Meet...Donna Chrobot-Mason

Donna Chrobot-Mason may still be unpacking boxes, but she already has big plans for the Center for Organizational Leadership. Its first official hire, she brings a wealth of experience and extensive research background to the innovative multi-disciplinary program. As an organizational psychologist, she adds a unique perspective to the business-related program.

Working at McMicken College is something of a homecoming for Chrobot-Mason, who originally hails from northern Indiana, near South Bend. She did her undergraduate work in business psychology at Miami University before moving on to the University of Georgia and earning an MA and a PhD in applied psychology.

Her first major career move took her to Rochester, New York, where she spent four years at Xerox Corporation overseeing human resource systems for nearly 15,000 employees worldwide. Desiring a return to the “energy” and “autonomy” of academia, she later joined the psychology department at the University of Colorado.

Part of what makes Chrobot-Mason a unique asset is her relationship with the Center for Creative Leadership in Greensboro, North Carolina, where she does collaborative research with this executive development center that offers training for leaders. As part of an international research initiative to study workplace diversity and how leaders manage across differences, she helps to gather data from twelve countries.

One of her goals is to bring “collaborative learning” opportunities to McMicken's Center for Organizational Leadership. “I want to incorporate opportunities for students to learn from one another through group projects and an applied approach,” she explains. She looks forward to making connections with community leaders and partnering with organizations in Cincinnati to conduct research that will make a difference in the community.

While work dominates one part of her life, the other revolves around Thomas the Train and her three- year- old son, Alex. She also enjoys hiking and backpacking, passions she shares with her husband. She admits that her love for the outdoors has resulted in some close-calls over the years. She recalls being nearly trampled by a moose in the Rocky Mountains, all but charged by a bear in the Grand Tetons, and almost bitten by a rattlesnake on three separate occasions! Chrobot-Mason and her husband recently built a home in Loveland, where they plan on utilizing the less hazardous bike trial for their “outdoors” fix.