Mark McNeilly teaches branding strategy at UNC Kenan-Flagler. He is the executive director for branding and marketing strategy at Lenovo and one of the leaders on the branding work for Lenovo since its acquisition of the IBM PC division.

Professor McNeilly is responsible for Lenovo’s corporate and product messaging and market research. Mark has 27 years of experience in the IT industry (primarily with IBM) and eight years in the PC category. His background includes strategy, marketing, market intelligence, management, manufacturing and personnel.

He is the author of the new book, George Washington and the Art of Business: Leadership Principles of America’s First Commander-in-Chief (Oxford University Press, 2008), and the successful Sun Tzu and the Art of Business: Six Strategic Principles for Managers (Oxford University Press, 2000) based on Sun Tzu’s Art of War.

Professor McNeilly has presented his views on Sun Tzu’s strategic philosophy to business people in Asia, Europe and the United States and at 3M, Royal Bank of Scotland, Tennessee Valley Authority and the U.S. Air Force Command and Staff College. A former an infantry captain in the U.S. Army National Guard, he wrote Sun Tzu and the Art of Modern Warfare (Oxford University Press, 2003) about the application of Sun Tzu's ideas in military history and current warfare.

He received his MBA with honors from the University of Minnesota and his BS in finance from the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse.