Faculty Bios

headshot of Dr. Sandra J. Peart
Dr. Sandra J. Peart
Dean, Jepson School of Leadership Studies
E. Claiborne Robins Distinguished Professor in Leadership Studies
President, Jepson Scholars Foundation
Specialties:
  • Ethics and Economics
  • Leadership Ethics
  • History of Economic Thought
  • History of Political Economy
  • Experimental Economics
Contact:
(804) 287-6086
headshot of Dr. Kristin M. S. Bezio
Dr. Kristin M. S. Bezio
Professor of Leadership Studies
Associate Dean of Academic Affairs
Specialties:
  • Leadership in Literature & Film
  • Leadership in Performance
  • Cultural & Political History (Early Modern England)
  • New Media and Gaming
Contact:
(804) 287-6045
headshot of Dr. Kerstin M. Soderlund
Dr. Kerstin M. Soderlund
Associate Dean for Student & External Affairs
Specialties:
  • Community-based Learning
  • Diversity and Difference
Contact:
(804) 287-6082
headshot of Dr. Vladimir Chlouba
Dr. Vladimir Chlouba
Assistant Professor of Leadership Studies
Specialties:
  • Traditional Leadership
  • Governance in Weak States
  • African Politics
  • Historical Political Economy
Contact:
(804) 287-6694
headshot of Dr. Volha (Olga) Chykina
Dr. Volha (Olga) Chykina
Assistant Professor of Leadership Studies
Specialties:
  • Educational Inequalities
  • Academic Freedom
  • Education Policy
  • Comparative and International Education
Contact:
(804) 287-6335
headshot of Dr. Joanne B. Ciulla
Dr. Joanne B. Ciulla
Professor Emerita
Specialties:
  • Leadership Ethics
  • Business Ethics
  • International Leadership
  • Conflict Resolution
  • Philosophy of Work
Contact:
headshot of Dr. Sam Director
Dr. Sam Director
Assistant Professor of Leadership Studies
Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Politics, Economics, and Law
Specialties:
  • Biomedical Ethics
  • Public Health Ethics
  • Political Philosophy
  • Ethics of Technology
Contact:
(804) 287-6451
headshot of Dr. Jessica Flanigan
Dr. Jessica Flanigan
Professor of Leadership Studies
Professor of Philosophy, Politics, Economics, and Law
Richard L. Morrill Chair in Ethics & Democratic Values
Specialties:
  • Ethics
  • Bioethics
  • Political Philosophy
Contact:
(804) 287-6353
headshot of Dr. Donelson R. Forsyth
Dr. Donelson R. Forsyth
Professor Emeritus
Specialties:
  • Group Dynamics
  • Social Behavior
  • Psychology of Morality
Contact:
headshot of Dr. Guzel Garifullina
Dr. Guzel Garifullina
Assistant Professor of Leadership Studies
Specialties:
  • Political Leadership
  • Russian Politics
  • Governance and Bureaucracy
  • Experimental Methods
Contact:
(804) 287-6411
headshot of Dr. George R. Goethals
Dr. George R. Goethals
Professor Emeritus
Specialties:
  • Presidential Leadership
  • Peer Interaction and Performance
  • Heroes
Contact:
headshot of Dr. Julian Maxwell Hayter
Dr. Julian Maxwell Hayter
Professor of Leadership Studies
Specialties:
  • Modern African American History
  • American Civil Rights Movement
  • African American Politics in Richmond, Virginia
  • American Political Development after 1945
Contact:
(804)-287-6083
headshot of Dr. Lauren N. Henley
Dr. Lauren N. Henley
Assistant Professor of Leadership Studies
Specialties:
  • African American History
  • Ethics of Crime
  • History of Serial Killers
Contact:
(804) 287-6891
headshot of Dr. Gill Robinson Hickman
Dr. Gill Robinson Hickman
Professor Emerita
Specialties:
  • Organizational Leadership
  • Leading Change
  • Invisible Leadership
  • Leadership during Personal Crisis
Contact:
headshot of Dr. Javier Hidalgo
Dr. Javier Hidalgo
Professor of Leadership Studies
Professor of Philosophy, Politics, Economics, and Law
