An expert in organizational psychology and leadership development with more than 20 years of applied experience in corporate settings, Elon University Professor Chris Leupold will lead executive coaching and Fellows initiatives for the nationally recognized leadership program at Elon Law.
Leupold is an industrial/organizational psychologist, which is the study and application of human behavior in organizational settings. After receiving his B.A. in psychology from the University of Notre Dame, he earned his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in industrial/organizational psychology from the University of North Carolina and Wayne State University, respectively. Leupold brings over 20 years of applied experience with a range of Fortune 500 companies and expertise in areas such as employee staffing, performance management, training, organizational attitudes and culture, and leadership assessment and development.
As Executive Leadership Coach at Elon Law, Leupold will work with Faith Rivers James, Associate Dean for Experiential Learning and Leadership and Professor of Law, to design and deliver leadership development programming. In addition to supporting the leadership components of the first-year Lawyering, Leadership, and Professionalism course; and the second-year Public Law and Leadership course, Leupold will work with the Elon Law’s Leadership Fellows on their capstone projects, serve as adviser for their publication of the online Journal of Leadership and the Law and guide other Fellows programming and activities. Leupold will also offer leadership-themed workshops, covering topics such as conflict resolution and facilitation skills, to all students, as well as serve as a resource to faculty. Leupold will also work with Rivers James to increase awareness nationally about the benefits of infusing leadership education into the law school curriculum.
Leupold teaches a variety of undergraduate and graduate courses, including courses for Elon’s MBA program. He is an active research mentor, enabling students to present their research at student and professional conferences as well as to co-publish in professional academic journals. He has served as Elon’s Faculty Fellow for Leadership for the past four years, where he has worked closely with Elon’s Center for Leadership to enhance academic and co-curricular leadership programming. In this role, he oversees the Leadership Studies Minor, which has grown to over 120 students. In addition, he created the Faculty Leadership Fellows program, in which he works with Elon faculty to infuse leadership teachings in courses across all undergraduate schools and majors.
Leupold has served since 2008 as a coach for students participating in Elon’s Law’s winter-term leadership programs for first- and second-year students. He is currently in the analysis phase of a research project that identifies employers’ expectations of entry-level lawyers.
In 2013, Elon Law’s Leadership Program received the American Bar Association’s E. Smythe Gambrell Professionalism Award, the top national award recognizing excellence in legal professionalism education. Also in 2013, the National Law Journal selected Elon Law as one of the five schools “getting serious about business skills” through the leadership program.
Learn more about the Leadership Program at Elon Law here.
Learn more about Chris Leupold here.