Dr. J. Thomas Wren
Professor Emeritus
Profile

A historian and a legal scholar, Dr. J. Thomas Wren brings a unique perspective to the study and teaching of leadership. He has served as interim dean of the Jepson School and as associate dean for academic affairs.

An expert on Virginia, he has written and lectured extensively on subjects including James Madison, the Virginia courts, and the historical roots of the values in leadership.

His research interests include: the implementation of popular sovereignty in the American experience; the challenge of defining and implementing the common good; the roles of leaders and followers; leadership education; and the intellectual history of leadership.

Dr. Wren has been a recipient of the Richmond Distinguished Educator Award and has given great service to his profession. At the university and national levels, he has contributed to the development of leadership studies as a significant arena for scholarly pursuit.

He has served as an editor and a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Leadership Studies and has been an instrumental member of the Jepson faculty, chairing the scholarship committee and the program committee. He has served on the advisory board for a Leadership Development Conference and on the program committee for a Leadership Educators' Conference.

Awards
Nominee for State Council of Higher Education Outstanding Faculty Award, 2003
University of Richmond Distinguished Educator Award, 1995-96
University of Richmond Distinguished Educator Award, 2010-11
Selected Publications
Books
George R. Goethals and J. Thomas Wren, eds., Lincoln's Legacy of Leadership (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010).
J. Thomas Wren, Ronald E. Riggio, and Michael A. Genovese, eds., Leadership and the Liberal Arts: Achieving the Promise of a Liberal Education (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009).
Terry L. Price and J. Thomas Wren, eds., The Values of Presidential Leadership (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007).
J. Thomas Wren, Inventing Leadership: The Challenge of Democracy (Cheltenham, U.K.: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2007).
J. Thomas Wren, Douglas A. Hicks, and Terry L. Price, eds., The International Library of Leadership, vol. 1-3 (Cheltenham, U.K.: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2004).
J. Thomas Wren, ed., The Leader's Companion: Insights on Leadership Through the Ages (New York: The Free Press, 1995). (Currently in sixteenth printing).
J. Thomas Wren, ed., The Foundations of Leadership: A Reader (Acton, Mass: Copley Publishing Group, 1993).
Chapters
J. Thomas Wren, "Of History and Leadership: The Discipline of History and the Understanding of Leadership," in Michael Harvey and Ronald A. Riggio, The Research Companion to Leadership Studies: The Dialogue of Disciplines (Cheltenham, U.K.: Edward Elgar Publishing) (forthcoming).
J. Thomas Wren, "Reinventing the Liberal Arts through Leadership," in Wren, et al., Leadership and the Liberal Arts: Achieving the Promise of a Liberal Education (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009).
J. Thomas Wren, “The Common Law of England in Virginia from 1776 to 1830,” in W. Hamilton Bryson and Serge Dauchy, eds., Ratio Decidendi: Guiding Principles of Judicial Decisions (Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, 2006).
J. Thomas Wren, “A Quest for a Grand Theory of Leadership,” in George Goethals and Georgia Sorenson, eds., A Quest for a General Theory of Leadership (Cheltenham, U.K.: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2006).
J. Thomas Wren and Elizabeth Faier, “Contemplating Context,” in George Goethals and Georgia Sorenson, eds., A Quest for a General Theory of Leadership: A Multidisciplinary Experiment (Cheltenham, U.K.: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2006).
J. Thomas Wren, "James Madison and the Ethics of Transformational Leadership," in Joanne B. Ciulla, ed., Ethics: The Heart of Leadership (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1998).
Campus Directory
Education
Ph.D., College of William and Mary 1988
History
M.A., College of William and Mary 1985
History
M.A., George Washington University 1982
Public Affairs
J.D., University of Virginia 1976
B.A., Denison University 1973
Economics and Social Studies
Contact Information
Areas of Expertise
Intellectual History of Leadership
Leadership in Historical Contexts
Leadership and the Law
Leadership Education