Former Sempra Energy President and M.I.C. Global Partners Executive Join USD School of Administration Board of Advisors

Neal Schmale, the former president and chief operating officer of Sempra Energy, and Peter Cardasis, managing member of M.I.C. Global Partners, LLC, have joined the University of San Diego School of Administration Board of Advisors.

Schmale served as president and COO of Sempra for five years before retiring in the fall of 2011. Prior to that role, he served as executive vice president and also chief financial officer. He also spent more than 16 years at Unocal, acting as chief financial officer, senior vice president and president in its Products and Chemical division throughout his term with the company. During his career he was named one of the top CFOs per Institutional Investor surveys, in addition to being a Colorado School of Mines Alumni Medalist.

In addition to being a member of numerous nonprofits and for-profit boards including WD-40, Murphy Oil and the Colorado School of Mines Foundation, Schmale now spends much of his time sharing his knowledge with others. He is currently teaching courses in Finance and Investments and Introduction to International Business at USD’s business school. He earned his law degree from Loyola University in 1974 and is named in its list of “100 Distinguished Alumni.”

Cardasis has spent his career as an international physical commodity trader with a focus on metals and minerals. In the 1990s, he was a founding shareholder of what is now the largest commodity trader in the world, Swiss-based Glencore Ltd. In 2002, he started M.I.C. Global Partners with Lewis Marks, also a former Glencore executive. M.I.C. provides consulting services to mines, smelters and hedge funds, manages its own trading positions in commodity futures and directly invests in early stage exploration companies and oil wells.

Both Schmale and Cardasis are residents of La Jolla.

USD’s School of Business Administration Board of Advisors, chaired by Tres Conrique, president and CEO of Rancho Santa Fe Technology, Inc., provides strategic guidance and insight to the school’s dean as well as contributing expertise to the school’s academic and fund-raising efforts.

“We are excited to welcome these two distinguished executives to our Board of Advisors,” said David Pyke, dean of USD’s School of Business Administration. “Their impressive backgrounds in energy, minerals and international trade will add important and critical dimensions to our board’s areas of expertise as we strive to become one of the nation’s top business schools.”

The University of San Diego School of Business Administration is committed to developing socially responsible leaders and improving global business practice through innovative, personalized education and applied research. For more information go to www.sandiego.edu/business.

About the University of San Diego

Strengthened by the Catholic intellectual tradition, we confront humanity’s challenges by fostering peace, working for justice and leading with love. With more than 8,000 students from 75 countries and 44 states, USD is among the Top 20 Best Private Schools for Making an Impact according to The Princeton Review. USD’s eight academic divisions include the College of Arts and Sciences, the Knauss School of Business, the Shiley-Marcos School of Engineering, the School of Law, the School of Leadership and Education Sciences, the Hahn School of Nursing and Health Science, the Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies, and the Division of Professional and Continuing Education. In 2021, USD was named a “Laudato Si’ University” by the Vatican with a seven-year commitment to address humanity’s urgent challenges by working together to take care of our common home.