Meet the Team

Donna Chrobot-Mason is an associate professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Cincinnati College of Arts and Sciences. Her research and consulting work has spanned two decades and centers on leadership for creating organizations that support diversity, equity, inclusion and intergroup collaboration. Chrobot-Mason has published over 40 articles and scholarly works in journals such as the Journal of Management, Leadership Quarterly, Journal of Organizational Behavior, and Group and Organization Management. She has served on the editorial review board for the Journal of Management, Personnel Psychology and the Journal of Business and Psychology. Additionally, Donna co-wrote the book "Boundary Spanning Leadership: Six Practices for Solving Problems, Driving Innovation, and Transforming Organizations."

Chrobot-Mason’s dedication to service has remained steadfast throughout her career. She’s addressed numerous audiences with the Brookings Institute, FBI, EPA, IRS, Catholic Health Partners and the International Leadership Association. Chrobot-Mason has consulted with various organizations, including Fifth Third Bank, Briggs and Stratton, Dayton Public Schools, Boehringer-Ingelheim, Emory University, Milacron and Forest City Enterprises.

She serves as a member of the Inclusion & Reconciliation board for the Cincinnati Art Museum, as a founding board member of non-profit Lead Beyond and is the director for UC Women Lead, an executive leadership program for high-potential women at UC.

Chrobot-Mason holds a PhD and a master’s degree in Applied Psychology from the University of Georgia.

Marianne Lewis has earned numerous teaching and research awards throughout her academic career. An international expert on organizational paradoxes, her research explores tensions and competing demands surrounding leadership and innovation. She applies her renowned paradox lens across such diverse contexts as strategy, product development, organizational change, governance and technology implementation. Lewis' work appears in such top journals as the Harvard Business Review, Academy of Management Journal and Organization Science.

Lewis earned her PhD from the University of Kentucky.

Having previously served as a coordinator and program manager in inclusive excellence spaces at UC Blue Ash, Scruta joined WBLI in 2023 and supports student programming, leadership research and executive education. A proud alumna of the UC Women Lead program, Scruta serves as Senator-at-Large (2022-2024) in UC’s Staff Senate and connects UC students with interdisciplinary leadership opportunities through valued partnerships on and off campus.

Prior to transitioning to higher education, Scruta worked as an ESL and Spanish language teacher in the U.S. and Spain. She earned a dual BA in Spanish Language & Literature/Honors Humanities at Valparaiso University as well as a Master’s degree in International Relations from ESERP Business School in Madrid, Spain. She served as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant to Madrid, where she lived for five years, and has supported UC students through the Fulbright application process as a committee member in collaboration with UC’s Office of Nationally Competitive Awards.

Scruta is currently pursuing a PhD in Political Science at UC with subfields in International Relations and American Politics, as well as a concentration in Feminist Comparative International Politics.

Eugene Rutz, MS, PE, serves as associate dean for graduate studies in the College of Engineering and Applied Science (CEAS) where he works with all graduate programs to provide opportunities for students to achieve academic and career success. Rutz provides leadership for the college’s eLearning initiatives and for academic partnerships with international university partners. During his time at UC, Rutz has managed research projects, developed several new academic programs and created opportunities for students to travel abroad. Rutz continues to teach courses that provide professional skills to complement the technical training students receive from CEAS. His most recent course “Depolarizing Politics, Depolarizing Communities,” equips students to have productive dialog across the political divide.

Jane Z. Sojka, PhD, MBA, earned her doctorate in marketing from Washington State University studying gender differences in salespeople. Named a Distinguished Teaching Professor of Marketing and Professional Selling to the Lindner College of Business, she was awarded a higher education innovation grant from Procter & Gamble, resulting in her ground-breaking Women in Sales class, which has educated over 1,200 womenstudents. Winner of international teaching awards, Sojka’s innovative approach to closing the gender gap in confidence earned her the 2016 American Marketing Association Innovation in Teaching Award.

Founder of the UC Center for Professional Selling, which has been cited as a “Top Sales Center” by the Sales Education Foundation, Sojka developed the professional sales minor, which attracts students from all majors. Her research has been presented at international academic conferences and published in top marketing journals. Building upon her TEDx talk “Empowering Women Benefits Everyone,” Sojka is a frequent speaker and consultant to major corporations on women’s empowerment issues.

• Marjorie Aaron, Professor of Practice and Director of Center for Practice, UC Law
• Jessica Ashcraft, Assistant Director, SALD
• Mary Barbara Boat, Associate Professor and Director, School of Education
• Ann Black, Associate Dean, Associate Professor, DAAP
• Lieutenant Colonel Dominic Black, Professor, UC ROTC
• Andrew Cullison, PhD, Director, Ethics Center
• Kristin Ford, Director, SALD
• Whitney Gaskins, CEAS-Inclusive Excellence & Communication, Assistant Dean
• Stacey Furst Holloway, PhD, Associate Professor, Graduate Program Director, A&S-Psychology
  
• Fran Larkin, SA-Community Engagement, Director
• Krista Maddox, Sr. Assistant Dean, Nursing
• Nicole Mayo, Assistant VP, Student Affairs
• Megan Church Nally, PhD, Assistant Professor- Educator, A&S Psychology
• April Poteet, Provost - Academic Affairs, Manager
• Nancy Rogers, PhD, A&S-Psychology, Professor-Educator, Director UG Prog-OLHR
  
• Eugene Rutz, CEAS-Graduate Studies, Assistant Dean, Manager of MEng Programs
• Stephanie Schlagel, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Director of Graduate Studies; Associate Professor of Musicology, CCM
• Michael Sharp, Career Education, Associate Professor, Director Service-Learnis
• Jenelle Sobotka, Program Director, MS in Pharmacy Leadership, Pharmacy
• Jennifer Sturm, Associate Athletics Director, Director of Leadership & Learning
  
• Jon Weller, Director, International Enrollment & Strategic Partnerships

Interested in joining the Academic Liaison Group? Email WBLI Academic Director Donna Chrobot-Mason, PhD.

• Nick Albers, Bus ’23, former student director of the Warren Bennis Leadership Experience
• John Bennis, owner of Pacific Wealth Partners
• Kate Bennis, founder, Kate Bennis Studio
• Will Bennis, academic staff, Prague University of Economics and Business
• Jay Chatterjee, Dean Emeritus of DAAP
• Gail Fairhurst, PhD, Distinguished University Research Professor of Organizational Communication at the University of Cincinnati
• Bruce Hopple, Bus ’75, Law ’80, senior vice president, Avison Young Global
• Tom Humes, Bus ’71, A&S ’77, Hon ’16, president and founder, Traditions Building & Development Group
• Lou Langen, Bus ’22, former student director of the Warren Bennis Leadership Experience
• Bill Mulvihill, President, Bus ’70, The Mulvihill Advisory Group
• Charles Matthews, PhD, Distinguished Teaching Professor of Entrepreneurship and Strategy at the University of Cincinnati
• Neal Novak, A&S ‘73, Law ’77, Novak Law Offices
• Myron Ullman, Bus ’69, Hon ’06, former chairman and CEO of JCPenney