Cox Chair / Senior Fellows

Cox Chair

The Cable Center’s support of CX extends deeply into the academic and professional communities. The Cox Customer Care Initiative was launched by The Cable Center in 2005 and includes the establishment of the James M. Cox Endowed Chair for Customer Experience Management (CXM) at the University of Denver and Syndeo Institute. Dr. Charles Patti was appointed as the inaugural Cox Chair in 2006 and continues to serve in this role.

The Cox Endowed Chair—working closely The Cable Center and the Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver—launched the first CX management concentration at the MBA level. This unique program continues to influence CX curriculum throughout the world through collaborations with leading universities, conference presentations, articles in academic and professional journals, workshops, and short courses. According to former Cox Communications President Pat Esser, “the CX MBA program is a home run and exactly what the Cox family gave (The Cable Center) money for.”

Beyond the CXM MBA program, Dr. Patti and the Senior Fellows have developed several proprietary CX concepts and tools, including the CX Maturity Curve, the CX Audit, and research on CX ROI and CX measurement.

Senior Fellows

Syndeo Institute at The Cable Center has three Senior Fellows—Drs. Charles Patti, Ron Rizzuto, and Maria van Dessel—who serve as advisors on all topics related to customer experience, strategic planning, and the day-to-day strategy and management of C5 and all issues related to CX.

Charles Patti

Contact:

Email: cpatti@du.edu

Tel: 720.212.6971

Dr. Charles Patti

Dr. Patti is the James M. Cox Professor of Customer Experience Management and Senior Fellow at The Cable Center and a Professor Emeritus at the University of Denver and Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia. Professor Patti has deep international experience through consulting and academic appointments throughout Europe, Australia, and Southeast Asia, with extensive experience in building, delivering, and evaluating curricula in a wide range of settings, including doctoral seminars, MBA and other specialized postgraduate courses, undergraduate programs, and professional and corporate learning. He has special expertise in case method learning and has coordinated several case learning workshops, including a Harvard Business School case workshop. He was an early adopter of online teaching and learning technologies and developed several firsts in learning technology, including the first video case, the C-DIE format (interactive case learning), the online MBA (through Otis Elevator Company), and the Virtual Grocery Shopping Environment for interactive learning.

Much of his teaching draws from his business and consulting experience, which includes clients in the higher education sector (The Cultural Precinct, University Libraries, Bureau of Publications, Athletic Departments, Colleges of Business, Law, and Arts, and the Australian Vice Chancellors’ Committee) and in the business sector (American Newspaper Publishers Association, American Telephone Advertising, Inc., Chubb Electronic Security, Gannett, Inc., McDonald’s Corp., New Zealand Telecom, and Sunsuper, Pty. Ltd.) He has built and delivered major learning programs with consulting clients that have included Aetna Insurance, British American Tobacco, Otis Elevator, Queensland State Department of Development, Siemens, Texas Instruments, and Philip Morris. His research covers marketing communication and CX management and his work includes journal articles, book chapters, and eight books on various aspects of marketing. Recently, Dr. Patti has been conducting research on the Customer Experience (CX) Maturity Curve, CX ROI, and CX metrics. He is a past winner of the Marketing Educator of the Year Award; recognition as a Global Top 50 Educator; and he is a recipient of the James Hershner Free Enterprise Award.

Ron Rizzuto

Contact:

Email: rrizzuto@du.edu

Tel: 303.619.5701

Dr. Ron Rizzuto

Dr. Rizzuto is a Professor of Finance at the Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver and holds The Ron Rizzuto Chair for Excellence in International Executive Education. The endowed chair that was established in his name supports Dr. Rizzuto’s ongoing work with the Chinese Executive Media Management Program (CEMMP), which equips Chinese mid-career executives and government officials with the business skills to ensure a more successful future for China’s media industry. He has been involved with the cable industry for 30 years and is one of the leading authorities on the economics of U.S. municipal telecommunication overbuilds. Ron was inducted into Cable TV Pioneers in 2016 for his service to the cable industry. He is an honorary lifetime member of Women in Telecommunications (WICT) and received WICT’s Special Accolade Award in 1988 and 1991. Dr. Rizzuto’s teaching and research areas include: capital expenditure analysis, mergers and acquisitions, corporate financial planning, corporate restructuring, telecommunication finance and customer experience management (CEM). He has published numerous articles and regularly delivers seminars in his specialty areas. Dr. Rizzuto has received several teaching awards including the University of Denver’s Distinguished Teaching Award, the College of Business’s Cecil Puckett Teaching Award and the Daniels Institute Leadership Award from the Institute for Executive and Professional Development. Consulting clients include: KPMG, Price Waterhouse Coopers, Time Warner Cable, First Data Corporation, CableLabs, Liberty Global, Adelphia Communications, and Cox Communications.

Professor Rizzuto has extensive media expertise and has been quoted by local, regional and national press, including broadcast news and the New York Times. He is particularly adept at explaining complex financial situations of specific companies to a broader audience.

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