anderson university phd in leadership

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• Doctor of Philosophy | Ph.D. Preaching
• Doctor of Philosophy | Ph.D. Leadership
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Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D) | Leadership

The Doctor of Philosophy in Leadership is designed to equip you for the highest level of scholarship and performance in leading churches, denominational agencies, educational institutions, and ministry organizations. Graduates will have the knowledge and methodological tools to conduct research on the pressing ministry leadership issues of the day.

This program is designed to prepare working professionals to understand the complexities and challenges of leading change within organizations with the purpose of leading and creating transformative organizations and communities. This interdisciplinary program provides you with opportunities to engage in scholarship and research and develop professional competencies related to:

Organizational Structures

Leadership strategies, analyzing organizational culture, team and workplace culture development, leading organizational change, workspace dynamics in a technological culture.

*Each seminar requires a substantial amount of preparation, including reading and completion of written assignments.

Admission Requirements

Rather than being completed at the end of the seminars, the dissertation will be embedded within the seminar schedule (9 hours over three semesters), with portions of the dissertation developed and written in conjunction with the core and discipline-specific seminars.

A Master's Degree

A Master’s degree (36 or more hours) in a field of theological/ministry studies from a regionally accredited university or seminary.

Graduate Cumulative GPA Requirement: 3.0

Applicants who have not this requirement may be required to take leveling courses or enter the program on a probationary status.

Graduate Writing Sample

Currently enrolled in ministry service.

Current role in some area of ministry service within a church, denomination, educational institution, parachurch organization, mission agency or similar organization

U.S. News & World Report for 2023 named Anderson University as one of the “Best Value” schools among regional universities in the South, and the Wall Street Journal for 2022 named Anderson #25 for best student engagement among all universities in the United States. Clamp Divinity School seeks to offer you the highest quality education at the greatest value. For the most current tuition and fee information, visit andersonuniversity.edu/tuition-fees

Sample Schedule

The PhD in Leadership includes 48 hours of doctoral seminars, with 21 core hours shared with other PhD students in general areas of leadership theory and practice, 21 hours of discipline-specific seminars in Christian leadership, and 6 hours of focused dissertation hours. The Core seminars include a research methodology seminar which helps prepare students for research and writing of the dissertation.

Year 1 Fall

Year 1 spring, year 1 summer, year 2 fall, year 2 spring, year 2 summer, year 3 fall, year 3 spring, embedded dissertation.

Rather than being completed at the end of the seminars, the dissertation will be embedded within the seminar schedule (6 hours over two semesters), with portions of the dissertation developed and written in conjunction with the core and discipline-specific seminars.

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UCLA Anderson Ph.D. program

Where Brilliant Minds Break Through

Professor Chris Tang, prolific researcher in Management and Operations, with Rob Richmond, researcher in foreign currency investment.

Welcome to UCLA Anderson’s Doctoral Program — the first step in pursuing an academic career in management.

From the dean of our program.

"On behalf of our faculty, thank you for visiting the UCLA Anderson Ph.D. program! If you're serious about advancing our understanding of business disciplines through rigorous research, I invite you to explore everything our Ph.D. program has to offer. You'll have the opportunity to train with world-renowned scholars and alongside the next generation of researchers. In that pursuit, you will have UCLA's resources and strengths as a world-class research institution available to you."

Join us as we expand the boundaries of business knowledge. Apply to become one of tomorrow's leading scholars today.

Professor Stephen Spiller Associate Dean and Director Ph.D. Program UCLA Anderson School of Management

World-Class Faculty

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Graduate success stories.

Kevin Huang ('22) Assistant Professor, CUHK-Shenzhen

Noncompliance with SEC Regulations: Evidence from Timely Loan Disclosures

Jon Bogard ('22) Assistant Professor, Washington University in St. Louis

Target, distance, and valence: Unpacking the effects of normative feedback

Nur Kaynar Keles ('22) Assistant Professor, Cornell

Discovering Causal Models with Optimization: Confounders, Cycles, and Feature Selection

Geoff Zheng ('20) Assistant Professor NYU Shanghai

Growth Options, Incentives, and Pay for Performance: Theory and Evidence

Sebastian Ottinger ('21) Assistant Professor CERGE-EI

The Political Economy of Propaganda: Evidence from US Newspapers

Daniel Walters  ('17) Assistant Professor INSEAD

Investor memory of past performance is positively biased and predicts overconfidence

Marissa Sharif (’17) Assistant Professor of Marketing at the Wharton School

The Effect of Categorization on Goal Progress Perceptions and Motivation

Marco Testoni  ('19) Assistant Professor Tilburg University

The market value spillovers of technological acquisitions: Evidence from patent-text analysis

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• Margaret Cuninggim Women’s Center presents annual awards to five Vanderbilt community members

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• Faculty Honored for Teaching, Mentoring at Spring Assembly
• Discovery Vanderbilt Sends Research Soaring

Apr 15, 2024, 1:36 PM

This spring, the Margaret Cuninggim Women’s Center named five people from the Vanderbilt community as recipients of its annual awards.

