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Four longtime faculty members in the College of Business and Economics, who are retiring at the end of spring quarter, will be celebrated at the CBE Retirement Reception in the Western Gallery Tuesday, June 3 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. �������� faculty and staff are invited to attend. 

The event will honor Decision Sciences and Finance Senior Instructor Lee McLain, Marketing Professor Farrokh Safavi, Decision Sciences Professor Mark Springer and Management Professor Kristi Lewis Tyran. 

Since 1991, more than 17,000 �������� students have taken classes from McClain during 33 years of teaching. He’s a multitalented instructor, covering topics from introductory statistics, finance, and business computer systems to MBA seminars and multinational corporate finance.

McClain started his career in the Air Force as a navigator on C-130 military transport planes. After leaving the Air Force, McClain earned an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and worked in financial positions in the oil and gas and manufacturing industries. 

“The students keep me young,” McClain said. “Teaching requires you to be thinking about what’s going on and how things are changing, so you have to stay current.” 

While he’s officially retiring, McClain still plans to teach one or two classes a quarter, mostly online from his home in Mill Creek. 

Since arriving at Western in 1969, Safavi has taught literally generations of �������� students, in marketing, management, finance and international business. In 1976, he was the first recipient of Western’s Excellence in Teaching Award, “a distinction that marked the beginning of a career defined by service to our students,” said Finance and Marketing Chair Ed Love. 

Safavi also holds a U.S. patent in educational technology in statistics instruction and has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals on topics ranging from marketing systems to management education around the world. 

He’s traveled extensively and, as Love notes, “His field work experience helps bridge theory and practice for students, executive learners and fellow scholars.” Safavi also spent time at Tehran University as a visiting professor. 

“I have traveled to every single one of the 196 countries of the world, and 57 out of 60 territories,” Safavi said. “I went to conduct research on how the people live, how they do business, how they communicate with members of their own community and with people of the world.” 

Safavi plans to travel more in retirement, including trips to abroad this summer. Then he’ll be back at Western in the fall to continue work on several research projects that he has a passion to finish. 

Soon after he arrived at Western in 1987, Springer and his colleague Professor Peter Haug proposed, fought for and ultimately launched CBE’s Manufacturing and Supply Chain Management program. An innovative program with strong connections to industry, Manufacturing and Supply Chain Management continues to be ranked one of the top undergraduate supply chain programs in the country. 

More recently, Springer worked with Decision Sciences faculty colleagues to launch a minor in business analytics, a high-demand minor that became the foundation for a newly approved business analytics concentration.

Springer has taught 10 different courses throughout his career and won seven CBE research awards. His work has covered topics such as facility layout, queueing networks, supply chain volatility, organizational learning and cross-border commercial traffic. 

Springer was the chair of CBE’s Curriculum Committee for 28 years and treasurer of the United Faculty of Western Washington for 10 years, serving on six UFWW bargaining teams. 

“That was very, very enjoyable, meeting colleagues across campus and learning more about how the university functions and how decisions are made,” he said, “and to try to help do good things for the university -- and especially faculty.” 

After retirement, Springer hopes to travel, hike, spend more time on his bikes, and read for fun.

“I’ll do things that I’ve done all my life,” he said, “but I’ll just do more of them.” 

Tyran, who worked as a social worker and then as vice president in the banking industry before earning her doctorate and coming to �������� in 2001, teaches courses in management and leadership. 

Her courses included real-world experiences such as service-learning projects, practicum and internship experiences, virtual mentor relationships and guest speakers to help prepare students to be happy and successful in their post-graduation life. 

“One of the best things about regional comprehensive universities, I think, is that you can have such a big impact on people who will go on to make a difference in the lives of others in the state of Washington,” Tyran said. “The majority of my students are studying management and want to be effective leaders. I emphasize that leadership is bringing out the strengths in others so they can do their best work, and I try to do that with my students.” 

Tyran received several awards for her research and teaching, including the David Merrifield Faculty Research Award in 2017 and 2018, the Allette and Cayden Franklin Teaching Award in 2005 and 2015, and held the CBE Distinguished Teaching Fellowship from 2012 to 2015. Tyran also led four faculty-led international service-learning courses in Kenya and Rwanda. 

Tyran currently serves as the Faculty Senate Budget Representative and has previously chaired the Academic Coordinating Commission and the CBE Faculty Governance Committee. She was instrumental in developing the Professional and Career Readiness Task Force and led the initial PCR Task Force.

Tyran is well known in the community for her commitment to service, and she received the Philip E. Sharpe Jr. Community Engagement Award in 2024. She has spent nearly two decades on the board of Whatcom Educational Credit Union and has served on the boards of Womencare, the Bellingham Cooperative School, and Cedar Tree Montessori. 

She hopes to expand her community volunteer work after she retires, as well as travel more. She’ll also continue to provide support for her 91-year-old mother, Mary Jo Lewis, who retired from ATUS about 23 years ago.