Editor's note: This story is reprinted from the March issue of GCU Magazine. To view the digital version of the magazine, click here.
By Jeannette Cruz
GCU Magazine
Christina Wagner has parlayed her love of sports and business into a career as director of arena marketing and sponsorship fulfillment at Grand Canyon University.
After graduating from Arizona State University in 2006 with a degree in Hospitality Management and Communication, Wagner earned her MBA in Sports Marketing from GCU. She worked for the Phoenix Suns and Oakland Athletics before joining the GCU Arena staff 5½ years ago.
Wagner is responsible for the marketing, game promotion planning and ticketing strategy for GCU men’s basketball. She makes sure sponsors have seats and are ready for halftime presentations and television interviews, and she also helps organize theme nights.
“Basketball season is hectic and fast-paced,” Wagner said. “GCU basketball games are my favorite because of the music, the crowd and the synergy of everyone to pull off a great game.”
Wagner also developed the “Havocs with Heart” program, which injects the spirit of the GCU student cheering section into the local charitable community, and she recently joined the Colangelo College of Business to teach sports event planning and sports marketing.
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Mike Muñoz recently retired from the Peoria, Ariz., Fire Department, which he joined in 1986. He was a shift commander and battalion chief for the last 10 years.
He has taught ethics at Glendale (Ariz.) Community College and Fayetteville (N.C.) State University and currently teaches online philosophy, ethics and spirituality in nursing at GCU, from which he graduated with a degree in Public Safety Administration in 1999. He also is writing journals on pediatric emergency care, brain death and Christian bioethics.
“I really want to contribute to the field from a Christian perspective,” he said. “My goal is to be faithful to the word of God, to be rigorous from an academic point of view and to try to come up with compelling arguments. I want my students to be able to walk with that same confidence.”
Muñoz also served on the ethics committee at Phoenix Children’s Hospital for more than two years before relocating to Spokane, Wash., where he serves on the Disaster Clinical Advisory Committee. He lives with his wife of 33 years, Stacey. His children, Jessica Martin and Joshua Muñoz, are also GCU alumni.
