Bio
Dirk joined academia after 20 years as a tax and finance attorney with various roles in executive leadership and advisory and consulting placements. His professional experience has taken him all over the globe, transacting business in over forty countries, and he has previously maintained offices in six of those.
Prior to joining The Citadel, he spent 4 years as a Clinical Assistant Professor at Clemson University and developed a Management Consulting program that supported students experiential learning opportunities globally and including students from 16 different majors university-wide.
His research interests center on entrepreneurship, organizational behavior, management consulting, and business ethics, with particular emphasis on how founders and leaders shape organizational culture, strategy, and long-term performance. He is especially interested in applied, practice-oriented research that connects management theory to real organizational challenges, including experiential learning, consulting pedagogy, and the development of entrepreneurial and leadership capabilities in students and professionals.
Dirk is active in a variety of early-stage ventures and angel funds. He maintains membership at the State Bar of Michigan, the DC Bar, the Federal Tax Court, and socially at HCNY.
Degrees
Ph.D. – Clemson University, 2025, Business Administration (Management)
LL.M. – Washington University in St. Louis School of Law, 2023, Taxation
MBA – Clemson University, 2022, Innovation & Entrepreneurship
J.D. – Western Michigan University Thomas M. Cooley Law School, 2002, Business Transactions Concentration
B.S. – Calvin College, 1999, Political Science