Meet AIU Faculty/Staff
Dr. Kathleen Henry, Adjunct Instructor of Organizational Psychology and Development
of American InterContinental University Online, loves using her expertise in organizational development whether she's working with the Department of Labor, State of California or city government on how to move the unemployed back into the workforce, or helping a family-owned and run winery transition from an entrepreneurship to a corporate organization, or implementing cultural change initiatives for a credit union. Her enthusiasm for helping organizations and the people within them function more effectively is contagious and has been wholeheartedly shared with her students at AIU Online since she started teaching there in 2003.
Dr. Henry's career began not unlike that of many of her AIU Online students. She worked her way through Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, IL while holding down a full-time job with a utility company. Graduating Magna Cum Laude with a degree in Workforce Education and Development, her career direction was more a case of being chosen rather than choosing. As she explains it, "My career sort of selected me when I was asked to provide training to corporate upper management at Pacific Gas & Electric Company. One thing led to another and in a rather short time I was on a path to upper management."
Fascinated by how organizations work, she pursued a Master of Arts in Organizational Development from the Fielding Institute in Santa Barbara, California and completed her Ph.D. in Human and Organizational Systems at Fielding in 2000.
Currently Dr. Henry teaches in the doctoral program at Capella University as well as undergraduate and graduate classes at AIU Online. In addition, she serves as an executive consultant with some of the most prestigious companies in the United States, Australia and Japan through her leadership and organizational development consultancy.
"What I find most impressive about AIU Online," remarked Dr. Henry "is how well its own organizational structure functions. It is an ongoing process of how to serve its customers, whether the student, through finely tuned courses, or its customer faculty, by listening and implementing ideas to better serve the student customers."
"Of course, there's no question that our courses are very rigorous. It is not just what is taught but the academic professionalism, which is important in the degree process, like fully implementing the use of APA editorial style in the Masters program. Another plus is that everything we teach relates to the real world of work. I see each student as a future scholar and developing that is my commitment as an instructor."
From Dr. Henry's perspective, everyone in business today could benefit by learning about Organizational Psychology and Development. "Many people are unaware of why companies make the decisions they do," she explained. "Downsizing, for example, though often painful, is never personal. It's about remaining competitive. Understanding the underlying issues behind these decisions can help individuals deal with the change. Managers and supervisors studying Organizational Theory and Development can better understand corporate decisions enabling them to support the company's goals and becoming more valuable employees in the process. It is always about looking at the underlying issues."
Back to Faculty Profiles
