Dr. John Sumanth

John J. Sumanth is the James Farr Fellow and Associate Professor of Management at the Wake Forest University School of Business. He currently serves as a Research Associate for the Allegacy Center for Leadership and Character, Chair of the Faculty Senate Athletics Committee, Member of the University’s Strategic Framework Core Planning Team, and Faculty representative to the University’s Board of Trustees’ Advancement Committee. Previously, he served as Associate Dean of MBA Programs. John’s research focuses on issues of employee voice/upward communication, leadership, and status. To date, his research has appeared in several of the premier management/applied psychology journals in the field (e.g., Harvard Business Review, Administrative Science Quarterly, Journal of Applied Psychology, Personnel Psychology, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Journal of Business Ethics). Prior to academia, John spent nearly a decade working in several high-profile strategic planning, marketing, and R&D positions for Fortune 1000 multi-national firms in the insurance, global tourism, and fast-food industries. John is an award-winning teacher and researcher and has extensive corporate consulting experience, including coaching, teaching and mentoring assistant coaches and student-athletes (e.g., Wake Forest Athletics), senior-level executives (e.g., Barings, ExxonMobil, Royal Caribbean, Wells Fargo, Huber Engineered Woods, Driven Brands), legal professionals (Smith Anderson) and top US military officers and government leaders (e.g., Army, Navy, Air Force, Special Operations, Veterans Affairs). He holds a Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior from the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, an MBA in Marketing and Management from the University of Florida (Warrington) and a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering (cum laude) from the University of Miami (FL). He is a member of Omicron Delta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi, Golden Key, Tau Beta Pi and Iron Arrow, the University of Miami’s highest honor.

Currently: (1) Associate Dean, MBA Program, Wake Forest University School of Business, (2) Associate Professor, Wake Forest University School of Business

Formerly: (1) Assistant Professor, Southern Methodist University Department of Management & Organizations, (2) Research Assistant, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Department of Organizational Behavior, (3) Senior Operations Specialist, Burger King Corporation World Headquarters, (4) Manager, Market Planning & Research, Norwegian Cruise Line

Education: (1) 2011 – Ph.D. Business Administration, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Kenan-Flagler Business School, (2) 1999 – M.B.A. University of Florida Warrington College of Business Administration, (3) 1997 – B.S. Industrial Engineering, University of Miami College of Engineering