12^th Annual Kravis de-Roulet Leadership Conference, 2002 - "Improving Leadership in Nonprofit Organizations"

SPEAKER PROFILES

Ron Alexander

Ron Alexander is the executive director of the Inland Valley Volunteer and Resource Center. The Inland Valley Volunteer and Resource Center (IVVRC), founded in 1978, is a community-based, nonprofit service organization, committed to addressing the volunteer needs of its nonprofit partners, as well as developing and implementing special volunteer and community service projects throughout the community, collaborating with local businesses, governmental agencies, and schools. Ron’s education includes a B.A. in psychology and M.DIV. in Theology and Pastoral Counseling. His past experience includes work as a Lutheran minister, social worker, director of outpatient mental heal and drugs facility, and supervisor of a county geriatric program.

Fred J. Ali

Fred Ali has thirty years of progressively responsible senior management experience with non-profit organizations, educational institutions, and government. He received his BA degree from Santa Clara University and his MA from the University of Michigan. He held a number of key positions in Alaska, including Director of the State Employment and Training Agency, President of Kuskokwim Community College, Vice Chancellor of the University of Alaska Anchorage, and the founding Executive Director of Covenant House Alaska and Executive Director of Covenant House in Los Angeles. Fred is currently President and Chief Administrative Officer of the Weingart Foundation. The Weingart Foundation is among the nations leading philanthropic institutions, making annual grants of approximately $40 million in Southern California, with a primary focus on programs serving children and youth.

Paul M. Arsenault

Dr. Arsenault is an Assistant Professor at West Chester University in West Chester, Pennsylvania. He holds a Ph.D. from Temple University, a MBA from the Babcock School of Management at Wake Forest University, and a Masters in Psychology from Vanderbilt University. Dr. Arsenault has held various positions in the profit and non-profit segments. He has been a marketing manager for various consumer product good companies, a program coordinator for a training program for unemployed people, a director of a Head Start program, and a VISTA volunteer. Dr. Arsenault was awarded a grant from the James MacGregor Burns Center of Leadership to pursue how to assess the new leadership process. In addition, Paul has actively involved in service learning especially in the area of helping non-profit organizations develop strategic plans.

Gerry Buncher

Gerry Buncher is the Executive Director of the Jewish Community Center of Orange County. From its origins as a chavurah (friendship) group with just a few families, the JCC has grown into a county-wide organization serving nearly 1300 member families. Gerry has had work experience in the communal services field for the past 25 years. His educational background includes undergraduate degree in early childhood special education and graduate degree in education. He has worked in a variety of communities from Pittsburgh Pa, Columbus Ohio, Houston Texas, and Costa Mesa CA. Gerry has experience in developing volunteer auxiliaries, organizing committees, and promoting the value of "lay involvement within the non profit world.

Joanne B. Ciulla

Joanne B. Ciulla is Professor and Coston Family Chair in Leadership and Ethics at the Jepson School of Leadership Studies, the University of Richmond. She has also held the UNESCO Chair in Leadership Studies at the United Nations University International Leadership Academy in Jordan, where she directed and designed leadership development programs for emerging leaders from around the world. Ciulla has a B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. in philosophy. She publishes in the areas of business ethics, leadership studies, and the philosophy of work, and is on the editorial boards of The Business Ethics Quarterly, and The Journal of Business Ethics. Ciulla is the editor of the series, "New Horizons in Leadership," for Edward Elgar Publishing, Ltd. and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Desmond Tutu Peace Foundation. She is also a consultant who helps develop programs on ethics and leadership for universities, companies, and government agencies in the U.S. and abroad.

 

Jay Conger

Jay Conger is Professor of Organizational Behavior at the London Business School and Senior Research Scientist at the Center for Effective Organizations at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. He holds a D.B.A. from Harvard Business School, M.B.A. from the University of Virginia and B.A. from Dartmouth College. Conger consults with a worldwide list of private corporations and non-profit organizations. He serves as an advisor and coach to numerous executives and CEOs. Author of over seventy articles and book chapters and nine books, he researches leadership, innovation, boards of directors, organizational change, and the training and development of leaders and managers. His insights have been featured in Business Week, The Economist, Forbes, Fortune, The LA Times, The New York Times, Training and, The Wall Street Journal.

