Meet Our Team

Taylor Martini serves as the Senior Director of Program Services for the Full-Time MBA, Fully Employed MBA, and Executive MBA Programs. He is responsible for the operations and academic services for MBA programs, focusing on strategic goals related to student experience and staff satisfaction.

Before moving into his current role, Taylor was the Executive Director of the Full-Time MBA Program for three years. He oversaw total operations of the Full-Time MBA Program including financial and strategic management, academic programming and supervision of the admissions and program services teams. Taylor supported the recruitment and admissions function of the program office for four years before transitioning into program leadership.

Taylor joined the Merage School in June 2015, soon after graduating from our Full-Time MBA Program. During his time in the program, Taylor secured multiple HR-focused internships which included stints at Tilly’s and PacSun. Prior to his MBA studies, Taylor spent three years as a loan officer in the mortgage industry.

Taylor was born and raised in Southern California and completed his Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Chapman University.

Melanie Coburn is a seasoned admissions, recruiting and marketing professional with expertise in recruiting business professionals into an MBA program. She has over 15 years of progressive management experience in higher education and has worked in many diverse work environments, including four different institutions across the country. She is an inspirational leader with strong communication and relationship-building skills. She is equally operationally-efficient and highly adept at analyzing data and information to solve problems. Most recently, she is the Director of FEMBA Admissions who leads the admissions team in all admissions and recruiting functions. She is also a licensed real estate agent and a Notary Public.

Asani Myers serves as the Assistant Director in Program Services for the Full-Time MBA Program. Asani is the primary point of contact for FTMBA students, where she manages their academic progress and programmatic needs from orientation to graduation. Asani joined the Merage team in August of 2019, and brings a wealth of advising knowledge from her prior roles in Residential Life, and college advising at the high school level.

Asani received her BA in Psychology from San Francisco State University, and her MEd in Educational Counseling from the University of Southern California. 

Sofia earned her BA in Criminology, Law & Society from UC Irvine. She has been with the Merage School for over 16 years, 12 of those years supporting the Part-Time and Executive MBA programs. Throughout her career at the Merage School, Sofia has been a key contributor to the program’s development and rankings. For the last 4 years Sofia has been responsible for the organization and delivery of the Full-Time MBA program from Orientation to Commencement.  She partners with Asani Myers, FTMBA assistant director, in advising over 150 graduate students in their academic and co-curricular planning.

Muriel serves as the Admissions Coordinator for the Full-Time MBA Program. In this role, she serves as the initial point of contact for the admissions office, maintains communication with prospective students and coordinates application materials throughout the enrollment process. 

Muriel is originally from Iowa and moved to Orange County to pursue her undergraduate degree at UCI—completing her BA in Social Ecology with a minor in Psychology and Social Behavior. She has a background in nonprofit fundraising, previously supporting the Hoag Hospital Foundation and completed a Certificate in Fundraising and Development from UCSD.

Jon Masciana joined UC Irvine’s Paul Merage School of Business as Associate Director of Admissions for the Fuly Employed MBA (FEMBA) program in 2007 and was promoted to Director of Admissions in 2008. During his tenure as Director of Admissions, Jon increased the quality of the FEMBA student body across several metrics, and he significantly developed the School's digital marketing strategy.

In 2011, Jon accepted the position of Senior Director, Marketing & Communications where he led all marketing efforts, including the School's brand and reputation efforts. During his tenure, Jon brought nationwide recognition to the Merage School through public relations efforts, and he implemented a comprehensive marketing & communications strategy. In 2014, Jon was promoted to Senior Director of Marketing & Admissions for the Part-Time and Executive MBA programs.

Prior to joining UC Irvine, Jon worked at Warner Bros. Records and Warner Music Group as their Internet Development Manager. Jon has also served as the Web Development Director at UC Riverside, where he oversaw campus-wide web marketing efforts.

Jon earned his MBA at UC Irvine, first in class, and graduated cum laude with a BS in Cognitive Science from UC San Diego.