Faculty/Advisory Council
The Spa Management Certification Faculty Advisory Council is comprised of spa directors with a combined 50 years of experience in the spa industry. The Advisory Council was selected based on their experience as spa directors, and their willingness to devote time and effort to making this program a great success. They collaborated with the Department of Exercise and Wellness in 2002 to develop a curriculum based on solid spa industry research and expert opinion. Together, the Advisory Council and members of the Exercise and Wellness faculty developed an exciting curriculum that we believe will provide our graduates with the tools to rise quickly to leadership positions in the spa industry.
The Advisory Council members have volunteered their expertise and time to develop a professional seminar course geared specifically to operational and administrative issues in a spa environment, and to act as guest instructors for this course. In addition, the Advisory Council members have pledged to provide meaningful internships and continued mentoring to students in the Spa Management Certification Program
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Larry R. Woodruff, M.S., CSCS
Mr. Woodruff is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Exercise and Wellness at Arizona State University's Polytechnic campus, where he has developed and teaches courses in stress management; substance abuse and addictive behaviors; the development, implementation, and evaluation of community and employee wellness programs; and strength conditioning. He is the Internship Director for the Department, as well as the Coordinator for the Interdisciplinary Spa Management Certification Program.
Mr. Woodruff holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Physical Education and Health from the University of Oregon, and a Master of Science degree in Education (with a concentration in psychology) from Western Oregon University. He has more than 25 years experience as a health and wellness professional, in the academic, employee, and
commercial fields. He has 18 years experience as a health educator in secondary and higher education, as well as for adult professionals at all levels. He conducts research in older adult fitness and wellness issues. Mr. Woodruff has served on the Arizona Department of Health Services Obesity Prevention work groups, the Healthier Phoenix Initiative, the Board of Directors for Innovative Health Solutions, LLC., the Law Enforcement Wellness Association (faculty), and numerous other advisory boards, tasks forces, and committees involving wellness and fitness program development and implementation.
Mr. Woodruff’s professional certifications include the American College of Sports Medicine (Health Fitness Instructor), National Strength and Conditioning Association (Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist), YMCA (Healthy Back Instructor, Exercise Instructor, Strength training Instructor), the Cooper Institute for AerobicsResearch (Advanced Physical Fitness Specialist), and the American Heart Association (CPR and AED). He is a 2004 graduate of the Authentic Happiness Coaching Program developed by Martin E.P. Seligman, Ph.D., a pioneer of Positive Psychology. Mr. Woodruff has also completed Positive Psychology coursework under Christopher Peterson, Ph.D., and training in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, under Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D., and facilitated the Pacific Institute “Achieving Excellence” program for 10 years.
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Advisory Council
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LaRae Burr,
M.S., MBA
Advisory Council Chair / Faculty Associate
President
The Ambage, LLC
Spa Director of the Sanctuary Spa
LaRae Verros has been in the spa and resort industry since 1991. She began her career at The Phoenician Resort in Scottsdale where she spent six years in the spa and tennis departments. She was also a part of the spa’s opening teams at Candela Spa in Scottsdale in 1997 as the Fitness and Membership Director, and the Four Seasons Spa Scottsdale as the Assistant Spa Director in 1999. In 2001 LaRae moved to The Mist Spa in Scottsdale as Spa Director for two years, only to return to the Four Seasons Spa as Spa Director in 2003. LaRae has recently developed her own company "The Ambage, LLC” and is currently developing a spa unlike any other in the state of Arizona.
In 2003 LaRae was Co-Chair of the Susan G. Koman Serve for the Cure/Spa for the Cure Committee while hosting the tournament and silent auction at The Mist Spa and Tennis Club. LaRae served on the International Spa Associations (ISPA) Membership Committee in 2003 and 2004 and currently serves on ISPA’s Education Committee. She was also chosen by the Educational Institute of the American Hotel and Lodging Association along with the International Spa Association Foundation to assist in the testing process of their Supervisory Skill Builders for the Spa Industry, prior to publication.
LaRae is a graduate of Arizona
State University with both Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Exercise and Wellness and is scheduled to graduate with her Masters in Business Administration, also from Arizona State University, in May of 2005.
