John Toppel

Menlo College President Carlós López announced the appointment of John Toppel of Los Altos as the new director of the John Russell Center for International Management and Global Studies.

“Toppel has the experience, tenacity and vision to lead the Center to become a pre-eminent academic, cultural and business program within the academic community at Menlo College and the business community in the Bay Area,” said López.

As a senior manager with Hewlett-Packard for more than 31 years, Toppel has experience in sales and general management in six countries. He has a history of delivering Hewlett-Packard’s model of HP success in an array of various cultures, under different and often challenging circumstances from start-ups to mature teams.

The Toppel family enjoyed a degree of stardom when they agreed to be featured in “Going International,” a widely distributed film which explored cultural shock and other adjustment issues for Americans working in corporate outposts.

Toppel participated in a one-year business fellowship program at Villanova University, in the College of Commerce and Finance prior to his appointment at Menlo College.

“This meant that I needed to ‘commute’ 3,000 miles from my home in Los Altos, but it was too good an opportunity to pass up,” said Toppel.

As a business fellow, he co-taught courses in international comparative management and business trends in Asia, worked in the business school office of student advising and professional development and also in career services offering career counseling to students.

Toppel received his bachelor’s degree from John Carroll University, Ohio, and his master’s degree in counseling from San Jose State University. He completed the University of Michigan Executive Management Program. Toppel is a member of the Palo Alto Hills Golf & Country Club and a former park commissioner for the city of Los Altos. His wife, Margaret, is employed at the Addison Avenue Credit Union.