, Wyoming.
PUBLICATIONS
Russo, J. V., Bruce, M. A, and Scull, W. R. (2016). Click here for mental health support: Extending mental health services to the isolated learner. Recruiting and Retaining Adult Learners, 19(4), Josey-Bass: San Francisco.
Russo, J.V., Bruce, M.A., and Scull, W.R. (2017) in press. Tele-Mental Health at the University of Wyoming. Recruiting and Retaining Adult Learners, 20(1), Josey-Bass: San Francisco.
CERTIFICATIONS and AWARDS
Nationally Certified Counselor® (NCC), awarded by the National Board of Certified Counselor, Richmond, Virginia, upon successful passing of the National Counselor’s Examination (2012), maintained through year-over-year continuing education in ethics and clinical practice.
Rising Star® Award, Xerox Business Services, 2003, awarded in recognition of exemplary performance at this global outsourcing firm, then based in Dallas, Texas.
PIE Award™, University of Wyoming, 2018, awarded in recognition of my work to “promote intellectual engagement” of college freshmen students.
PIE Award™, University of Wyoming, 2019, awarded a second time in recognition of my work promoting the “intellectual engagement of college freshmen.”
PIE Award™, University of Wyoming, 2020, awarded a third time in recognition of my work “promoting the intellectual engagement” of college freshmen.
PIE Award™, University of Wyoming, 2022, awarded a fourth time in recognition of my work “promoting the intellectual engagement” of college freshmen.
A Mortar Board™ – Top Prof Award – University of Wyoming, 2023, awarded this honor in recognition of my positive influence on the lives of students at UW. Quoting from the press release, “These professors go beyond normal classroom expectations to help their students succeed. Top Prof is an award that our members value greatly, as it allows students to recognize the faculty who have had an impact on their lives.” Mortar Board™ is the premier national honor society recognizing college seniors for outstanding achievement in scholarship, leadership and service; provides opportunities for continued leadership development; promotes service to colleges and universities; and encourages lifelong contributions to the global community.
REFERENCES – PROFESSIONAL AND ACADEMIC
Dr. Thomas C. Harrison, (Ret.) Professor and Former Associate Dean, University of Nevada, College of Education, 1664 No. Virginia Street M/S 280 Reno, Nevada 89557, Phone: (775) 233-4400 tch@unr.edu
Dr. Kambiz Raffiee, Professor and Associate Dean, University of Nevada, Reno, College of Business, 1664 No. Virginia Street M/S 280, Reno, Nevada 89557, Phone: (775) 682-9142 raffiee@unr.edu
Dr. Joseph Cline, Professor and Vice Provost, University of Nevada, Reno, 1664 No. Virginia Street M/S 005, Reno, Nevada 89557, Phone: (775) 784-1740, cline@unr.edu
Jerry Kleeman, Regional Chair, The Executive Connection (TEC), Level 4, 8 West Street, North Sydney, NSW 2059, AU: 1300 721 941, jerrykleeman@ozemail.com.au
Steve Greene, Director, Mid-Range Computing Infrastructure Services, Xerox Business Services, Phone: (214) 490-8219, spgnet@sbcglobal.net
Mr. Steve Farkas, Assistant Dean and MBA Program Director, University of Wyoming, College of Business, 1000 E. University Avenue, Laramie, WY 82070. sfarkas@uwyo.edu
REFERENCES – PERSONAL AND CHARACTER
Dr. Robert Dean Calvo, Vice President for Business Affairs/Treasurer
Scripps College – A member of The Claremont Colleges. 1030 Columbia Avenue, Claremont, CA 91711, Phone: (909) 621-8000, DCalvo@scrippscollege.edu
Grant D. Ashley, CPA, CGMA, formerly Vice-President Global Security and Corporate Aviation, Merck Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 2000 Galloping Hill Rd. K-1004A, Kenilworth, NJ 07033, Phone: (908) 740-1739, gda8011@aol.com
Dr. Richard McGuffin, Chief of Police (Ret.), City of South Lake Tahoe, 2615 Terra Court, Minden, NV 89423, Phone: (775) 790-6408, richmcguffin@gmail.com Dr. McGuffin is now a practicing therapist in the great Reno metropolitan area.
Fr. Peter Zwaans, Pastor and Archdiocesan Officer for Child Protection, Archdiocese of South Australia, 20 Montacute Rd., Hectorville, South Australia 5073, Phone: +61 (8) 8336 9988 Judy Holling, Office Secretary, fr.peterzwaans@gmail.com
Fr. Rob Spaulding, Pastor, St Paul’s Newman Center, Archdiocese of Cheyenne, 1800 E Grand Ave, Laramie, WY 82070. Phone (307) 262-3897
SUMMARY OF QUALIFICATIONS
EDUCATION
— Joe Russo holds degrees in business and educational psychology: a BBA, an MBA, MA, and PhD
— Gained extensive teaching experience at the graduate school level, both in business and educational psychology
— Has gained extensive consulting experience to senior educational leaders, including a Vice Provost and Associate Dean.
— Award-winning teacher and mentor to incoming freshman students at The University of Wyoming.
BUSINESS
— In a first career, Joe Russo spent 25+ years as a leader in some of the world’s largest companies.
— Has had extensive board-level experience in the USA, Canada, England, and Australia.
— Strong technology background, with significant accomplishments in digital workflow design.
— Drove product licensing initiatives within Microsoft and other large technology firms in support of re-seller partners, customers, and partners worldwide.
— Chaired advisory committees within Microsoft in support of product partners worldwide.
— Years of experience at the “C-Level” including chief financial, chief operations, and chief executive, level.
COUNSELING
— In a second career, Joe Russo has amassed 3000+ hours as a marriage and family therapist in the USA but principally through his work in Australia.
— Served as Executive Membership Director for the Counseling Association of South Australia (a professional self-governing board).
— Has a developed specialty within a theoretical orientation known as Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy.
— Pioneered distance counseling (or, so-called tele-mental health) in the state of South Australia, as well as at The University of Wyoming, serving clients located many hundreds of miles from the otherwise nearest therapist.
PERSONAL
— Joe Russo has traveled and lived internationally, in six cities, five different continents, and four different countries.
— Known to be always available to staff and students and respected for a no-nonsense approach.
— His Gallup Strengths Finder® Top Five[1] are: Intellection, Input, Discipline, Restorative, and Activator.
— Married to an Endowed Chair for Excellence in Literacy Education at the University of Wyoming.
— Interests include bike riding his eCycle, model railroading, and photography.