The endowed professorship is funded by the estate of the late Isabella Cannon ’24, a former mayor of Raleigh, N.C.
Chris Leupold, associate professor of psychology and faculty fellow for law and leadership, has been named the Isabella Cannon Leadership Professor at Elon University.
As the Cannon Leadership Professor, Leupold will be a visible leader for student leadership and scholarship on Elon’s main campus and at Elon Law so that students might learn about the nature, potential and responsibility of leadership. Elon Provost Steven House said that he is confident that under Leupold’s guidance, the university’s leadership programs will continue to grow and achieve new levels of excellence.
“As one of the five Elon Experiences, ‘leadership’ emphasizes applying academic learning in experiential contexts,” House said. “I am very pleased that Chris will be able to use his practical and theoretical expertise and experience to further advance these programs.”
Since joining Elon’s faculty in 2003, Leupold has established himself as an outstanding teacher and mentor, including serving as a Lumen Scholar mentor, while creating a distinguished record of work within the university’s leadership programs. Leupold has more than 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.
An industrial/organizational psychologist, he is a member of the American Psychological Society and the Society for Industrial/Organizational Psychologists. He is also the former Chairman of the North Carolina Industrial/Organizational Psychologists Association.
In 2014, Leupold was named the faculty fellow and leadership and executive coach in residence for the Elon University School of Law and has served previously as chair of the psychology department, coordinator of the Leadership Studies minor, and faculty leadership fellow for Elon’s main campus. During the 2016-2017 academic year Leupold presented on leadership topics at the annual conferences for the Experiential Learning Leadership Institute, the Association of Leadership Educators, and the Society for Industrial/Organizational Psychologists.
Leupold has published in various academic journals including the esteemed Leadership Quarterly, and is currently associate editor for the European Management Journal. In addition, Leupold is frequently invited to deliver leadership workshops to a variety of organizations. His current focus has been on developing leadership assessment and development methods for law and undergraduate students, as well as working with faculty members to infuse leadership into their courses.
“It is truly humbling to be asked to represent Isabella Cannon and continue her legacy at Elon,” Leupold said. “My hope is that we can help every Elon student recognize the many everyday opportunities, both large and small, that they have to make their communities and world a better place through a servant-oriented and relational leadership process.”
As the Isabella Cannon Leadership professor, Leupold will teaching courses in the undergraduate and law school leadership programs in partnership with the leaders of those programs. He will be serving as a mentor to the university’s Leadership Scholars.
Leupold earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Notre Dame, a master’s degree in industrial and organizational psychology from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and a doctorate in industrial/organizational psychology from Wayne State University. During his time at Elon he has taught courses in psychology, industrial/organizational psychology, the psychology of leadership, leadership and organizational development, and authentic leadership in literature. At the law school, he teaches lawyering, leadership, and professionalism; public law and leadership, and the leadership capstone courses.
The Isabella Cannon Leadership professorship is supported by a $1.4 million endowment from Cannon that also established the Isabella Cannon Leadership Fellows Program. The endowed professorship provides a salary supplement as well as financial support for professional development.