John Austin is the P.D. Merrill Endowed Chair and Interim Dean of the newly formed College of Business at University of New England. He maintains a private practice as an executive development consultant. He is an experienced facilitator and an award-winning teacher who has worked with practicing executives on six continents.
Prior to joining University of New England, he was a faculty member at Fielding Graduate University, Penn State University and The University of Washington. He has taught executives in programs at Duke CE, The Wharton School (University of Pennsylvania), Georgetown University, Thunderbird School of International Management, The University of North Carolina, and Penn State University.
He’s worked with numerous global Fortune 500 companies, government agencies and professional associations. There, he develops leaders and leads long-term projects in the areas of change management, dynamic foresight, team performance, strategic decision-making, and strategy execution. A wide experience with individuals at all levels of organizations enables him to translate broad strategies and concepts into actionable, engaging programs. He is a frequent conference speaker.
Dr. Austin holds a BA in economics from The Johns Hopkins University and a PhD in management from Boston College. He has conducted research on team leadership, organizational change implementation, and strategic decision-making. His research on knowledge-based decision-making teams is widely cited in the academic literature, as is his work on the strategic actions of internal change agents.
Dr. Austin’s research has been published in leading management and applied psychology journals including Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, Journal of Applied Psychology, and Organization Science, as well as practice-oriented publications such as HR Magazine and The OD Practitioner. His work has been recognized with three Best Paper awards from the Academy of Management.
He is the author of Unquestioned Brilliance: Navigating a Fundamental Leadership Trap and Leading Effective Change: A Primer for the HR Professional published as part of the SHRM Foundation’s Effective Practice Guidelines Series.
