Laura Morgan Roberts

Laura Morgan Roberts is an innovative global scholar and consultant on the science of maximizing human potential in diverse organizations and communities. She has published over fifty research articles, teaching cases, and practitioner-oriented tools for strategically activating best selves through strength-based development, workplace equity and inclusion. Laura has edited three books: Race, Work and Leadership; Positive Organizing in a Global Society; and Exploring Positive Identities and Organizations, and self-published several poetry collections and The Alignment Quest™ Toolkit for Activating Best Selves. Laura is also a frequent contributor to Harvard Business Review and the Academy of Management Review. Her influential publications and presentations on diversity, authenticity, and leadership development have been recognized by Thinkers50 “On the Radar” (2018) and the Academy of Management. Laura is the 2020 inaugural recipient of the Academy of Management Organizational Behavior Award for Societal Impact.

Laura currently serves as Professor of Practice at her alma mater, the University of Virginia, in the Darden School of Business. She earned a BA in Psychology (highest distinction & Phi Beta Kappa) from the University of Virginia, and an MA and PhD in Organizational Psychology from the University of Michigan. She has served on the faculties of Harvard Business School, Georgetown University McDonough School of Business, and Antioch University’s Graduate School of Leadership and Change. She has also taught organizational behavior, psychology, negotiations, group dynamics, diversity, leadership and career development at the University of Michigan, the Wharton School of Finance, Tuck, Georgia State University, UCLA Anderson, Simmons School of Management, and AVT (Copenhagen). Laura’s family roots are in Gary, Indiana and Washington, DC, and she is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.