Our Team
Dr. Robert M. (Bob) McCann has been creating, directing and teaching strategic communication, persuasion, and leadership courses across virtually all of the UCLA Anderson School of Management’s s MBA degree programs since coming to UCLA in 2010. McCann also serves as the Learning Director and Faculty Director for multiple programs at UCLA Anderson Executive Education and is the Area Director of the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering Online Management Master’s degree program. McCann has received several teaching awards and dean’s commendations around the globe, including the prestigious “Golden Apple” Teaching Award.
McCann is the former associate dean for global initiatives at UCLA Anderson, and following his love of travel and cultural exploration, he spends part of each year teaching and consulting in Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, and India.
The research McCann conducts is relevant to pressing societal issues and has strong practical implications. Some of his work on the communicative dimensions of age biases was recently utilized in a U.S. Supreme Court amicus brief on age discrimination. His latest book, titled Ageism at Work: The Role of Communication in a Changing Workplace, is available in Spanish, Catalan and English.
To help traverse the divide between academic research and real world, several years ago Dr. McCann founded his consulting firm, The McCann Group, Inc. The McCann Group, Inc. specializes in the training of executives and professionals in three complementary areas: (a) persuasive communication and client relationship development; (b) leadership; and (c) intergenerational communication and workplace age diversity.
Bob is a frequent consultant to the media in the area of managerial communication, workplace ageism, and age diversified workplaces, most recently appearing on National Public Radio and in the US News and World Report, the Chicago Tribune, the New York Times, GQ, Esquire, The Atlanta Journal Constitution, the Capital Times, and the International Herald Tribune. He is a legal consultant in the area of age discrimination.
Dr. McCann holds a Ph.D. in Communication from the University of California, Santa Barbara, an M.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles and a B.A. in from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.
Robert McCann, Ph.D.
Dr. Steven L. Werber teaches and consults in the areas of leadership communications, strategic presentation techniques, marketing and brand development strategies, and communicating through digital/social media. In addition to his role at the McCann Group, Inc., Steven is currently a Lecturer at UCLA’s Samueli School of Engineering. Steve was formerly an Instructor at the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business, where he taught small group communication principles and effective communication practices.
Formerly responsible for directing Pfizer Pharmaceuticals’ annual multi-million dollar media campaigns, Dr. Werber has a strong history of researching and developing persuasive sales approaches, marketing tools, statistical models, and data systems. Moreover, he has extensive experience in interviewing, group dynamics, qualitative and quantitative research procedures (including research and survey design), and data analysis.
As former President of Market Impact Strategies, a firm specializing in marketing research and communications development, Dr. Werber was a force in driving various clients’ marketing and communications initiatives, including providing marketing, messaging and advertising support. He has provided research and consulting to executives in a wide range of corporations including Novartis, Sanofi-Aventis, ACNielsen, Honda, Parke-Davis, Johnson & Johnson and other top companies. He also developed various media buying and communications response models used throughout the pharmaceutical industry today.
Dr. Werber received his Ph.D. in Applied Research in Psychology at Hofstra University, after earlier receiving Master’s degrees in Organizational & Experimental Psychology at Hofstra University and in Clinical Psychology at New York University. His undergraduate work was completed at State University of New York at Stony Brook.
Steven L. Werber, Ph.D.
David Gershwin is a strategic communications and public affairs executive with a career spanning more than three decades. David specializes in providing communications and advocacy blueprints for a wide range of clients, including: leading Fortune 500 companies, financial institutions, healthcare executives, transportation agencies, business organizations, law firms, banking executives, corporate real estate firms, retail industry leadership, universities, social service agencies, advocacy organizations, and elected officials.
As Chief of Staff to Los Angeles City Council President Eric Garcetti (who also served as Mayor of Los Angeles from 2013 to 2022, and recently served as U.S. Ambassador to India), David was the architect for the Council President’s key policy and political initiatives and oversaw the office's legislative, communications, and planning and economic development teams
Prior to working with Garcetti, David was Director of Communications for the Los Angeles City Council's prior Council President, Alex Padilla, now serving as California's senior U.S. Senator. David was also a Legislative Manager for the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, where he created the business organization's first-ever Legislative Day at L.A. City Hall.