Leadership Award

The Margaret Cuninggim Women’s Center Leadership Award honors an undergraduate or graduate student who demonstrates leadership in activities that contribute to the achievements, interests and goals of women or that promote gender equity. This year, two students were recognized with this award.

Trained as an OB/GYN clinician in her native Nigeria, Anjola-Oluwa Ajayi is a second-year student in the Master of Public Health program in the School of Medicine. A unifying thread in Ajayi’s work and training is learning how to use public health strategies to improve women’s health outcomes. As an intern at the Tennessee Department of Health, Ajayi helped to develop Tennessee’s first maternal health strategic plan. She organized listening sessions across the state to understand how women in Tennessee obtain health care and how to eliminate barriers to access. One of her nominators writes that, as she worked on these sessions, Ajayi “stayed focused, was accountable to deadlines and goals, and remained poised and led with conviction even when obstacles impacted progress.” Other nominators emphasized Ajayi’s care for others, explaining that her “leadership is not just about advancing her own career or accomplishments but about lifting others up and creating a more inclusive and equitable society for all women. Her empathy, compassion and unwavering commitment to the betterment of women’s lives serve as an inspiration to those around her.”

The second Leadership Award recipient is Shaniya Jarrett , a second-year astrophysics graduate student in the Fisk-Vanderbilt Master’s-to-Ph.D. Bridge Program. Although Jarrett was involved in science outreach work through her participation as a tutor in the School for Science and Math at Vanderbilt, she wanted to do more to expose Black girls to STEM fields. As a result, she developed a program called AstroBeats: Sounds of the Cosmos. The unique combination of science and music in AstroBeats offered Black girls in middle school the chance to write music using the patterns and statistics from astronomical data. Jarrett’s goal with the program was to develop a way to reach girls who might otherwise not even consider science as a field of study. One of her nominators describes Jarrett as “brilliant, hard-working and dependable.” The work she undertook to make AstroBeats a reality reveals the truth of this assessment: Jarrett raised money by getting a grant from the Women and Girls Astronomy Program; she then recruited students from local middle schools, taught the four-day AstroBeats sessions and hosted a showcase at Dyer Observatory.

Mentoring Award

The Mentoring Award honors a member of the Vanderbilt University community who fosters the professional and intellectual development of Vanderbilt women. This year, two people are being recognized.

The first recipient of the Mentoring Award is Autumn Kujawa , associate professor of psychology and human development. According to one of her nominators, over the past six years, Kujawa “has provided direct and substantive research-related mentorship to at least 56 women,” more than any other faculty member in her department during this time. Beyond this quantitative assessment of her impact, though, are the testimonies about the significance of her work. One nominator explains that, in her lab, Kujawa “has fostered an environment of encouragement and collaboration where students provide and receive feedback from the whole lab on their projects and have a space to discuss new research methods and trainings…. We learn from each other and share with each other.” Another nominator points to the ways that Kujawa “provides scaffolding for students to explore and identify their own research interests, skills and goals.” Another recommender speaks about the “holistic way” Kujawa cares about her students; she “spends countless hours in meetings with her students and staff, providing the level of care and attention that are so important to helping young people develop their skills and find the direction for their careers.”

The second recipient of the Mentoring Award is Anna Thomas , director of events and communications at the Graduate School. Throughout her career at Vanderbilt, Thomas has worked to mentor staff as well as graduate and professional students. One of her recommenders admires Thomas’ passion for “working with women on campus to help them develop professionally and intellectually.” Invested in helping those she mentors move to the next phase of their careers, Thomas seeks to nurture talent and empower those with whom she works. A student who has worked with Thomas appreciates that she “models what it means to be a supportive supervisor by recognizing when the student is overwhelmed and needs time and space to decompress.” Another nominator writes that Thomas “has encouraged me to take ownership of my projects, allowing me to develop problem-solving skills and confidence in my abilities. Additionally, her open communication style has created a supportive and inclusive work environment. She consistently seeks feedback and input, which has empowered me to voice my ideas and opinions without fear of judgment.”