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Teri Kramer General Manager
Red Door Spa at the Biltmore Fashion Park
Teri has been in the spa and resort industry since 1989. She began her career at The Hyatt Regency Scottsdale Resort at Gainey Ranch, as the Spa and Fitness manager, where she remained for 10 years. In 1999 she accepted a position at CopperWynd Resort and Club as the Spa Director of a small luxury resort property. It was during that time when she accepted an invitation to become a member of the ASU Spa Management Advisory Council. In 2003 Teri accepted a position as the Director of the Mist Spa a 20,000sq ft. spa, fitness and tennis club, where she also did Task Force Spa Directing for IHR Hotel Group in Southern California.
In 2003 Teri served on the Susan G Koman Serve for the Cure/Spa committee which hosted a tournament and silent auction at The Mist Spa and Tennis Club. She was also chosen by the International Spa Association (ISPA) to assist in the development of their Supervisory Skill Builders course for the Spa Industry as well as the Management Skill Builder publication.
Teri is currently the General Manager of the Red Door Spa and Salon at the Biltmore Fashion Park here she has brought the spa from the bottom of the Red Door western region to #2 in the region. She oversees an Assistant General Manager, Retail Business Manager, Guest Services Manager as well as a staff of 50 services providers and an administrative team.
Teri is a charter member of the ASU Spa Management Certification Advisory Council, and a regular instructor in the ASU Professional Spa Seminar series. She lives in the Phoenix area with her husband a Phoenix Fire Fighter of 16 years and teenage son.
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Lorraine E. Park
Emily Santos/Patricia Nugent Amy Campbell
Middleton & Gendron, Inc. Wyndham International, Inc.
(212) 980-9231
(214) 863-1628
esantos@mandg.com
acampbell@wyndham.com
Lorraine holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the College of Hotel, Restaurant and Travel Administration at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst
Currently, she is Spa Operations Manager for Remington Hotels. As such she oversees planning and development for all Remington Hotel and Resort Spas, and currently has several multi-million dollar properties underway.
Previous positions in the spa industry.
- Spa Director for Wyndham International, Lorraine Park was responsible for overseeing brand standards at Golden Door Spas and working closely with the original Golden Door in Escondido, Calif. on developing turn-key programs for the resort facilities.
- Spa Director at The Boulders Resort’s Golden Door Spa. In addition, she enhanced spa standards overall at Wyndham properties in the west.
- Spa director at the Arizona Biltmore Resort and Spa in Phoenix (1997 to 2001). Most recently, she was the hotel’s spa director, overseeing the day-to-day-operation of its 20,000-square-foot spa, including a staff of more than 100. During her tenure as spa director at the Arizona Biltmore, she brought the spa from being the #4 ranked spa in Arizona to being the top spa in the state. Before this, she was general manager of the Biltmore Grill restaurant, where her responsibilities included training 50 staff members and creating and implementing
training manuals for five different areas within the restaurant.
- Lorraine began her career in restaurant management at an assortment of hotels, including the position of general manager of the Grill at the 655-room Scottsdale Princess Resort in Scottsdale, Arizona (1995 to 1997), manager of the Thirsty Camel Lounge at the 595-room Phoenician Resort in Phoenix (1993 to 1995) and manager of Via Pacifica, a specialty restaurant at the 907-room Grand Hyatt Washington in Washington, D.C. (1990 to 1993).
- Member of I/SPA, the International Spa Association, and serves as Arizona’s Employer Representative, responsible to regulate massage and body workers at the state level.
- Adjunct professor at the Scottsdale Community College where she teaches hospitality management.. She lives in the Phoenix area with her husband and two young sons.
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Deborah J. Waldvogel
Deborah began her career in the spa industry in 2001 with the opening of the 16-room, 24,000 square-foot destination spa, Mii amo, located in Sedona Arizona. During her employment at Mii amo she was promoted from Front Desk Coordinator to Front Office Manager to her final position as Director of Spa Operations. She served as a member of the Executive Committee for Enchantment Resort and Mii amo Spa. Mii amo rose quickly in prominence to be rated among the top 2 destination spas in the world according to leading travel readership surveys. In the final 3 years of her work at Mii amo, her area of responsibility expanded further to include Director of Resort Activities for Enchantment Resort. Enchantment Resort is a 220 room luxury resort consistently rated as one of the top resorts in the United States and the world. After leaving Mii amo, Deborah joined The Ambage as Vice President of Operations, assisting the President, LaRae Verros, with her vision to develop a luxury wellness facility in North Scottsdale.