Stephen M. Dobbs

Dobbs is currently Executive Vice President of the Bernard Osher Foundation and Adjunct Professor of Humanities at San Francisco State. He was educated at Stanford in philosophy, history, education, and the arts. Dobbs’ first career was as a professor of arts and humanities at San Francisco State University. He also served on the Summer Fulbright Faculty, directed a humanities program at the Kennedy Center and had several visiting professor and scholar appointments. A second career has been in the foundation world, beginning as a Program Analyst for the John D. Rockefeller III Fund, Senior Program Officer at the Getty Center, Executive Director of the Koret Foundation and President & CEO of the Marin Community Foundation. Currently Dobbs is pursuing writing interests, special projects, and community work. A recent special project was his role as coordinator of the California Nobel Prize Centennial, a program of the Consulate General of Sweden in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Stewart I. Donaldson

Dr. Stewart I. Donaldson is Professor and Chair of Psychology, Director of the Institute of Organizational and Program Evaluation Research, and Dean of the School of Behavioral and Organizational Sciences, Claremont Graduate University. He has taught numerous courses and published widely on the topics of organizational psychology and program evaluation, including a recent book with Michael Scriven on Evaluating Social Programs and Problems: Visions for the New Millennium. He serves as Co-Chair of the Theory-Driven Evaluation and Program Theory topical interest group of the American Evaluation Association (AEA), is on the Editorial Boards of the American Journal of Evaluation and New Directions for Evaluation, and is or has been principal investigator on numerous evaluation grants and contracts; e.g., he is currently principal investigator of the evaluation of The California Wellness Foundation's $20 million statewide Work and Health Initiative.

Peter Drucker

Peter F. Drucker is a writer, teacher, and consultant specializing in strategy and policy for businesses and social sector organizations. He has consulted with many of the world's largest corporations as well as with nonprofit organizations, small and entrepreneurial companies, and with agencies of the U.S. government. He has also worked with free-world governments such as those of Canada, Japan, and Mexico. He is the author of thirty-one books which have been translated into more than twenty languages. He has been an editorial columnist for the Wall Street Journal and a frequent contributor to the Harvard Business Review and other periodicals. Drucker took his doctorate in public and international law while working as a newspaper reporter in Frankfurt, Germany. He then worked as an economist for an international bank in London. Drucker came to the United States in 1937. He began his teaching career as professor of politics and philosophy at Bennington College; for more than twenty years he was professor of management at the Graduate Business School of New York University. Peter Drucker has been hailed in the United States and abroad as the seminal thinker, writer, and lecturer on the contemporary organization. Dr. Drucker has received honorary doctorates from universities around the world. He is Honorary Chairman of the Peter F. Drucker Foundation for Nonprofit Management.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Florence L. Green

Florence L. Green is Executive Director of the California Association of Nonprofits (CAN). She has worked with foundations, nonprofit organizations, city and county governments, regional and national associations, colleges and universities, state-wide and regional coalitions and collaborations, and management support organizations. In addition she works with statewide and community groups to establish multi-sector collaborations to address major community concerns and social issues. She has published several articles on fundraising, board development, strategic planning, collaboration, and nonprofit management and will soon publish a book on fundraising for public libraries.  She is the past board president of CAN and the past president of the Nonprofit Management Association (now known as the Alliance for Nonprofit Management), is an Associate to the National Center of Nonprofit Boards and served as an advisor for the development of a self-administered development audit published by the Foundation Center. Florence Green is also a founder and member the California Nonprofit Policy Council, and is a founder and serves on the board of the National Council of Nonprofit Associations.

Joseph V. Haggerty

Joseph V. Haggerty is President of United Way of Greater Los Angeles. Under his leadership since 1995, the organization has raised more than $360 million. Mr. Haggerty’s goals are to substantially improve United Way’s fund-raising campaign, streamline its structure, and provide additional funding to the health and human care agencies serving the most critical needs of our communities. Along these lines, he is currently chairing a statewide effort, the United Way Collaborative, to enhance services in the towns and cities throughout California. Mr. Haggerty serves on the boards of the Local Initiatives Services Corporation, the Los Angeles Sports and Entertainment Commission, the Workforce Investment Board of the City of Los Angeles, and the Advisory Board for the Human Services and Unemployment Trust Group. In addition, he serves as a Senior Fellow of the UCLA School of Public Policy and Social Research. Preceding his tenure in Los Angeles, Mr. Haggerty was served as President of the Phoenix-based Valley of the Sun United Way, President of the United Ways in St. Joseph, Michigan; Corpus Christi, Texas; and St. Paul, Minnesota. Mr. Haggerty received his Bachelor’s Degree from Boston College and his Master’s Degree in Community Organization and Planning from the University of Connecticut.

