Tesluk named interim dean of School of Management

Paul E. Tesluk, the Donald S. Carmichael Professor of Organizational Behavior, has been appointed interim dean of the School of Management, effective July 1.

He will succeed Arjang A. Assad, who is stepping down as dean after nearly seven years to lead the University of Pittsburgh’s Katz Graduate School of Business and College of Business Administration. 

A UB faculty member since 2011, Tesluk is chair of the School of Management’s Department of Organization and Human Resources, and currently serves as academic director of the Center for Leadership and Organizational Effectiveness (CLOE).

A leading expert in leadership development, team design and effectiveness, and organizational climate and performance, Tesluk is a prolific scholar who has published more than 25 articles in the most selective journals in his field, including the Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Applied Psychology and Personnel Psychology.

“I am grateful to Professor Tesluk for his willingness to serve as interim dean during this transitional period, during which time I will launch an international search for the next dean of the School of Management,” said Charles F. Zukoski, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs.

Tesluk’s research in the areas of virtual team effectiveness and organizational innovation and change has been supported by the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health and several other funding agencies; he has secured more than $2.5 million in grant funding in recent years. He has served on the editorial boards for several of the leading academic journals in the management field.

Tesluk has extensive experience in designing, leading and teaching in numerous executive and corporate development programs on topics involving teams, leadership development, organizational change and innovation. He led the creation of CLOE, which advances research, education and outreach in leadership and organizational effectiveness. In 2014, he received a UB Exceptional Scholar Sustained Achievement Award.

He is an elected fellow of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, and the Society for Organizational Behavior. He also was elected chair of the Organizational Behavior Division of the National Academy of Management, the world’s largest and most prominent association for management and organization scholars.

Tesluk has worked with numerous private- and public-sector organizations in both research and consulting capacities. His consulting activities have focused on leadership development, organizational transitions to high-involvement work practices, work team design and performance, organizational climate and performance, and performance management and reward system design.

While earning doctoral and master’s degrees from The Pennsylvania State University, Tesluk majored in industrial/organizational psychology and minored in management and organization. He earned a bachelor’s degree in industrial and labor relations from Cornell University.