Walt Gmelch
Professor of Leadership Studies and Former Dean of the School of Education, University of San Francisco
As an educator, management consultant, university administrator, and former business executive, Walt has conducted research and written extensively on the topics of leadership, team development, conflict, and stress and time management. He has published over two hundred articles, twenty-four books and monographs, and numerous scholarly papers in national and international journals.
Today, Walt is one of the leading researchers in the study of academic leaders in higher education, serving on the editorial board of several journals, including The Department Chair, International Journal of Leadership and Change, Academic Leadership, and the Center for Academic Leadership Newsletter. He has directed two national studies of 1,600 university department chairs in the United States, one study of 1,580 Australian department heads, another investigation of 1,000 community college chairs, and an international study of 2,000 academic deans in Australia and America. . In 2016 a new study was launched of 900 department chairs across institutional type and disciplines within the United States.
Gmelch has received numerous honors including a Kellogg National Fellowship, The University Council for Educational Administration Distinguished Professor Award, The Faculty Excellence Award for Research, and the Education Press Award of America. In addition, he served in the Danforth Leadership program, has been an advisor and faculty to the Salzburg Seminars on Higher Education and Global Citizenship, and has been an Australian Research Fellow.