Billy Obenauer, Ph.D.

Dr. Billy Obenauer joined the 海角社区 Business School in 2021. He was previously full-time faculty in the School of Business at Ithaca College. Prior to that, he earned his PhD at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He is the current Co-Editor-in-Chief for Group & Organization Management.

Billy鈥檚 research focuses on issues related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in organizations, with an interest in learning more about how research design influences our understanding of DEI. He serves on the executive board for the Advancement of Replication Initiative in Management (ARIM) and is widely regarded as a methods expert for replication research, reproducibility studies, and open science practices. His research has been published in journals such as聽The Leadership Quarterly, Group & Organization Management, Journal of Management Scientific Reports,聽and Industrial and Organizational Psychology: Perspectives on Science and Practice. His paper, 鈥淎re women strategic leaders more effective during a crisis than men strategic leaders? A causal analysis of the relationship between strategic leader gender and outcomes during the COVID-19 crisis鈥 won The Leadership Quarterly鈥檚 Best Paper Award for 2024.

Billy integrates his research expertise into his teaching by illustrating to students how various decisions that they will make as managers will influence DEI in their organizations. His teaching style is driven by his core values which include transparency, equitable access to education, and that no one should be defined by their worst day. Billy鈥檚 commitment to creating an engaging educational environment with multiple opportunities for students to succeed has been shown to improve student engagement and performance. Additionally, he shares lectures on YouTube where he has over 5,000 subscribers and has received more than 650,000 views.

Billy is married with four children. He and his family live in Glenburn. He used to list his 鈥渟pare time hobbies鈥 here, but he currently does not have a lot of spare time.

Education

  • Ph.D., Management, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (2019)
  • MBA, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (2014)
  • MSEd, Business and Marketing Education, State University of New York at Oswego (2013)
  • B.S., Professional Retail Management, Bellevue University (2012)

Teaching Areas

  • Organizational behavior
  • Leadership
  • Human resource management

Research Interests

  • How replication research and reproducibility studies build upon previous research to advance our understanding of organizational behavior
  • Understanding how information processing influences evaluations in the workplace, attributions for success, and blame allocation
  • Recognition of actionable steps that can reduce discrimination and support efforts towards inclusion and equitable outcomes in the workplace

Social Media

Awards / Professional Accomplishments

Academic Awards

  • 2026 MBS Thought Leadership Award
  • 2024 The Leadership Quarterly Best Paper Award
  • 2024 Southern Management Assocation Best Paper in Track (Careers, Social Issues, Diversity Issues, Ethics)
  • 2023 U海角社区 Faculty Mentor Impact Award
  • 2023 MBS Excellence in Research Award
  • 2022 Southwest Academy of Management Best Paper in Track (Human Resource, Career, and Diversity)
  • 2019 RPI Del and Edith Karget Dissertation Prize in Management
  • 2016 AoM William H. Newman Award Nominee
  • 2014 RPI 2014 Chief Innovation Officer of the Future Award

Reviewing Awards

  • Outstanding Reviewer, Group & Organization Management, 2025
  • Outstanding Reviewer, Eastern Academy of Management, 2019, 2016
  • Outstanding Reviewer, OB Division, Academy of Management, 2017
  • Outstanding Reviewer, GDO division, Academy of Management, 2016
  • Outstanding Reviewer, Midwest Academy of Management, 2015

Selected Publications

Obenauer, W. G. (2026). Does organizational performance always impact the emergence of Asian American leaders? Using replication to examine how leadership prototypes impact perceptions of fit. Journal of Management Scientific Reports, 4(2), 185-204.

Obenauer, W. G., Stough, R. A., Graham, C. M., & Catto, E. M. (2026). Is 鈥渂eing white鈥 a component of the superhero prototype? Perhaps, but research participants won鈥檛 tell you that. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, 45(1), 216-231.

Percival Carter, E. L., & Obenauer, W. G. (2025). Beyond compliance: Utilizing problem identification tools to more effectively reduce workplace discrimination. Group & Organization Management, 10596011251368442.

Obenauer, W. G., Sieweke, J., Bastardoz, N., Arvate, P. R., Gazdag, B. A., & Hentschel, T. (2024). Are women strategic leaders more effective during a crisis than men strategic leaders? A causal analysis of the relationship between strategic leader gender and outcomes during the COVID-19 crisis. The Leadership Quarterly, 35(6), 101812.

Obenauer, W. G. (2024). Counteracting threats to DEI with good trouble and innovation. Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 17(4), 495-498.

Obenauer, W. G., & Kalsher, M. J. (2023). Is white always the standard? Using replication to revisit and extend what we know about the leadership prototype. The Leadership Quarterly, 34(4), 101633.

Obenauer, W. G., & Langer, N. (2019). Inclusion is not a slam dunk: A study of differential leadership outcomes in the absence of a glass cliff. The Leadership Quarterly, 30(6), 101334.

Obenauer, W. G. (2019). Are all voluntary attritions created equally? Understanding the need to incorporate employee diversity into attrition modeling. Industrial and Organizational Psychology: Perspectives on Science and Practice, 12(3), 302-305.

Kalsher, M.J.; Obenauer, W.G; & Weiss, C.F. (2019). Reconsidering the Role of Design Standards in Developing Effective Safety Labeling: Monolithic Recipes or Collections of Separable Features? Human Factors, 61(6), 920-952.

for an updated list of publications