Kevin F. Hallock

Kevin F. Hallock has been an Associate Professor of Economics and of Labor & Industrial Relations at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign since 2001. He joined the faculty at Illinois as an Assistant Professor in 1995; the same year he earned his Ph.D. in economics from Princeton University. He specializes in compensation of managers in for-profit and nonprofit organizations, the effects of job loss on firms, and the link between labor economics and corporate finance. His work has appeared in many journals including The American Economic Review, the Industrial and Labor Relations Review, the Journal of Economic Perspectives, and the Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis. Hallock’s work has been funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the United States Department of Labor, the National Bureau of Economic Research, and the American Compensation Association, among others.

 

Frances Hesselbein

Frances Hesselbein is the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Peter F. Drucker Foundation for Nonprofit Management, and served as its founding President and Chief Executive Officer from 1990-2000. Mrs. Hesselbein was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States of America’s highest civilian honor, in 1998. The award recognized her leadership as Chief Executive officer of Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. from 1976-1990 as well as her role as the Founding President of the Drucker Foundation. Her contributions were also recognized by former President Bush, who appointed her to two Presidential Commissions on national and community service. In 2001 Mrs. Hesselbein was awarded the Henry A. Rosso Medal for lifetime achievement in ethical fund raising from the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University. Mrs. Hesselbein is Editor-in-Chief of the quarterly journal Leader to Leader, and a co-editor of a book of the same name. She is co-editor of the Drucker Foundation’s three-volume Future Series as well as Leading Beyond the Walls, and Leading for Innovation, Organizing for Results, the first two books in the Foundation’s Wisdom to Action Series. Mrs. Hesselbein was featured in a 2001 Special Issue of the Harvard Business Review as a member of a leadership roundtable of six leaders in an article entitled "All in a Days Work".

Leslie Lenkowsky

Leslie Lenkowsky, a leading scholar on philanthropy and America’s civic traditions, took over as chief executive officer of the Corporation for National and Community Service. He was appointed to that post by President George W. Bush in October 2001, having served on board of directors of the organization since it was created in 1993. An independent federal agency, the Corporation for National and Community Service engages more than 1.5 million Americans of all ages in improving local communities through three initiatives: AmeriCorps, Learn and Serve America, and the National Senior Service Corps.

Before joining the Bush Administration, Dr. Lenkowsky was professor of philanthropic studies and public policy at Indiana University/Purdue University at Indianapolis, as well as a research associate at the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, positions he had held since 1997. Prior to that, Dr. Lenkowsky served for seven years as president of the Hudson Institute, an internationally renowned public policy research institution. A graduate of Franklin and Marshall College, Dr. Lenkowsky received his doctorate from Harvard University. He has written extensively on a variety of public policy topics, and his writing has appeared in such publications as Commentary, The Weekly Standard, The Chronicle of Philanthropy and the Indianapolis Business Journal.

Jean Lipman-Blumen

Jean Lipman-Blumen is the Thornton F. Bradshaw Professor of Public Policy and Professor of Organizational Behavior at the Peter F. Drucker Graduate School of Management at Claremont Graduate University. She is an organizational sociologist, who received her Ph.D. from Harvard University and both A.B. and A.M. degrees from Wellesley College. In addition to her professorial roles at Claremont Graduate University, she is co-founding director of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Leadership at the Peter F. Drucker Graduate School of Management. She also is Director of the Achieving Styles Institute, a Pasadena-based consulting group. Before coming to Claremont, Prof. Lipman-Blumen held appointments as Visiting Professor of Sociology and Organizational Behavior at the Universities of Connecticut and Maryland. She served on the Domestic Policy Staff under President Carter and, from 1973 to 1978; she was an Assistant Director of the National Institute of Education (NIE), where she directed the Women’s Research Program. Subsequent to her NIE appointment, Prof. Lipman-Blumen served as a Special Assistant in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Education. Dr. Lipman-Blumen’s recent books include The Connective Edge: Leading in an Interdependent World nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, and with the Harold J. Leavitt, Hot Groups: Seeding, Feeding, and Using Them to Ignite Your Organization.

