Our People
Ryan Mullins - Executive Director
Professor Mullins oversees the overall strategy and growth of SIP. In this role, he helps curate and support all sales program offerings to provide value to students, faculty, industry and all Clemson stakeholders.
Mullins is also an award-winning author, professor and consultant focused on helping organizational leaders improve sales performance. Mullins seeks out industry collaboration and has conducted research and consulting projects with Fortune 500 companies, providing analysis, recommendations, coaching and training interventions. This real-world engagement has helped Mullins be recognized as a noted researcher and insightful speaker to sales organizations and enabled the delivery of innovative teaching in SIP courses.
Carter McElveen - Director of Operations
After eight years in sales with Eli Lilly, Carter returned to Clemson to teach in 2011. As Operations Director for SIP, McElveen coordinates our corporate partner program. She plans and executes engagements alongside our SIP Program Manager for Engagement. McElveen also teaches our Introduction to Professional Selling and Capstone Selling Courses. Her students are very involved with hands-on learning, including selling for the Elevate Sales Conference and Tiger Paw Classic Golf Tournament.
McElveen was named an Alumni Master Teacher in 2016 and a part of the 2020 President's Leadership Institute Cohort. She currently advises the Blue Key Honor Society, is a Delta Sigma Pi Faculty Initiate and is the president of the Fort Hill Clemson Club, the local Clemson Alumni group. Carter and her husband, Andy('03), live in Clemson with their two children, Nora Lynn(9) and Willis(4).
David Sturkey - Director of Development
Charleen Fitzgerald - SIP Student Services Coordinator
Charleen Fitzgerald earned her Bachelor of Science in Marketing from Clemson University in 1997. Charleen supports the Sales Innovation Program, helping with student engagement, event logistics, partner relations, curriculum support and various other roles. Fitzgerald was awarded Team Player of the Year for the Wilbur O. and Ann Powers College of Business in 2017 and received the Staff Award for Student Service for the College in 2020-2021. She currently resides in Seneca, South Carolina. She has two children, Haley (age 15) and Kesler (age 11).
Lisa Beeler - SIP Research Faculty
Beeler is the SIP Director of Development, which focuses on developing students outside of the classroom via sales coaching, student workshops and sales competitions. She is an accomplished sales consultant and researcher who has published in the top academic sales journals in the field and continues to conduct research with companies nationally. Before becoming an academic, she was Director of Marketing and Sales for a B2B International parking company in Atlanta, GA. All of this experience informs the application-based learning approach she uses in her classroom to prepare SIP students to be great salespeople, valuable co-workers and good citizens. When she isn't involved in all things sales, you can find her throwing themed parties, camping or on the soccer field.
Kristen Dean - Adjunct Professor
When Professor Dean saw the opportunity to merge her real-world experiences with the classroom for students at Clemson, Dean knew that teaching in the SIP would be a rewarding experience. Through her teaching in Professional Selling and Healthcare Selling courses, Dean merges her real-world leadership, marketing and pharmaceutical sales experience to deliver an insightful curriculum.
After earning her Bachelor of Science and master's degree from the University of South Carolina, Dean spent time in real estate before beginning her pharmaceutical sales career with Merck in 2006. In 2009, She continued her Medical Sales Leadership and Marketing career with Eli Lilly, where she is currently a District Sales Manager in Immunology. Dean enjoys traveling and attending her oldest daughter's softball games and golf matches at Daniel High School, attending her youngest daughter's gymnastics meets and watching her cheer on football and basketball teams at R.C. Edwards.
Alec Pappas - SIP Research Faculty
Madi Deschamps - Engagement Liaison
Mia Fotia - Marketing Liaison
Mia Fotia is a senior Clemson student from Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. She will graduate in 2025 with a B.S. in Marketing. As the Marketing Liaison, she promotes the Sales Innovation Program, fosters relationships between students and partners, and increases student membership through social media content and engagement. Outside of this program, Fotia is a part of the Marketing Student Advisory Board, a Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority member and an intern with the IPTAY Sales and Service office.
Josiah Franz - External Outreach Liaison
