Our Faculty
You can learn more about our core I-O program faculty by viewing their departmental profiles (accessible through the Faculty and Staff link in the left-side navigation bar). The following bio summaries may also help:
Dr. Kristen Jennings Black, is involved in research that is focused on understanding factors that impact worker health and wellbeing. She is particularly interested in stressors experienced among employees in high-risk occupations, such as military personnel, police officers, and healthcare workers, as well as how various forms of social support can help employees in these unique contexts. Beyond high-stress jobs, Kristen is also interested in norms around stress in everyday work contexts and more positive states of employee engagement and meaningful work. Kristen’s teaching interests include research methods and statistics, organizational psychology, occupational health psychology, and groups and teams. Outside of research and teaching, Kristen enjoys being outside for walks or cookouts with friends, heading to the mountains for hikes, and (being a good Clemson Alumni) watching Clemson Football in the Fall.
Dr. Chris Cunningham is actively engaged with research targeting a variety of I-O and occupational health psychology topics. In addition to serving as Graduate Program Director for this program, he manages the Healthy and Optimal Work (H.O.W.) Research and Applications Lab in the department (details available through the website link below). Dr. C studies issues associated with stress and recovery from stressful work, the complex interface between work and nonwork roles, and the role of individual differences as factors influencing worker health, safety, and well-being. Within the UTC I-O program Chris teaches organizational psychology, organization development, and research methods courses with a smattering of special electives related to occupational health. Apart from his academic career, Chris is active in the Chattanooga community perhaps most notably as an accomplished trumpeter. He also maintains a steady stream of I-O related consulting projects with public and private, for-profit and non-profit organizations. You can get a good idea of what Dr. C is up to by reviewing his website (click here).
Dr. Pratibha Deepak received her Master of Science in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from the University of Texas at Arlington and an M.B.A. with a concentration in Human Resource Management from India. She earned her Ph.D. in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from Florida Institute of Technology (Melbourne, Florida) in 2023. Her research focuses on contextual leadership: interplay of leadership across culture, diversity, followers, and circumstances. Her current work, for instance, explores gender prejudice in employees' perceptions of their transgressive leaders. Her research also examines diversity issues at workplace such as, cultural differences in employees work attitudes, systemic barriers at workplace for women that creates power inequality and disadvantage for women. Her additional research interests include the analysis of the future of work and the influence of the VUCA (volatile, unpredictable, complex, and ambiguous) environment on workplaces and their employees. Additionally, Pratibha is interested in research techniques. She has, for instance, conducted both qualitative and quantitative research, and her work (past and present) research incorporates a variety of analytical methodologies, such as Social Network Analysis (SNA), latent profile analysis, and Structural Equation Modelling. As a practitioner, Pratibha has years of expertise working across industries (Fortune 500 businesses) and for international humanitarian organizations (United Nations).
Dr. Feng Guo's research interests lie in the areas of machine learning, psychometrics, and research method. Particularly, his research focuses on the future of work, and he is interested in applying novel machine learning and big data methods to advance the understanding towards workplace behavior and performance. For instance, his research involves applying natural language processing (NLP) and novel psychometrics techniques to address practical challenges in selection, testing, and performance appraisal. On the applied side, he has years of working experiences as a data analyst and a consultant. In his leisure time, he finds delight in exploring breakthrough topics in diverse fields, notably mathematics and physics, indulging his curiosity beyond his primary research interests. Additionally, he enjoys playing basketball and watching various construction project videos.
Dr. Brian O'Leary's research relates primarily to the impact of perceptions of justice on individual and group performance, but also branches out to collaborative efforts with students and other faculty on a variety of topics. He is currently focusing on equity sensitivity and its role as a moderator or mediator of many important I-O relationships. He is also developing a construct that relates to the impact on supervisor attitudes and performance of their perceptions of the support they receive from their subordinates. Brian's background is rather unique. He began doctoral studies in Organizational Behavior at Tulane University after a 14-year career with AT&T in which he held a variety of supervisory and non-supervisory positions in government contracting, accounting, and project management. His hobby is running - mostly 5 and 10Ks, and, after completing the Kona half-marathon, still has visions of running a marathon "some day" (should his knees hold out). His passion is Notre Dame football and, while he is famous for his availability to students, it is probably best to avoid him when the Irish are playing in the Fall.