Muhlenberg College welcomes Mark Connelly, lecturer of business, to its Department of Accounting, Business, Economics, and Finance (ABEF) this fall. He joins new faculty members Grace Simon (assistant professor of business) and Rupsha Dey (assistant professor of finance), whose appointments were announced in the spring.
Connelly brings more than 20 years of marketing leadership experience to Muhlenberg, where he will teach the courses Principles of Marketing and Business and Society. His career has centered on uncovering what matters to customers, translating those insights into persuasive brand strategies and messaging, and activating them through campaigns that drive sustainable growth.
During his career at Colgate-Palmolive and Lutron Electronics, Connelly has led major consumer and professional brands, managed businesses generating hundreds of millions of dollars in annual sales, and built marketing capabilities and high-performing teams across consumer products and smart-home technology.
Connelly has also devoted a significant part of his career to teaching and developing others. He has trained emerging leaders, created marketing-development programs and tools, mentored early-career professionals, and served as a guest lecturer at Lehigh University. At Muhlenberg, he will draw on that experience to help students connect business theory to the real decisions, competing stakeholder interests, and human dynamics that shape organizations. Beyond the classroom, he is committed to advising and mentoring students as they explore career paths, develop their professional strengths, and prepare to enter the business world.
He earned his MBA in marketing from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business and his Bachelor of Arts degree in economics and German from Washington and Lee University.