Thomas P. McGuiness

Thomas McGuiness is the Senior Vice President for Mission Integration and Community Care at Citrus Valley Health Partners, a four-facility acute care health system in the San Gabriel Valley region of the Los Angeles County. Much of Tom’s time is spent with community agencies assisting them in designing and implementing programs and projects that improve the health and quality of life of the community, with a special concern for low-income, uninsured, at-risk and vulnerable populations. Currently Tom is completing his dissertation for a public administration at the University of La Verne. He has been a Ford Foundation Fellow and a Health Forum Healthier Communities Fellow. Tom is widely published in the areas of community development, healthcare, ministry and psychology. He conducts workshops and training sessions for health systems and professional associations throughout the nation. Some topic areas include community health improvement, population-based medicine and spirituality in the workplace and the community.

Nancy Mintie

Nancy Mintie founded the Inner City Law Center, nonprofit legal aid organization, in 1980. Mintie served as the executive director of the center from 1980 to 1998 and presently serves as the organizations’ founding director. In 1999 Mintie formed a new nonprofit, Uncommon Good. This organization addresses the barriers that are keeping the younger generation out of careers of service to the poor in law and medicine. It addresses the issues of overwhelming educational debt, lack of training and mentoring, and the problem of lack of availability of health care and access to justice for the poor. Mintie presently serves as Uncommon Good’s executive director. Nancy Mintie, a 1979 graduate of UCLA School of Law, has received numerous awards from organizations such as the American Bar Association and the Caring Institute, which honored her on Capital Hill in 1995 along with former President Jimmy Carter. In addition, her alma mater, UCLA Law School, has established an annual public interest law award in her name.

 

Marge Nichols

Marge Nichols is Research Director at United Way of the Greater Los Angeles Area, where she has served for 20 years. Her work is focused on interpretation of social and economic trends to support human service delivery. She produces United Way's biannual "State of the County" reports which track trends in population and social indicators, and various special focus research studies. Other areas of activity include outcome measurement and database development, data user workshops; community needs assessment, and Census Bureau liaison. She previously served as Research Director for the Los Angeles County poverty program administration, Director of Monitoring for Los Angeles County Head Start/State Preschool, and maintained a consulting practice specializing in community needs assessment and program evaluation. Her academic training includes a BA in Social Science/Education (Michigan State University) and an MA in Sociology (UCLA).

Allen Omoto

Allen M. Omoto earned his B.A. from Kalamazoo College and his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota. He is currently an Associate Professor of Psychology in the School of Behavioral and Organizational Sciences at the Claremont Graduate University in Claremont, CA. He previously served on the faculty of the Department of Psychology at the University of Kansas from 988-2000 where he was also the Director of the Social Psychology Program. Dr. Omoto is a social psychologist whose research interests include the social and psychological aspects of volunteerism, civic participation and social activism, interpersonal relationships, HIV disease, and lesbian, gay, and bisexual issues. He has an ongoing program of research on volunteerism and helping relationships, and his research has been supported by grants from the National Institute of Mental Health, the Fetzer Institute/Institute or Research on Unlimited Love, and the American Foundation for AIDS research. Dr. Omoto also has extensive public policy experience, including helping found and administer a community-based AIDS service organization and working in the US Congress in 1995-96 as the American Psychological Association's inaugural William A. Bailey AIDS Policy Congressional Fellow.

Craig L. Pearce

Craig L. Pearce is an Assistant Professor of Management at the Peter F. Drucker Graduate School of Management at Claremont Graduate University. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Maryland, his M.B.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and his B.S. from Pennsylvania State University. Dr. Pearce’s areas of expertise include leadership, teamwork and change management. He has won several awards for his research including an award from the Center for Creative Leadership for his research on shared leadership. His research has appeared in Organizational Dynamics, Journal of Management, Strategic Management Journal, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, Journal of Managerial Issues, Advances in Interdisciplinary Studies of Work Teams, Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, Journal of Applied Social Psychology, Human Resource Management Review, Journal of Management Systems and Handbook of Non-profit Management as well as other outlets. Prior to beginning an academic career, Dr. Pearce worked as an international management consultant in the area of process re-engineering, organizational development and turnaround management.

