CCL-Sponsored Research Awards

2024-2025 H. Smith Richardson, Jr. Visiting Fellow

Dr. Stephen J. Zaccaro, a renowned professor of psychology at George Mason University, will serve as the Center for Creative Leadership’s (CCL®) H. Smith Richardson Jr. Visiting Fellow for 2024. With a career spanning decades, Dr. Zaccaro has established himself as a leading authority on leadership, group dynamics, and organizational psychology.

In his role at CCL, Steve will:

• Advise teams on team performance, group dynamics, occupational stress, resilience, and leadership.
• Serve as a research advisor/thought partner contributing to generating articles.
• Provide input into the psychological dimension of cybersecurity.

Steve’s academic achievements are extensive. He has authored over 125 journal articles, book chapters, and technical reports, including the book “The Nature of Executive Leadership: A Conceptual and Empirical Analysis of Success.” Additionally, he has co-edited five books on various aspects of organizational leadership, leader development, multiteam systems, cybersecurity, and occupational stress.

As an experienced leadership development consultant, Steve has worked with executives and managers from private industry, public sector, and military organizations. He has been a principal investigator, co-principal investigator, or consultant on numerous projects focusing on leadership and executive assessment, leadership and team training, leader adaptability, executive coaching, multiteam systems, and cybersecurity team performance.

Steve’s expertise is further recognized through his editorial roles. He serves on the editorial board of The Leadership Quarterly and as an associate editor for both the Journal of Business and Psychology and Military Psychology.

Holding a Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Connecticut, Steve brings a wealth of academic expertise to his work. His contributions to the field have been widely acknowledged, as evidenced by his status as a Fellow of both the Association for Psychological Science and the American Psychological Association, specifically in Divisions 14 (Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology) and 19 (Military Psychology). These honors underscore Steve’s significant impact on the understanding and application of psychology in organizational and military contexts.

Previous H. Smith Richardson, Jr. Visiting Fellows

2020-21: Bernardo M. Ferdman, Ph.D.
California School of Professional Psychology of Alliant International University

2016-17: Bob Johansen, Ph.D.
Distinguished Fellow – Institute for the Future

2014-15: Peter Ping Li, Ph.D.
Professor of Chinese Business Studies – Copenhagen Business School, Denmark

2012-13: Karen Stephenson, Ph.D.
President, NetForm International and Professor of Management – Erasmus University Rotterdam School of Management

2011-12: Jessica Payne, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Nancy O’Neill Collegiate Chair in Psychology, and Director of the Sleep Stress & Memory (SAM) Lab – University of Notre Dame

2010-11: Prasad Kaipa, Ph.D.
CEO – Kaipa Group, California

2009-10: Dharm P.S. Bhawuk, Ph.D.
Professor, Management and Culture and Community Psychology – Shidler College of Business, University of Hawaii

2008-09: Douglas T. Hall, Ph.D.
Professor, Organizational Behavior – Boston University

2005-06: Andrew Kakabadse, Ph.D.
Professor, International Management Development – Cranfield University

2004-05: Ellie Weldon, Ph.D.
Professor, Organizational Behavior – IMD International

2003-04: Michael Fullan
Dean, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education – University of Ontario

2002-03: Shalom Schwartz, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Psychology – Hebrew University of Jerusalem

2001-02: Kathy Kram, Ph.D.
Professor, Organizational Behavior – Boston University School of Management

2000-01: Jay Conger, Ph.D.
Professor, Organizational Behavior – London Business School

The Kenneth E. Clark Student Research Award recognizes outstanding unpublished papers by undergraduate and graduate students. The award named in memory of Kenneth Clark, a distinguished scholar and former president of CCL, is co-sponsored with the International Leadership Association (ILA). The winner receives a cash award and an opportunity to present the award paper in a colloquium at the ILA Annual Conference.

2024 Kenneth E. Clark Student Research Award Winner

CCL selected Dr. Karryna Madison as the 2024 Kenneth E. Clark Student Research Award winner for her paper, “Rewrite the Recipe: A Gendered Examination of Social Exchange Theory in Leadership Research”. The Kenneth E. Clark Student Research Award recognizes outstanding unpublished papers by undergraduate and graduate students. The award is named in memory of Kenneth Clark, a distinguished scholar and former president of CCL.

Dr. Madison’s paper examines leadership research that uses social exchange theory, which suggests followers reciprocate leaders’ behaviors. Traditionally, this theory is applied without considering how gender impacts leader-follower relationships. By critically analyzing past research through a gendered lens, this review highlights the importance of incorporating gender perspectives. It argues that ignoring gender perpetuates outdated norms and stereotypes, which can marginalize women and reinforce biases. To advance the literature, this review outlines future research directions that integrate different perspectives of gender to better understand how gender influences social exchange relationships in leadership.

Dr. Madison is an Assistant Professor in Leadership from the Australian National University. Her research examines how gender interacts with communal approaches to leadership. Some of her research has been featured in leading peer-reviewed management journals, including The Leadership Quarterly and Journal of Business Research. Her research also Best Paper Nominations in the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Division at the Academy of Management (2023 and 2024) and the Greenleaf Scholars Award in 2021.

The award will be presented at the International Leadership Association’s 26th Global Conference, “Architects of Change: Leaders, Followers, & Communities” November 7 – 10^th in Chicago.

