Mario Leone
Assistant Professor, Clinical Faculty
The George L. Argyros College of Business and Economics
Expertise: Business Strategy; Information Technology; Information Systems; Business Process
Office Location: Beckman Hall 307B
Email: mleone@chapman.edu
- Education:
- Boston University, Bachelor of Arts
Babson College, Master of Business Admin.
Biography
Mario Leone is a past Fortune 200 global executive with more than three decades of
senior and executive leadership roles in IT, manufacturing, business development,
technology licensing, supply chain and M&A. He has managed international business
and development transformation programs in many industries while living both in the
US and abroad.
His career began with a twenty year stay at Union Carbide – Dow Chemical Corporation
in operating and senior management positions including the partnership through a Joint
Venture with ENI, to form Polimeri Europa based in Milan, Italy to manufacture and
market polyethylene.
Over the next 15 years, he followed with Executive and Chief Information Officer (CIO)
roles at automotive giant FIAT, (now part of the Stellantis Group) based in Turin,
Italy including concurrently the industrial vehicle business unit IVECO. A team turnaround
exit from bankruptcy at auto aftermarket leader Federal Mogul based in Southfield,
Michigan and at California based Ingram Micro, the largest wholesale distributor of
computing and mobility products in the world. He is well known as a catalyst for business
transformation and focus on delivering operational value and company profitability.
In his present roles at Chapman University, he has taught more than 3000 students
over the past 10 years both in the US and Europe while continuing private equity and
board work at Transient Plasma Systems and InterVision Systems. In the startup space,
he successfully engineered the sale of DocVerify an electronic signage firm during
COVID to the public ally traded Black Knight Inc. He assumed the Director of the Leatherby
Center for Entrepreneurship & Business Ethics in 2019 with oversight for the Innovation
labs at the University and replaced the decade old curriculum with an innovative new
course offering to engage students across the University with entrepreneurship opportunities.
In May 2023 he returned to fill his passion for engaging with students full time and
preparing them as next generation business leaders
Mario earned his bachelor’s degree in chemistry and biology from Boston University
and later an MBA from Babson College in Massachusetts.