Rechter Fellows

Meet the people we have supported in conducting research on, and building tools for, positive leadership.

On behalf of the Sam and Bonnie Rechter Family Trust, we awarded grants to people who became Fellows in Positive Leadership from 2020 through 2025. Fellows use these grants to research topics related to positive leadership. Please see the researchers who are currently awarded and those who have participated, as well as summaries of their research below.

Rechter Fellows

Project:

Understanding How Gratitude Impacts Middle Managers Within an Organiztion

Meghan Kane

Doctoral Candidate, Industrial/Organizational Psychology

University of Central Florida

Project:

Examining the Impact of an Eight-Week Mental Toughness (MT) Intervention on MT and Employee Engagement among Healthcare Leaders at UofL Health.

Andreas Stamatis, Ph.D.

Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Health and Sport Sciences

University of Louisville

Mental Performance Specialist

UofL Health

Spencer A. Cavan

Ph.D. Candidate, Educational Leadership and Organizational Development (ELOD), Specializing in Sport Administration

University of Louisville

Project:

“Be Curious, Not Judgmental”: How Leader Curiosity Improves Work Outcomes and Wellbeing for Neurodivergent Employees

Tanya Alaaldin

PhD candidate in Employment Relations and Human Resources, Department of Management

London School of Economics

Caleb Phillips

PhD student in Organisational Behaviour, Department of Management

London School of Economics

Ellie Stillwell, PhD

Assistant Professor of Management

London School of Economics

Anders Thomassen

MSc graduate in Human Resources and Organisations with distinction

London School of Economics

Project:

Consequences of Positive Leadership Communication on Reducing Partisan Animosity and Building High Quality Connections

Yejin Park

PhD Candidate in Management and Organizations

NYU, Stern School of Business

James Chu

Assistant Professor

Columbia University, Department of Sociology

Project:

An Examination of Positive Leadership and Workplace Neurodiversity

Nikki Drader

Ph.D, Candidate, Organizational Behavior

G. Brint Ryan College of Business, University of North Texas

Virginie Lopez-Kidwell

Associate Professor in Management and Director of Professional Graduate Programs

G. Brint Ryan College of Business, University of North Texas

Project:

Enhancing Positive Leadership through a Compassion-Focused Intervention

Rechter Fellowship Final Report_Ruttan and Depow (2024)

Rachel Ruttan

Assistant Professor, Organizational Behavior

Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto

Greg Depow

Ph.D. Candidate and SSHRC Doctoral Fellow

Psychology, University of Toronto

Project:

Seeing the Forest and the Trees: Catalysts and Ramifications of Sustainable Leadership

Jochen Reb

Professor, Organizational Behavior and Human Resources, Founding Director of the Mindfulness Initiative

Lee Kong Chian School of Business, Singapore Management University

Yixin Tian

Ph.D. Candidate, Organizational Behavior and Human Resources

Lee Kong Chian School of Business, Singapore Management University

Project:

Leader Emotional Accountability: The Consequences of Leaders Taking Accountability for their Emotions on Team Member Well-being and Effectiveness

Rechter Fellowship Final Report_Levitt (2024)

Jacob S. Levitt

Ph.D. Candidate, Management and Organizational Behavior

The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania

Project:

Employee Reproductive Challenges: The Impact of Supervisor Compassion Employee Well-Being and Compassion Intentions and on Supervisor’s Leadership Effectiveness

Angela Grotto

Associate Professor of Management

Management Department, Feliciano School of Business, Montclair State University

Reut Livne-Tarandach

Louis F. Capalbo Chair of Business Administration, Associate Professor of Management

O’Malley School of Business, Manhattan College

Carolyn Winslow

Research and Evaluation Specialist

University of Michigan

Project:

How do daily micro-interventions change leadership stereotypes for women and people of color?

Rechter Fellowship Final Report_Lacerenza and Cheng (2023)

Christina Lacerenza

Assistant Professor of Organizational Behavior

University of Colorado Boulder

Ziwei Cheng

Research Assistant

University of Colorado Boulder

Project:

Can an intervention increase people’s courage?

Rechter Fellowship Final Report_Anisman-Razin and Sitkin (2023)

Moran Anisman-Razin

Lecturer (Assistant Professor)

University of Limerick in Ireland

Visiting Research Scholar

Behavioral Science and Policy Center

Social Science Research Institute

Duke University

Sim B. Sitkin

Professor of Management and Public Policy, Faculty Director – Fuqua/Coach K Center on Leadership and Ethics, and Director – Behavioral Science and Policy Center

Duke University

Project:

How is positive leadership enacted in international sports for youth?

Sheron Mark

Associate Professor of Education

University of Louisville College of Education and Human Development

Project:

How do different types of gratitude expression elicit employees’ felt appreciation and prosocial risk-taking?

Rechter Fellowship Final Report_Kong (2023)

Tony Kong

Associate Professor in Organizational Leadership

University of Colorado Boulder’s Leeds School of Business

Project:

Does multicultural leadership facilitate racial-neutral algorithm construction?

Rechter Fellowship Final Report_Liao (2023)

Zhenyu Liao

Assistant Professor, Management and Organizational Development

D’Amore-McKim School of Business, Northeastern University

Project:

DEI Strategies: Profiles in Leadership

Read the Document

Inga Carboni

Associate Professor

Raymond A. Mason School of Business, William & Mary School of Education

Jason Chen

Associate Professor

William & Mary School of Education

Project:

Anchor Relationship®

Read the Document Read the Article

Kellie Cummings

Vice President of Marketing

VIA Institute on Character

Tool:

Allyship

Review the PPT Review the Instructor’s Manual

Ronit Kark

Professor of Leadership and Psychology

Bar-Ilan University

Project

Development of a Student Based Positive Leadership Instructional Resource

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Loren Kuzuhara

Senior Lecturer in Management and Human Resources

Wisconsin School of Business, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Project:

Developing a Scale of Leader Inclusivity

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Katina Sawyer

Associate Professor of Management and Organizations

Eller College of Management, University of Arizona

Project:

A Leader-centric Examination of the Effects of Motivating Followers via Pep Talks

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Katherine Bae

Assistant Professor

Department of Managerial Studies, University of Illinois, Chicago

Project:

Family Businesses as Sources of Positive Leadership in Our Communities

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Isabel Botero

Assistant Professor of Management & Entrepreneurship

University of Louisville

Jocelyn Deamer

Project Coordinator

Generation6 Family Enterprise Advisors

Sarah Snyder

Client Services Associate

Ameriprise Financial Services

Project:

Locklear, L.R., Taylor, S.G., & Ambrose, M.L. (2023). An Awareness Intervention to Increase Supervisor Appreciation Expressions. Academy of Management Proceedings.

Read the Document