The intersection of people and enterprise
How does a dead fish handshake at an interview affect your chances of getting the job? How does experience working together improve a surgical team's performance? What makes top performers burn out, and how can managers head it off? Will extra perks like primo parking spots help you keep your rock star employees? How do astronauts on the International Space Station manage to stay engaged with all the tasks they have to complete in space? Do "bad bosses" ever make amends for their poor behavior?
Management is about answering questions. Specifically, questions about humans and their impact on the organizations they comprise, like the ones above.
The research topics tackled by our own management & entrepreneurship (M&E) faculty are as fascinating as they are varied. We have a reputation for one of the strongest M&E departments in the country, with a concentration of some of the best faculty in the field. As a Management PhD candidate here, you’ll be part of the excitement. You can turn your curiosity about how people and companies can work better into a successful career as a teacher and an influential thinker.
At a glance

College Ranked Town

Faculty to PhD Student Ratio

Most productive management faculty
Preserving a faculty ratio of 1:1
We compete with the nation’s highest-ranked business schools for the brightest PhD students. But our selectivity keeps the program small. We admit about 3 students annually from 40–50 applicants.
We support 14–15 PhD candidates, allowing us to maintain a one-to-one student-faculty ratio. That means you can count on attention and engaged mentoring as you progress through the program.
Faculty expertise and research interests
- Amy Colbert - Intrinsic Motivation / Leadership / Person-Environment Fit / Personality / Workplace Relationships
- Amy Kristof-Brown - Person-Environment Fit / Impression Management in Interviews / Teams
- Greg Stewart - Health Care Management / Human resource management / Personality and performance / Self-directed teams
- Ken Brown - e-learning / Leadership development / Motivation / Training
- Ning Li - Big data and team collaboration / Individual differences / OCB and proactive behavior / Social network / Team leadership
- Chad Van Iddekinge - Personnel selection / Job performance / Validation / Meta-analysis
- Jennifer Nahrgang - Leadership and teams / Employee engagement / Future World of Work
- Steve Courtright - Organizational leadership / Team Effectiveness
- Eean Crawford - Employee Engagement / Groups and Teams / Personality / Social Networks
- Arturs Kalnins - Strategy / Entrepreneurship / Research Methods
- Bodi Vasi - Corporate Social Responsibility / Economic Sociology / Non-Market Strategy / Social Movements
- Rong Su - Gender and Diversity in Organizations / Individual Differences (Personality, Interests) / Person-Environment Fit / Research Methods / Meta-Analysis
- Beth Livingston - Work and Family / Gender and Diversity in Organizations / Justice / Intersectionality / Human Resources
- Michele Williams - Entrepreneurship and Innovation / Gender and Social Categorization / Trust and Collaboration
- Semin Park - Dynamic Network Relations / Conflict / Team Composition / Multiteam Systems
- Daniel Newton - Voice / Engagement / Teams
Bright prospects and a glowing record
Tippie Management PhDs contribute insight and research at universities and colleges around the world. Our record of success is impeccable: of the past 5 years, all PhD graduates have been placed in academic positions and since 2012, 18 of our alums have chosen tenure track academic positions.
2019 Management PhD Placements
Student |
Grad Year |
Dissertation Chair(s) |
Initial Placement |
Current Institution |
Jordan Nielsen |
2019 |
Amy Colbert |
Purdue University |
Purdue University |
Zhenyu Yuan |
2019 |
Ning Li |
University of Illinois at Chicago |
University of Illinois at Chicago |
Christina Li | 2019 | Amy Kristof-Brown | Southern Methodist University (Visiting Assistant Prof) |
Southern Methodist University (Visiting Assistant Prof) |
Student |
Grad Year |
Dissertation Chair(s) |
Initial Placement |
Current Institution |
Kameron Carter |
2018 |
Greg Stewart |
Penn State University |
Penn State University |
Bethany Cockburn |
2018 |
Amy Colbert |
Northern Illinois University |
Northern Illinois University |
Daniel Goering |
2018 |
Amy Colbert |
Missouri State University |
Missouri State University |
Jia (Joya) Yu |
2017 |
Ning Li / |
University of Nebraska-Lincoln |
University of Nebraska-Lincoln |
Stacy Astrove |
2017 |
Maria Kraimer |
John Carroll University-Ohio |
John Carroll University-Ohio |
Sheryl Walter |
2016 |
Amy Colbert |
Indiana University |
Indiana University |
Lindsey Greco |
2016 |
Maria Kraimer |
Oklahoma State University |
Oklahoma State University |
Elizabeth Follmer |
2016 |
Amy Kristof-Brown |
Univ. of Massachusetts-Amherst |
Univ. of Massachusetts-Amherst |
Hailin (Helen) Zhao |
2016 |
Ning Li / |
University of Hong Kong |
University of Hong Kong |
Erik González-Mulé |
2015 |
Michael Mount |
Indiana University |
Indiana University |
Patrick Downes |
2015 |
Eean Crawford / |
Rutgers University |
Texas Christian University |
Cody Reeves |
2015 |
Greg Stewart |
Brigham Young University |
Brigham Young University |
Andrew Hosmanek |
2015 |
Amy Colbert |
University of Iowa |
University of Iowa |
Brian McCormick |
2014 |
Amy Colbert |
Northern Illinois University |
Northern Illinois University |
Abigail Pierotti |
2014 |
Maria Kraimer |
Deloitte Consulting, Virginia |
Deloitte Consulting, Virginia |
Daejeong Choi |
2013 |
Maria Kraimer |
University of Melbourne |
University of Melbourne |
Steven Charlier |
2012 |
Greg Stewart |
Quinnipiac University |
Georgia Southern University |
Stephen Courtright |
2012 |
Amy Colbert |
Texas A&M |
Texas A&M |
Our faculty help shape the field
On our faculty roster, you’ll find some big-time M&E researchers. Like Amy Kristof-Brown, an internationally recognized expert in person-organization fit. Or Ning Li, a researcher of social networks, team leadership, and discretionary behaviors, whose research ranks him near the top worldwide among early-career management professors. And Greg Stewart, who’s in the midst of cutting-edge research on medical care provider teams in the V.A. hospital system.
Our heavy-hitter lineup is long and growing. Faculty like Ken Brown, Amy Colbert, Eean Crawford, Rong Su, Michele Williams, Beth Livingston, Semin Park, Daniel Newton, and Bodi Vasi produce industry-leading research and guide our PhD students through their degree.
We’re also some of the most published authors in the leading management and applied psychology journals, like the Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Applied Psychology, Personnel Psychology, and Journal of Management. Our faculty productivity is ranked 9th in the TAMUGA research rankings, and we are constantly engaged in interesting, applicable, and cutting-edge research.

“It was through this experience I realized, wow. This is how I can help—by applying research to complex, difficult, and delicate issues.”