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.
Associate Professor

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

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. | Associate 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

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.
Dean, College of Psychology and Liberal Arts

Jessica Wildman, Ph.D.
Associate 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 is the Academic Program Chair for the Master's in Organizational Leadership program. Her research interests include: leadership, self regulation, organizational culture and training. She received her Ph.D. in I/O psychology from Florida Institute of Technology.

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Lisa Steelman, Ph.D. | Dean, College of Psychology and Liberal Arts

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 is the Chair of the I/O psychology program and the Director of the Center for Organizational Effectiveness, a campus based consulting group affiliated with the I/O program. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Akron.

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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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School of Psychology

Faculty