Derex Griffin

Derex Griffin has dedicated his life to the service of others, spending a total of 30 years in the military with the last 18 years as an officer in the United States Air Force. Now he is looking forward to serving in the classroom, bringing his project management knowledge to The Polytechnic School, one of the seven schools in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University.

“I have had the pleasure to serve as a faculty associate here at ASU, so it is thrilling that I now get to do it in the capacity of a lecturer,” Griffin says. “It will give me access to even more resources and build a network to better support my students being here full-time.”

During his military service, served in a number of capacities that utilized his project management skills, including Chief of the Base Realignment and Closure Flight, Logistics Directorate for the Pentagon and the Chief of Staff, Logistics Directorate, Joint Base Andrews, Maryland.

He received his doctorate in business administration from the National Graduate School, now known as the New England College of Business, focusing on quality systems management. In addition, Griffin holds credentials through the Project Management Institute as a portfolio management professional, program management professional, project management professional and certified scrum master. He previously taught at Strayer University in Arlington, Virginia, and Howard University in Washington, D.C.

Griffin plans to ensure students have exposure to the full spectrum of project management responsibilities, from introductory essentials such as scope, time and cost constraints to the most advanced schedule compression concepts, which include fast tracking, crashing and the inherent trade-offs concerning project risks.

“Students will be placed in the midst of initiating, planning, monitoring, controlling and closing projects as either a stand-alone project or in support of a larger program and portfolio,” Griffin says. “It’s important they see things from start to finish and get the hands-on experience that will make them valuable members in the workforce following their time here at ASU.”

Meet the newest faculty members of the Fulton Schools of Engineering here.

Written by Monica Williams