University of California, Santa Barbara
   

Dr. Mark Orlando

Dr. Mark Orlando is a professor, consultant, and coach of sport business, organizational creativity, and professional development with over 10 years of progressive experience in both academic and professional working environments. His approach to the classroom setting is creative, interactive and student friendly, which has been recognized through various awards, honors, and nominations on behalf of various departments and student organizations at the University of California Santa Barbara. In addition to his responsibilities as a lecturer for the Department of Exercise & Sport Studies, Dr. Orlando serves as an academic advisor for the Sport Management certification program where he oversees program innovation, curriculum design, and academic record maintenance. In just one-year, he processed and increased certification completions by 33% for the department. Additionally, for the past four years Dr. Orlando has built a strong marketing presence from the ground up for the Department of Exercise & Sport Studies that has collectively established 6,187 followers via social media (most notably, 3,323 for Facebook, 1735 for LinkedIn, and 947 for Twitter). He has also conceptualized and chaired six bi-annual department conferences showcasing 354 student/team centered academic and entrepreneurial research proposals, thereby creating unique opportunities for students to learn about applicable skill sets. In addition to these extracurricular efforts, Dr. Orlando’s passion and dedication in his work is to assist current students as they bridge the gap from being students/graduates to becoming professionals. As such, he has dedicated himself to establishing the Sport Management Career Club/ESS Cert Fellows program that provides students experience and networking opportunities with local and regional sport affiliated organizations. This includes, but is not limited to, ESPN Big West Productions, IMG College Los Angeles, Special Olympics Santa Barbara, and the Santa Barbara Foresters. Outside of his role at UCSB, Dr. Orlando has experience working in the sport field for such organizations as Anschutz Entertainment Group and Professional Golf Association, as well as worked in the recreational and fitness arena. Furthermore, Dr. Orlando also teaches seminars, courses, and university workshops at Pepperdine University’s Grazadio School of Business and Management, UCLA’s Summer Discovery Program, Mira Costa College’s Emerging Leaders Institute, and UCSB ’s Professional and Continuing Education. He even has his own consultancy that educates aspiring and progressive professionals, and gives students the foundation for building necessary soft skills, branding an image, and putting the work into network. Dr. Orlando holds a B.A. in History from California Lutheran University, a M.A. in Sport Management from the University of San Francisco, and an Ed.D. in Organizational Leadership from Pepperdine University. As an educator and mentor, his vision and personal goal is to provide students of all levels, backgrounds, and personal objectives resources and knowledge that could assist them with their prospective careers and professional development.

 

 

Courses Taught

  • ESS 100 Research, Inquiry and Entrepreneurship in Exercise & Sport
  • ESS 132 Sport Sociology
  • ESS 130 Sport Administration
  • ESS 140 Sport Management
  • ESS 160 Current Issues in Sports