ASU professor earns Gallup nod

February 05, 2008

ASU Global Management and Leadership assistant professor Fred Walumbwa has accepted an invitation from the Gallup organization to join its prestigious Distinguished Science Advisory Council as a senior scientist.<separator></separator>Senior scientists are leading experts who advise and consult with Gallup researchers and select clients, while making contributions that serve to further the organization’s mission and maintain the cutting-edge character of its research.<separator></separator>“This is very significant recognition for Dr. Walumbwa, for his work and accomplishments, and it is also noteworthy for ASU and this school,” says Gary Waissi, dean of the global management school.<separator></separator>Currently made up of a group of 19 international experts in the fields of leadership, management, employee selection and development, public opinion research, positive psychology, and research methodology, the council includes Daniel Kahneman, winner of the 2002 Nobel Prize in Economics for his work in prospect theory.<separator></separator>“This provides such a great opportunity to put my expertise to practice,” says Walumbwa, whose research interests include leadership development, cross-cultural management, and organizational justice.<separator></separator>Walumbwa, born and raised in Kenya where he earned his bachelor’s in management education before coming to the states, hopes to contribute to the council as the first member from Africa, bringing the continent to the world stage through the establishment of a center of research in the capital city of Nairobi.<separator></separator>“I hope to change the mindset of the rest of the world about Africa as ‘the land of hopelessness’ to the ‘land of hope.’ To create an ‘African hub’ to facilitate Gallup’s work in the country is an exciting proposition and one in which I would like to play a lead role with other Gallup Senior Scientists.”<separator></separator>Walumbwa earned his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and has authored numerous article’s in such premier publications as Journal of Management, Leadership Quarterly, Journal of Operations Management, Personal Psychology, Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, and Applied Psychology: An International Review. He is currently on the editorial review boards of Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Journal of Management and Leadership Quarterly.<separator></separator>“Imagine an ASU professor being in the forefront of changing the lives of millions of people living in Africa,” says Walumbwa, who is a member of the Academy of Management, Southern Management Association and Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology. “It is time, and I am sure the ASU community will be proud to be a part of the solution in partnership with the Gallup organization.”<separator></separator>Also a senior scientist is internationally recognized leadership researcher Bruce Avolio, director of the Gallup Leadership Institute and a mentor to Walumbwa at the University of Nebraska.<separator></separator>“Fred’s expertise in the area of global leadership studies, with an additional focus on African leadership as well, will be of great benefit to the council,” says Avolio, who co-authored “Authentic Leadership Theory and Practice: Origins, Effects and Development” with Walumbwa and William L. Gardner. “His capacity to produce high-quality scientific research that is making a difference in both the academic and practice communities is impressive.”<separator></separator>“To have one of our faculty included in this group of the most recognized researchers in the world is testimony to Fred’s incredible achievements and his stature among his peers,” says Waissi.<separator></separator>“The benefit to our students is direct. They have an opportunity to study with and learn from one of the best, most recognized, leadership researchers.”

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