Lunch With Lois Shelton

Lois M. Shelton currently serves as Professor of Management at the Nazarian College of Business and Economics at California State University, Northridge (CSUN), and says she delights in the mysterious movement of God in her life throughout a career that has included teaching, business, and community work.

July 14, 2026, 1:00 pm Eastern time

We'll meet via Zoom. Bring your questions and a sandwich!

After graduating magna cum laude, Lois stayed at Harvard and received an MBA from the business school and a Ph.D. in business economics from GSAS. She then she moved to Chicago and worked in several related businesses: management consulting at Booz, Allen & Hamilton, advertising at Leo Burnett, financial analysis at Metropolitan Structures, and marketing as the marketing director of the Illinois Lottery.

What Lois describes as her “restless wandering” came to an end when an HBS classmate invited her to an Easter service. That Sunday she dedicated her life to Christ and has never looked back. She re-entered academia on a full-time tenure track basis and accepted an invitation to move from Chicago to San Diego to pursue ministry.

At CSUN, Lois’s research and teaching focuses on strategy and entrepreneurship. Her research has been recognized internationally, and she has taught at the undergraduate, MBA, and doctoral levels here and abroad. She was named a Longenecker Fellow by the U.S. Association of Small Business and Entrepreneurship and received a presidential appointment to the Board of Directors of The University Corporation at CSUN.

As a member of the ministerial staff of Grace Covenant Christian Church, Lois is active in the outreach and performing arts ministries. Her community work includes her role as CFO of C.L.I.M.B., Inc. (Community Life Improvement and Multicultural Bridging), a nonprofit dedicated to enhancing the lives of underserved families in Southeast San Diego. She’s a guest entrepreneurship instructor in community entrepreneurship programs such as the San Diego area chapters of the Urban Poverty Business Initiative and BizStarts in Milwaukee.

Lois’s experience at Radcliffe positioned her to go to the business school and meet the woman who gave her that fateful Easter Sunday invitation. As an ambitious freshman, Lois was hoping to become well-known and famous and anticipated opportunities to earn great wealth, having no idea that her Harvard experience would lead her to true riches: love, peace, and joy.

Now Lois basks in the honor of being known by God and continues to delight in the mysterious moves of the Lord in her life.

CA79's Lunch With series allows us to learn more about a classmate we might know a little—or not at all.

Questions about our programs? Write to us at classacthr79@gmail.com.