Halmos Doctoral Alum Named Executive Dean at Sullivan University

LaVena Wilkin, Ph.D., graduate of the doctoral program in conflict analysis and resolution in the Department of Conflict Resolution Studies (DCRS) in the Halmos College of Arts and Sciences and the Guy Harvey Oceanographic Research Center (HCAS), was named the Executive Dean of the College of Business and Technology at Sullivan University.  Prior to this latest position, Wilkin served as the Dean of Ph.D. Programs.

LaVena Wilkin, Ph.D.

Wilkin has facilitated workshops on communication, conflict, emotional intelligence, forgiveness, P.E.A.C.E. from Conflict, and workplace bullying for a variety of organizations, These organizations include the Center for Non-Profit Excellence, The Archdiocese of Louisville, Integrating Women Leaders, FireKing, Governor’s Equal Employment Opportunity Annual Conference, the Academic Leadership Academy, the Society for Strategic Human Resources Managers, Unity of East Louisville, Duke Energy, and several other organizations. She also created a basic conflict management course for the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI).

She co-edited a book, entitled “From Discord to Harmony: Making the Workplace Hum”, which was published in March 2020.  Her latest project, The Handbook of Organizational Conflict Management, was published in 2022.  She is the Editor for the Journal of Conflict Management, a scholarly journal that publishes research in many of the multidisciplinary areas of managing conflicts.

Wilkin is the Vice-President emeritus for the Board of Directors at Unity of East Louisville.  Additionally, she previously served on the Board of Directors for the Society for the Prevention and Aggression Among Adolescence (SPAVA).   Before joining Sullivan, she spent twenty-six years in the construction industry, and three of those years she co-owned a masonry sub-contracting company.

Posted 10/23/22