Specialties:
  • Political Philsophy
  • Applied Ethics
  • Buddhist Philosophy
  • Pedagogy
Contact:
(804) 287-6365
headshot of Dr. Crystal L. Hoyt
Dr. Crystal L. Hoyt
Professor of Leadership Studies
Professor of Psychology
Colonel Leo K. & Gaylee Thorsness Endowed Chair in Ethical Leadership
Gender & Sexuality Studies Advisory Board Member
Interdisciplinary Program Coordinator, Gender & Sexuality Studies
Specialties:
  • Beliefs Systems (e.g., Mindsets, Stereotypes, and Ideologies)
  • Stigma, Stereotyping, and Discrimination
  • Social Inequities
Contact:
(804) 287-6825
headshot of Dr. Peter Iver Kaufman
Dr. Peter Iver Kaufman
Professor of Leadership Studies
George Matthews & Virginia Brinkley Modlin Chair in Leadership Studies
Specialties:
  • Modern and Postmodern Political Theory
  • Political Culture (Late Antiquity through Early Modern Period)
Contact:
(804) 289-8003
headshot of Dr. Bo Yun Park
Dr. Bo Yun Park
Assistant Professor of Leadership Studies
Assistant Professor of Sociology
Specialties:
  • Political Leadership
  • Digital Politics
  • Technology
  • Social Change in Democracies
Contact:
headshot of Dr. Terry L. Price
Dr. Terry L. Price
Professor of Leadership Studies
Professor of Philosophy, Politics, Economics, and Law
Coston Family Chair in Leadership and Ethics
Specialties:
  • Leadership Ethics
  • Moral Psychology
  • Responsibility
  • Influence
  • Social, Political, and Legal Theory
Contact:
(804) 287-6088
headshot of Dr. Christopher R. von Rueden
Dr. Christopher R. von Rueden
Professor of Leadership Studies
Specialties:
  • Status Hierarchy
  • Leader Emergence and Effectiveness
  • Evolution of Cooperation and Morality
  • Social Gradient of Health
  • Small-scale Societies
  • Origins of Personality Differences
Contact:
(804) 287-6098
headshot of Dr. David E. Wilkins
Dr. David E. Wilkins
Professor of Leadership Studies
E. Claiborne Robins Distinguished Professor in Leadership Studies
Specialties:
  • Comparative Indigenous Politics and Governance
  • Native Sovereignty and Diplomacy
  • Federal Indian Policy and Law
  • Native Nations/State Relations
Contact:
(804) 287-6494
headshot of Dr. Thad Williamson
Dr. Thad Williamson
Professor of Leadership Studies
Professor of Philosophy, Politics, Economics, and Law
Specialties:
  • Urban Politics and Sprawl
  • Community Economic Development
  • City of Richmond Politics
  • Sports, Justice, and Ethics
Contact:
(804) 287-6542
headshot of Dr. J. Thomas Wren
Dr. J. Thomas Wren
Professor Emeritus
Specialties:
  • Intellectual History of Leadership
  • Leadership in Historical Contexts
  • Leadership and the Law
  • Leadership Education
Contact:

Affiliated Faculty

headshot of Rev. Dr. Craig Kocher
Rev. Dr. Craig Kocher
Dean of Religious and Spiritual Life, University Chaplain, and Jessie Ball duPont Chair of the Chaplaincy
Contact:
(804) 289-8500
headshot of Tom J. Shields
Tom J. Shields
Associate Professor, Education
Program Chair, Graduate Education
Associate Professor, Leadership Studies
Member, SPCS Speakers Bureau
Adjunct Instructor, Executive Education
Specialties:
  • Educational Leadership
  • School & Housing Segregation
  • Changing Demographics in RVA
  • Ethics & Leadership
Contact:
(804) 289-8524

Visiting Scholars and Visiting Research Fellows

headshot of Dr. Betty Neal Crutcher
Dr. Betty Neal Crutcher
Mentor-in-Residence
Contact:
(804) 484-1561
headshot of Dr. Kazi A. S. M. Nurul Huda
Dr. Kazi A. S. M. Nurul Huda
Cmelikova Visiting International Scholar in Leadership and Ethics
Specialties:
  • epistemology
  • social and political philosophy
  • ethics
  • theory of recognition
Contact:
804-484-1532