Thomas Reynolds

Dr. Reynolds’ formal academic training is in the areas of philosophy, psychology, and mathematical statistics. He received degrees from the University of Notre Dame and the University of Southern California. He is currently a visiting professor of education at Michigan State University working on the development of a teacher education program that focuses upon implementing the critical thinking skills curriculum. Dr. Reynolds has spent the last 26 years conducting decision-making research around the world with people of all ages and backgrounds. The 250+ research projects he conducted has resulted in the development of a general choice model that details the key elements of decision –making and how they interact to produce an individual decision. In addition to this applied research, Dr. Reynolds has written in excess of 50 scholarly articles dealing with decision-making, more specifically, with the role of personal values in the choice process.

 

 

 

 

Gill Robinson Hickman

Gill Robinson Hickman is currently a Professor of Leadership Studies in the Jepson School of Leadership Studies at the University of Richmond. Her career has involved both administrative and academic appointments. At California State University, Dominguez Hills, she served as founding Dean of the School of Health, Dean of Faculty Affairs, Director of Staff Personnel and Professor of Public Administration. She has also served as interim Associate Dean of the School of Community and Public Affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University, Director of Personnel for the Ontario-Montclair School District, Personnel Analyst for the California State University system and Administrative Assistant for the City of Inglewood, California. She has been a faculty presenter at the Salzburg Seminar in Salzburg, Austria and at the University of the Western Cape in South Africa where she presented a conceptual framework for leadership and transformation in twenty-first century organizations. She has published two books titled Leading Organizations: Perspectives for a New Era for Sage Publications and Managing Personnel in the Public Sector: A Shared Responsibility with Dalton Lee for Harcourt College Publishers. In addition, she has published a number of articles and book chapters on leadership studies and is currently engaged in research for her third book titled Organizations of Hope: Leading the Way to Profitability and Social Action. Dr. Hickman received her Bachelor of Arts degree from University of Denver in Political Science, Master of Public Administration degree from the University of California, Los Angeles, and Ph.D. in Public Administration from the University of Southern California.

Constance Rossum

Constance Rossum, PhD., is associate Professor of Marketing and Management and Director of Nonprofit Graduate Programs at Azusa Pacific University. She is also President of Management Directives, Inc, an independent consulting firm for business, the public sector, and nonprofit organizations. She helped to develop the Drucker Foundation Self-Assessment Tool for Nonprofit Organizations, and has received the Drucker Management Center’s Alumni Award for Outstanding Entrepreneurship. Before embarking on her current career, she worked for 20 years in advertising, marketing/management, and consumer research for major Fortune 100 organizations.

Susan Scribner

Susan Scribner is the Principal of Scribner and Associates and a consultant to nonprofit organizations. She is a member of the faculty at U LA where she teaches Advanced Financial Policy and Board and Organizational Development. She has also taught at Cornell University and Cal Sate Long Beach and is the author of How to Ask for Money Without Fainting; Boards from Hell, and Are you Chairing a Board by the Seat of your Pants? – all important resources for nonprofit leaders. Susan has been a member of the National Association for Hospital Development, the President’s Commission on the Employment of the handicapped and the National Association of the Deaf. Ms. Scribner is coordinating a special project in the Ukraine to provide needed health care for the survivors of Chernobyl.

Fred D. Smith

Fred D. Smith is President and Chief Operating Officer Operation Hope, Inc. America’s first non-profit organization, committed to the revitalization, and long-[term sustenance of under-served communities and serves as a national voice for minority and urban economic empowerment. He is a published author and guest speaker and community leader. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Los Angles Council and the Western Region Boy Scouts of America, Operation Hope, Inc., the Transportation Foundation of Los Angeles, and is a retired U.S. Air Force Colonel. Smith earned a Bachelor’s degree in accounting and business administration from Tennessee State University. He is a also a graduate of Pacific Coast Banking School at the University of Washington, and the Graduate School of Credit and Financial Management Amos Tuck School at Dartmouth.

