In every class, our SAEM faculty bring a solid background in business as well as real-life work experiences in sports, arts and entertainment management.
With connections to internships and hands-on course work, you can expect to be challenged and guided by these passionate business professionals.
Meet the Full-Time Faculty in the SAEM Department
Steve Tanzilli, J.D., Co-Founder
Steve Tanzilli, J.D., is the co-founder of the SAEM program at Point Park University, in which he served as professor and chair. Currently, he is the dean of Point Park's Rowland School of Business.
Tanzilli ran his own sports talent agency, Sports Legends Group, a full-service marketing, finance and law firm for professional athletes. He has worked with players from the Pittsburgh Steelers and other high profile clients. His background includes 12 years of experience with 141 Worldwide Sports and Entertainment where he worked closely with clients such as Coca-Cola, 84 Lumber, Sunoco, TOPPS, ESPN, and Kraft Foods. In addition, Tanzilli has worked with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Johnston Steel Baseball Club, International Sports Marketing and Communicator Sports Marketing.
Robert Derda, M.S., Chair and Associate Professor
SAEM Associate Professor and Chair Robert Derda brings 12 years of teaching experience and more than 25 years in professional sports experience to his position. His teaching includes graduate and undergraduate as well as guest speaking in the Rowland School of Business at Point Park University, the A.J. Palumbo School of Business at Duquesne and the University of Pittsburgh College of Business Administration.
Derda's professional background includes full-time work and consultant roles most recently as general manager at Learfield Sports, as well as previously with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Duquesne University athletics, the National Basketball Association, the Women's National Basketball Association, Clear Channel Communications, the Pittsburgh Riverhounds, International Sports Marketing and others. Additionally, he has been invited to present at the National Sports Forum and other conferences and events on sales and career development topics.
Paige Beal, MBA, Associate Professor
The common thread in Associate Professor Paige Beal's business career is entertainment media technology. Her business career includes media marketing and management in radio (Clear Channel - 3WS), TV (Comcast Spotlight - ESPN, USA, TNT, AMC, CNN, MTV, etc.) and Internet (WPXI - Cox). Her multimedia expertise translated into the success of Moxie Marketing Media Consultancy conducting training programs for media sales.
That training experience foreshadowed a teaching career at Point Park University in the sports, arts and entertainment management department of the School of Business. Beal took a three-year hiatus from Point Park University to rejoin Comcast — and has now come full circle to bring her professional connections and experience back into the classroom. She is also co-founder of I'llgo2!, a social platform connecting people to the arts.
Melinda Colaizzi, Assistant Professor
Melinda Colaizzi is the founder of Women Who Rock and Pitch Consulting and has been a leader at global companies like Live Nation/Ticketmaster and ShowClix. She is a graduate of Berklee College of Music. Women Who Rock has united some of the biggest names in music to rock the future of women’s health and hosts an annual benefit concert featuring a 100% female-fronted music lineup with proceeds benefiting life-saving women's health research.
Colaizzi's background in the entertainment industry has spanned from working with Aerosmith, "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," Comedy Central, Sheila E. and more. She is a GRAMMY member at The Recording Academy, part of the Gibson Gives Influencers group and was a 2020 finalist for Ad Week's The Future Is Female Award.
Staying true to her first passion of music, Colaizzi is a national recording artist and lead singer of the blues/rock band Melinda and the Night Sky. The band has shared the stage with iconic acts like the legendary B.B. King Blues Band. In 2020, Melinda and the Night Sky collaborated on an exclusive beer with North Country Brewing, which won the prestigious ARTBREW award.
Teresa Gregory, M.F.A., Associate Professor
Over her 25-year career in arts and higher education, Associate Professor Teresa Gregory, M.F.A., has been a high-level, results-oriented fundraiser and administrator with extensive expertise in all aspects of development and non-profit management. She has been part of the leadership team on campaigns ranging in size from $200,000 to $40 million for a wide variety of organizations.
Gregory has been a team member of such arts organizations as the California Theatre Council, the Los Angeles Theater Center, Stamford Center for the Arts, StageWest (MA), Tennessee Repertory Theatre and Yale Repertory Theatre/Yale School of Drama. In Pittsburgh, she has worked at the Green Building Alliance and at Robert Morris University.
Ed Traversari, MBA, Professor
Professor Ed Traversari has more than 46 years of live entertainment management expertise including being partner in the local Pittsburgh concert promotion company, DiCesare Engler Productions. DiCesare Engler produced concerts at the Stanley Theatre (which they later sold to the Cultural District to become The Benedum Center), the Syria Mosque, A.J. Palumbo Center, Mellon Arena and Heinz Field among others. His duties at DiCesare Engler included talent buyer, director of marketing, production manager and general manager of the Chevrolet Amphitheatre at Station Square. In 1999, DiCesare Engler Productions was purchased by SFX Entertainment, which was later sold to Clear Channel Entertainment and most recently spun off to Live Nation, the largest producer of live entertainment events in the United States.
In addition to teaching, Traversari consults on various projects including working with PBS-TV producers TJ Lubinsky and Henry DeLuca producing concerts for PBS television, and producing culture festivals at Sandcastle. Traversari has been interviewed by KDKA radio and KDKA-TV and was featured as guest on the PCNC show "Night Talk."
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