Ryan Smerek has taught, researched, and consulted in the areas of leadership development, organizational culture, survey methods, executive transitions, and sensemaking. Publications include the topics of cultural complexity of universities (Smerek, forthcoming), the link between culture and financial performance (Smerek & Denison, 2007), job satisfaction (Smerek & Peterson, 2007), and using the insights of great novelists to understand political leadership (Coles & Smerek, 2005).

He has served as a Graduate Student Instructor for several terms in the Organizational Studies department at the University of Michigan, teaching classes on integrating organization theory with experiences in management consulting (OS 410) as well as social psychology in work organizations (OS 305). Other work experiences include consulting in the financial services sector at Dove Consulting in Boston and course administration and database management at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.

He has earned a B.A. in economics, specializing in finance, from Dartmouth College (2000), an Ed.M. with a self-designed focus on leadership education from Harvard University (2004), and a Ph.D. in organizational behavior and management from the Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education at the University of Michigan (2009).