Sarah Smith Orr

Sarah Smith Orr is an experienced and senior coach for executives and organizations, with a specialty in the nonprofit field and for women and men making a passage through a life transition. Over a period of 30 years she has founded and professionally led nonprofit organizations including service as a senior coach and trainer for The Hudson Institute of Santa Barbara. Sarah has an MBA through the Peter F. Drucker Management Program at Claremont Graduate University and is currently working on her Ph.D. at the same university with focus on human development (primarily in the field of women over 50), leadership and building community. In conjunction with her doctoral studies, she has produced/assembled life transition materials (including a video) for women in transition who are over 50--and is working to establish a center for women providing them with access to resources to chart the next phase of their lives. She is the owner of Smith Orr & Associates located in Pasadena, California.

Mark Snyder

Mark Snyder is a member of the faculty in psychology at the University of Minnesota, where he holds the McKnight Presidential Chair in Psychology and is the founding Director of the Center for the Study of the Individual and Society. He received his B. A. from McGill University in 1968 and his Ph.D. from Stanford University in 1972. His research interests include theoretical and empirical issues associated with the motivational foundations of individual and collective behavior, and the applications of basic theory and research in personality and social psychology to addressing practical problems confronting society. He has served as President of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, on the Board of Directors of the American Psychological Society, and the Council of the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues. He is also the author of the book, Public Appearances/Private Realities: The Psychology of Self-Monitoring and co-editor of the volumes Cooperation in Modern Society: Promoting the Welfare of Communities, States, and Organizations and Cooperation in Society: Fostering Community Action and Civic Participation.

Victor Sohmen

Victor Sohmen, a former foreign-going ship captain from India, obtained the MBA in Project Management from the University of Calgary, Canada, and the Master of International Management (MIM) from Baylor University, Texas, USA. He is a recipient of the 1995 Canadian Governor-General’s Gold Medal for academic excellence. His research interests include cross-cultural leadership and communication, transnational projects, acculturative stress, socio-linguistics, intercultural knowledge transfer, and international management. Presently he is doing Ph.D. research at the Umeå School of Business & Economics, Umeå University, Sweden, where he also teaches cross-cultural studies, organisational strategy, and project management & leadership. Since 1990 he has contributed to international and regional conferences on project management, cost engineering, and international business.

Georgia Sorenson

Dr. Georgia Sorenson is Visiting Scholar at the Jepson School of Leadership and Founder of the James MacGregor Burns Academy of Leadership. A presidential leadership scholar, she is on the graduate faculty of the Department of Government and Politics at the University of Maryland, as well as an Adjunct Professor at Williams College and Ewa University in Seoul, Korea. She also serves as Professor and Advisor to The National School of Administration of the People's Republic of China and is on the International Board of Tokyo Jogakkan University in Japan. Sorenson is on the board of directors of several leadership institutions, including Kellogg, Asian Pacific American Leadership Institute, Leadership Learning Community, LeaderNet and New Voices. Before coming to the University, Dr. Sorenson was a Senior Policy Analyst in the Carter White House for employment issues and later worked as a consultant to the Executive Office of the President. During her White House tenure, she served on the White House Productivity Council and Vice President Mondale's Youth Employment Council. Dr. Sorenson has published in professional journals such as the Harvard Educational Review and the Psychology of Women Quarterly and is frequent contributor on social issues in the popular media.

K.M. Thiagarajan

K.M. Thiagarajan is a founder of Microcredit Foundation of India, a nonprofit company that will work towards providing small loans to underserved groups, especially in rural areas. He received his M.B.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Pittsburgh and worked as Assistant Professor at the Graduate School of Management at the University of Rochester. There he worked with one of the foremost leadership scholars, Dr. Bernard Bass, developing training and research programs as well as cross-cultural comparisons of leadership behavior. Returning to India, he was a management Trainer and Consultant to various companies including IBM India and Indian Oil Corporation. In addition, he was managing Director of Loyal Textile Mills Ltd. and Chairman and CEO of Bank of Madura Ltd. Thiagarajan has conducted executive training programs in the US, Norway, Iran, Japan and India. His work has been published in journals such as The Journal of Applied Psychology and Management International.