• Mary Jane Werthan Award

The Mary Jane Werthan Award is presented annually to an individual who has contributed significantly to the advancement of women at Vanderbilt University. The award honors three qualities characteristic of the first recipient for whom it is named: vision, persistence and extraordinary skill in interpersonal and institutional relations.

This year’s winner of the Mary Jane Werthan Award is Lily Claiborne, assistant professor of the practice in the department of earth and environmental sciences. One of her nominators states that Claiborne has been a “trailblazer for women in geosciences, which is one of the least diverse STEM fields according to the Geological Society of America.” Another nominator writes: “Everything that Lily does is aimed at welcoming all people into our classrooms, our department, our field of study and to Vanderbilt.” Claiborne has developed a set of best practices for field trips and field work to ensure that all participants feel safe and prepared; in addition, she created a fund for field gear so that all EES majors on financial aid can receive funding to offset the costs of field gear such as boots, outdoor clothing and camping gear. One of her recommenders refers to her as a “service powerhouse” for her efforts on Faculty Council and elsewhere to improve the “career opportunities of continuing track faculty, who, at Vanderbilt, are primarily women.” Claiborne has demonstrated “unwavering persistence” in her efforts to “improve institutional systems, often without immediate rewards.” Another recommender writes that Claiborne’s “ability to find humor in failure, coupled with resilience, distinguishes her as someone who not only faces setbacks head-on but also emerges stronger.”

Keep Reading

Kujawa leads study to predict postpartum depression by examining brain function throughout pregnancy

Kujawa receives $1.45 million grant to study new intervention for child mental health

Study reveals brain function predictors of treatment outcomes for adolescent depression

Explore story topics.

• Anjola-Oluwa Ajayi
• Anna Thomas
• Arts and Science
• Arts and Science faculty
• Autumn Kujawa
• Department of Psychology and Human Development
• earth and environmental sciences
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Lynn University’s graduate education program ranked by U.S. News & World Report

Lynn University’s graduate education program has been recognized as one of the top programs in the nation by U.S. News & World Report in their 2024  Best Graduate Schools rankings.

Lynn’s  Donald E. and Helen L. Ross College of Education  offers two distinguished graduate degree tracks:  educational leadership  and  exceptional student education  (ESE). The master’s in educational leadership is a one-year online program, whereas the Florida Department of Education-certified ESE specialization is available for completion on campus, online or via a hybrid format—ideal for working professionals who aspire to leadership positions in education. 

“The College of Education faculty is extremely pleased and proud to be recognized among some of the nation’s best colleges and universities,” said Kathleen Weigel, dean of the College of Education. “Our graduate students continue to utilize their educational experiences and knowledge to positively impact and improve their respective environments for the good of the children and communities they serve.”

This recognition underscores Lynn’s commitment to providing accelerated, convenient, and affordable education while preparing future education leaders to excel in their careers and contribute meaningfully to society. U.S. News also ranked Lynn in its  Best Online Programs lists for bachelor’s programs, graduate education and MBA programs earlier this year.

For more information about Lynn’s graduate education programs, visit lynn.edu/graduate .

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Lydia Rader, IBG grad student, wins Sean Hudson Leadership Award

Lydia Rader is a graduate student in the behavioral, psychiatric, and statistical genetics program. Lydia has shown tremendous leadership both within and outside of the program. Locally, Lydia has been a research award reviewer for the Institute of Cognitive Science as well as recently selected as a Co-Senator between the graduate and professional student government and the CU Boulder student government. Outside of our program, for multiple years Lydia has been working with an award-winning creative education and outreach organization called Knowing Neurons. This organization involves scientists across multiple countries to make learning Neuroscience and Psychology accessible. As part of Knowing Neurons, she has organized local outreach events for low socioeconomic status high school and undergraduate students. Lydia also works with Project Short, which offers pro-bono pre-grad mentoring to graduate students who face barriers to PhD applications. Further, Lydia works with the National Science Policy Network leadership committee for Science Diplomacy and helps facilitate networking events in the aim of bringing communities of early-career scientists together to apply their expertise to international policy. The committee found her contributions to the home and larger communities outstanding. Congratulations, Lydia!