David has been a featured commentator on Fox Business Network and KTTV-TV, and has been interviewed by KNX-AM and KFWB-AM in Los Angeles. David has also been quoted to provide unique perspectives in The Spectator, the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Los Angeles Daily News, the Los Angeles Daily Journal, the Los Angeles Downtown News, and the Jewish Journal of Los Angeles.
David is a Lecturer at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering, where he teaches Management Communication in its Masters of Engineering program, and was also a Lecturer at the UCLA Anderson School of Management in Spring 2022, teaching Communications Development for Leaders to full-time M.B.A. students. David has also been a guest lecturer at USC's Annenberg School of Communications, at USC's School of Policy, Planning, and Development, and at the University of LaVerne.
David was also named by the San Fernando Valley Business Journal to its list, The Valley 200 - The Most Influential Leaders In The Valley Area in 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023.
David serves on the Board of Directors of the Valley Industry & Commerce Association, the San Fernando Valley's leading business organization, and chairs its Government Affairs Committee. A proud graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles, David enjoys sports, photography, music, and hiking in local mountains.
David Gershwin
Dr. Kellermann is an expert in communication and persuasive strategies with a rare combination of storytelling insight and quantitative expertise. For over 17 years, Dr. Kellermann has consulted on cases throughout the country and in the Southern California area where she resides. Dr. Kellermann works on all types of cases, particularly relishing cases involving complex scientific testimony. Dr. Kellermann is an expert in toxic torts, construction defects, environmental cases, civil rights, criminal defense, insurance, employment, personal injury, contracts, and shareholder disputes. Dr. Kellermann is familiar with and knows how to adapt case arguments to the most difficult venues in the country. Recently, Dr. Kellermann helped defendants win critical “bet-the-company” cases in California and Texas, and a federal civil rights plaintiff win the single largest award ever against the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Dr. Kellermann has special expertise in mock trials, focus groups, case analysis, trial strategy, jury selection, witness preparation, attitude surveys and developing persuasive strategies and trial themes for openings, closings and witness examinations. Judicial observation is a service Dr. Kellermann uniquely offers trial teams.
As a nationally recognized authority on persuasion and communication, Dr. Kellermann is also an industry leading expert in research methods in designing, managing and conducting investigations; in analyzing, understanding and interpreting results; and in explaining, reporting and relaying findings. Dr. Kellermann has authored over 35 publications, including articles on witness preparation, hung juries, numerical displays, jury composition and compliance gaining strategies. She has also given many presentations on jurors’ attitudes, and frequently teaches workshops on persuasive advocacy and storytelling techniques to litigators. Dr. Kellermann regularly serves as a media commentator on trials and jury issues for TV, radio and newspapers. Among other topics, Dr. Kellermann has been sought for comment on gag orders, the State of California’s revised jury instructions, and the high profile criminal cases of O.J. Simpson, Scott Peterson, Michael Jackson, Phil Spector and Robert Blake. For a number of years, Dr. Kellermann co-hosted a popular legal radio show, Santa Barbara Law, with public interest attorney Kirk Ah-Tye and past California State Bar President (and now Judge) Jim Herman.
Dr. Kellermann obtained a Ph.D. in Communication and an M.S. in Probability & Statistics from Northwestern University in Illinois, an M.A. in Communication from Wake Forest University in North Carolina, and a B.S. in Communication, Political Science and Psychology from Concordia College in Minnesota. Before turning her focus to litigation consulting, Dr. Kellermann was an award-winning professor and a communication consultant for local and national organizations. Dr. Kellermann has served on the Board of Directors of the International Communication Association and National Communication Association, and is a member of the American Society of Trial Consultants. She speaks English and Portuguese.