Read the abstract

Past Award Winners

2023 – Hsuan-Che (Brad) Huang
2022 – Suyang Ye & Teng Zhao
2021 – Steven Zhou, Ph.D.
2020 – Sylvie Plante
2019 – Samantha A. Penney
2018 – Min-Kyu Joo
2017 – Aleka MacLellan
2016 – Kyoung Yong Kim
2015 – Deirdre P. Dixon
2014 – Emily Grijalva
2013 – Chenwei Liao
2012 – Taylor E. Sparks, Ph.D.
2011 – Brian C. Gunia
2010 – Dong Liu
2009 – Marisa Adelman
2008 – Hakan Ener
2007 – Robyn L. Brouer
2006 – Herman H. M. Tse
2005 – Franklin Kudo
2004 – Lisa A. Boyce
2003 – Marie Dasborough
2002 – Nathan J. Hiller
2001 – Tomas R. Giberson
2000 – Jeffrey C. Kohles

The Leadership Quarterly Best Paper Award, sponsored by the Center for Creative Leadership, is presented annually in recognition of the best published paper submitted during the previous year to The Leadership Quarterly. The annual award for best paper is presented jointly by CCL and The Leadership Quarterly. The award includes a citation, cash award and invitation to visit CCL.

2023 Leadership Quarterly Award Winner

Mladen Adamovic and Andreas Leibbrandt are the 2023 Leadership Quarterly Award winners for their paper Is there a glass ceiling for ethnic minorities to enter leadership positions? Evidence from a field experiment with over 12,000 job applications.

Dr. Mladen Adamovic, a Senior Lecturer in Cross-Cultural Management at King’s College London, specializes in research and teaching on social issues in the workplace. His focus areas include the inclusion of ethnic minorities, cross-cultural management, and leadership, with particular emphasis on diversity management, cultural differences, and leadership development. Dr. Adamovic conducts field experiments, publishes his findings in peer-reviewed management journals and public press, and presents at international conferences. He has collaborated with various organizations for workshops and research, including Cisco, Hudson RPO, Diversity Council Australia, Police unions, WorkSafe Victoria, and PredictiveHire. With extensive international experience, Dr. Adamovic has worked at the University of Melbourne, Monash University, the University of Auckland, and the University of Toulouse and completed his academic studies in International Management across universities in Kiel, Lisbon, Toulouse, Rennes, and Belgrade.

Dr. Andreas Leibbrandt is a Professor of Economics at Monash Business School, an Australian Research Council Future Fellow, and a pioneer in the Science of Diversity and Inclusion. He is also a founding partner of sodi.org, a U.S. not-for-profit organization that aims to build a bridge between academia and practitioners in the field of diversity and inclusion. His distinctive approach is to use field experiments to generate insights for different research fields and investigate their applications in organizations.

Read the paper.

Past Award Winners

2022 – Nisvan Erkal, Lata Gangadharan, & Erte Xiao
2021 – Sebastian Fest, Ola Kvaloy, Petra Nieken, & Anja Schöttner 
2021 – George Banks, Thomas Fischer, Janaki Gooty, & George Stock
2020 – Stephanie M. Rizio & Ahmed Skali
2019 – Mats Alvesson & Katja Einola
2018 – Dr. Paulo Roberto Arvate
2017 – Dr. Kristen Cullen-Lester
2016 – Dr. George C Banks
2015 – Dr. Tiffany Keller Hansbrough
2014 – John Antonakis
2013 – Jan-Emmanuel De Neve
2012 – Dr. Pierre Balthazard
2011 – David Day & Hock-Peng Sin
2010 – John Antonakis
2009 – Dr. Dongil (Don) Jung
2008 – Dr. Ginamarie Scott Ligon
2007 – Dr. John J. Sosik
2006 – Dr. Joyce Bono

The EJWOP Best Paper Award is jointly sponsored by CCL and the European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, and recognizes high-quality scholarly work on leadership and organizational effectiveness. Annual EJWOP awards are announced every two years, coinciding with the European Association of Work and Organizational Psychology International Conference held in May. The two authors receive a cash award and will present their papers at the EAWOP conference in Oslo, Norway.

2020 Award winner

Jan Dettmers, Ph.D. is Professor for Work and Organizational Psychology at the University of Hagen (Germany). His primary areas of interest include the effects of job design on workers health and motivation and methodological issues of psychosocial risk assessment at work. Furthermore, his research focuses on work-home interaction and recovery in flexible and unregulated forms of work. He is the co-founder of the Agency for Evidence-based Job Design and Organizational Development (EVAO.org) and is member of the editorial board of Frontiers in Psychology.  Read the abstract.

2019 Award winner

Barbara Wisse, Ph.D. is Professor of Organizational Behavior and Leadership Processes at the Department of Psychology, University of Groningen (The Netherlands). Her research focuses explicitly on (bright and dark sides of) power and leadership. This work includes topics such as ethics and morality, emotions, Dark Triad personality traits, abuse and misconduct, and the psychological effects of change. She serves on the editorial boards of The Leadership Quarterly and Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies. Read the abstract.

Past award winners

2018 – Dr. Catherine Haslam
2017 – Dr. Anna Steidle
2014 – Dr. Nadine Bienefeld
2013 – Dr. Remus Ilies
2012 – Dr. Aichia Chuang
2011 – Elizabeth Hobman
2010 – Barbara Künzle
2009 – Prof. Dr. Deanne N. Den Hartog
2008 – Dr. Jennifer L. Sparr
2007 – Dr. Jörg Felfe