Photo courtesy of Northwest University

 

By Kimani Nyambura

Dr. Tony Pizelo was hired as an Assistant Professor in the College of Business at Northwest University in Fall 2017. He previously served in the financial industry for over 25 years and was a CEO of a financial group.

Pizelo holds a bachelor’s degree in economics with honors from Gonzaga University, a master’s degree in economics from Washington State University, and a master’s degree in industrial organizational psychology from Seattle Pacific University. Pizelo served as the CEO and Chairperson of Pacific West Financial Group, a top independent financial firm with sales that topped over one billion dollars before the financial group merged with Cetera—a nationally-based financial firm. Pizelo also spent many years teaching various college-level courses. Before joining the faculty at NU, Pizelo served on the school board for six years, where he was the treasurer of the board for three years before resigning to join the College of Business at NU.

Pizelo grew up in Spokane, WA. He is married to his wife Bonnie with four kids; two boys and two girls, and one of his children is a student at NU.

While Pizelo just recently started teaching at NU, he said he is already enjoying the experience.

“It is very rewarding, students are very interested in what I teach and that is such a wonderful experience,” he said.

Pizelo has continually integrated his faith throughout his career and family life. He said he is proud to join the NU community and their environment that supports faith and exalts Jesus.

“It is a great way to learn with the students and the faculty in general,” Pizelo said. “Northwest gives you an environment that one can express their faith without fear, for example, I pray before we take a test or I have one the students pray.”

For Pizelo and his family, he said that prayers are an essential part of their faith.

“Something happened to me just the other day, my oldest daughter is purchasing a house in Seattle and she’s been praying about this and she asked me to pray about it. She called me and said that one of the things that she really appreciated about growing up was that we would pray, very boldly come to the throne of grace, and make our petitions before God,” he said.

During his free time, Pizelo loves hiking with his family, reading, and rooting for the Seattle Seahawks and the Gonzaga Bulldogs. His family leads a life group at their home church, Seattle Revival Center.

Pizelo encouraged students in the College of Buisness to take advantage of the resources available through their professors.

“Learn as much as you can while you’re here. A lot of the professors know a lot of information that you could you can learn in addition to the class; take advantage of the resources that are all around you,” Pizelo said.