Faculty

Research is an integral part of the I/O psychology MS and PhD programs. Each faculty member runs a research lab in their area of expertise. All labs have a collaborative culture of student engagement. See the subpages for more information on each faculty member's research area.

Gary Burns, Ph.D.
I/O Chair, Professor

Gary Burns, Ph.D. | I/O Chair, Professor

Gary Burns earned his Ph. D. in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from Central Michigan University in 2006. Gary’s research focuses on measuring and predicting individual differences and developing a better understanding of how these differences are related to organizational behavior and decision making. Applied projects focus on refining and developing performance management systems, developing leader-culture fit, and calibrating trust in human-machine teams. Gary is the director of the Social Cognitive and Sociotechnical Behavior Modeling Laboratory and the Workplace Personality Project. The purpose of the Workplace Personality Project is to promote research into the diverse roles of personality in the workplace to better inform practitioners about how to measure and account for personality. Gary currently serves as an associate editor with the European Journal of Psychological Assessment and is on the editorial boards of the Journal of Business and Psychology and the Journal of Personnel Assessment and Decisions.

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Xinxuan "Alice" Che, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor

Patrick Converse, Ph.D.
Professor

William K. Gabrenya Jr., Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus

Richard Griffith, Ph.D.
Professor

Xinxuan "Alice" Che, Ph.D. | Assistant Professor

Dr. Che graduated from University of South Florida with a Ph.D. degree in I/O Psychology. Her work focuses on organizational citizenship behaviors, leadership in teams, team development and performance, occupational stress, and workplace safety. She has lead and contributed in many workplace safety improvement projects on safety leadership, leadership in healthcare teams, organizational safety culture and simulation-based leadership training. She currently teaches Introduction to I/O Psychology and a Seminar in Leadership.

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Patrick Converse, Ph.D. | Professor

Dr. Converse’s research interests include motivation, particularly self-regulatory processes, personality measurement, and cognitive ability and the ability requirements of occupations. He teaches Personality Psychology, Industrial Training, and Personnel Selection. Dr. Converse received his Ph.D. in I/O Psychology from Michigan State University.

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William K. Gabrenya Jr., Ph.D. | Professor Emeritus

Dr. Gabrenya received his degree in Psychology from the University of Missouri-Columbia. Dr. Gabrenya's research interests include cross-cultural differences in social interaction and values, social class, Chinese behavior, and cultural differences in sexuality. He is currently the Undergraduate Psychology Chair and teaches undergraduate and graduate courses including cross-cultural psychology, culture and psychology, research methods and social psychology.

Dr. Gabrenya is Secretary-General of the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology (www.iaccp.org) and editor of the Cross-Cultural Psychology Bulletin (www.iaccp.org/bulletin).

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Richard Griffith, Ph.D. | Professor

Dr. Griffith received his doctoral degree from the University of Akron. His research interests are in the areas of Personality Measurement, Applicant Faking Behavior and Group and Team processes. Dr. Griffith teaches Tests and Measures and Applied Research Methods. He is the co-author of A Closer Examination of Applicant Faking Behavior, and his research was recently featured in Time Magazine. Dr. Griffith Chairs the international I/O concentration and is the Director of the Institute for Cross Cultural Management.

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Arthur Gutman, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus

Katrina Merlini, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor

Lisa Steelman, Ph.D.
Professor

Arthur Gutman, Ph.D. | Professor Emeritus

Dr. Gutman conducts research and consults in the area of EEO law. Dr. Gutman is the author of EEO Law and Personnel Practices.

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Katrina Merlini, Ph.D. | Assistant Professor

Dr. Merlini oversees the Organizational Climate and Leadership Lab. Her research focuses on leadership development and leader behaviors that foster diversity and inclusion (D&I) workplace initiatives. Dr. Merlini works remoletly as the Organizational Leadership Program Chair but still serves on student theses and dissertations.

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Lisa Steelman, Ph.D. | Professor

Dr. Steelman's conducts research in the areas of feedback processes, performance management, and employee engagement. She teaches courses in Performance Appraisal, Organizational Change and Transformation, and Advanced Research Methods & Professional Development. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Akron.

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Amanda L. Thayer, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor

Jessica Wildman, Ph.D.
Associate Professor

Amanda L. Thayer, Ph.D. | Assistant Professor

Dr. Thayer completed her doctorate at the University of Central Florida (UCF) in 2015. Her research interests focus on facilitating teamwork and team performance across a variety of contexts (e.g., military units, NASA crews, virtual teams), with an emphasis on team selection, staffing, and composition; trust violation and repair; team cohesion; team adaptation and resilience; and measurement and methodologies for studying interpersonal relationships and team- and system-level dynamics. She currently teaches Organizational Psychology and Multilevel and Teams. She is also part of the leadership team for ICCM.

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Jessica Wildman, Ph.D. | Associate Professor

Dr. Wildman received her Ph.D. from the University of Central Florida. Her primary research interests include the impact of cultural values and diversity on team process and performance, with a particular emphasis on trust development, violation, and repair in team settings. She currently teaches Group and Team Development and Culture in I/O. She is also involved in research with the Institute for Cross Cultural Management.

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