A native of Wisconsin, Ms. Waldvogel began her career in education teaching Biology, Anatomy Physiology and coaching at a High School in the Midwest. After relocating to the southwest with her husband and two children, she entered the travel industry and was a partner in a local agency. Ms. Waldvogel’s background in education has served her well as she has developed extensive orientation and training materials and Standard Operating Procedures for Mii amo. She is currently a member of Arizona State University Spa Management Advisory Council. Deborah is extremely active in the International Spa Association. She has served on ISPA Education Committee for several years. In 2005 she was involved in the completion of a Spa Operations Manual. During the past year Deborah has been actively involved in a project in partnership with The Resort Hotel Association to develop a Code of Conduct and a Risk Management curriculum for spas. Deborah just began her third year on the current ISPA Board of Directors and now serves on the Executive Board.
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KIRK GREGOR
Spa Director, The Spa at Rancho Manana.
Founder and Chair, Arizona Spa Director’s Council
Kirk began his spa industry career in 1990 at Marriott’s Camelback Inn, where he worked for nine years, eventually becoming Operations Manager. In 1999 he left the Camelback Inn to join the team that built the The Spa at Gainey Village. This was the first Spa in the DMB Sports Clubs chain, and one of the largest, most comprehensive club spas in America. In 2001 Kirk was promoted to Director of that facility. During his seven years with The DMB Clubs he helped design and open The Spa at DC Ranch Village and The Spa at Camelback Village. In 2006 he joined the Ambage team as the Director of the Spa at Rancho Manana, a position he currently holds.
Kirk originated, and now chairs The Arizona Spa Director’s Council. The Council serves a networking function and helps further spa education throughout America. The Council also presents collective marketing opportunities while working with communities to promote the Spa industry in Arizona.
Kirk has helped create the curriculum and has taught Spa related classes at Pima Medical Institute and Cortiva Institute and has served on the ASU Spa Management Certification Advisory Council since 2005. He is also a regular instructor in the ASU Professional Spa Seminar series.
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John Korpi
President, International Spa
Association Foundation
Bio coming soon .
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Dennis Robbins, Ph.D.,M.P.H.
Dr. Robbins is a prominent author, speaker, educator and advisor on quality, new technologies, CAM, and health care ethics. Over the past 25 years, he has developed a unique blend of academic and national consulting experience
having worked with major universities, medical facilities, state and national government, presidential and White House Commissions, health care systems, trade associations/organizations, the payor/reimbursement community and diverse practitioners. Robbins was a National Fund for Medical Education Fellow in the Kennedy Interfaculty Program at Harvard, where he was a visiting scholar and research fellow. Dr. Robbins holds a PhD in Philosophy from Boston College and a postdoctoral Masters in Public Health from Harvard. Dr. Robbins has authored eight books and over 250 articles, chapters and reviews. He has served as a columnist and national advisor for several health care journals. Professor Robbins focus in healthcare is an eclectic blend of conventional and CAM modalities, holding
appointments at conventional medical school programs for almost ten years, developed a graduate program in health administration and been involved in a wide range of CAM related programs since 2000 ranging from Advisory Board to a College Presidency. He has been on the faculty of Harvard, Boston College, Boston University, The University of North Carolina, Wayne State Univ., Loyola, the University of Michigan, ASU, and Pepperdine. Dr Robbins was an active force in the development of Hospice in the U.S. and as a mover and shaker in health care ethics. Dr Robbins maintains an active and growing interest in Chinese and Native American Medicine as well as in Health Policy. He currently serves on the Board of a publicly traded bioenergetics technology company (ZYTO) and teaches Complementary and Alternative Medicine
courses at Arizona State University as well as Health Policy at Pepperdine in the Graduate School of Public Policy.
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Sharon Narduzzi
Spa & Fitness Director at the Silverleaf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona
Ms. Narduzzi is well versed in a variety of Spa Operations. She has assisted in opening a range of spa businesses, including resort spas, destination spas, day spas and club spa facilities ranging in size from 3,000sqft to 50,0000sqft.
Ms. Narduzzi has more than 10 years of experience in the health and wellness industry. Throughout her career she has consulted on the operations, training and employee education for more than 25 Spas throughout Canada & the US and managed and directed the operations of several spas including most recently the Montage Resort and Spa in Laguna Beach, CA; Hotel Park City in Park City, Utah and Spa Mystique in Los Angeles. Prior to that, Ms. Narduzzi was Human Resources Manager/Lead Trainer for Spasoft software in Toronto, Canada.
In addition to being an accomplished operator and recruiter, Ms. Narduzzi graduated from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada and holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology. Ms. Narduzzi has spoken at several industry conferences most recently presenting "the Emergence of Spa Lifestyle" at the Club Manager's Association of America.
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