Alex Stajkovic

Alex is a Professor of Leadership and Organizational Behavior in the Management and Human Resources Department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, School of Business. He is a member of the Faculty Advisory Committee of the Tommy G. Thompson Center on Public Leadership at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Alex is also a Faculty Affiliate of the African Studies Program at UW-Madison. He was a visiting scholar in the psychology department at Stanford University.

Alex’s research examines public leaders’ role in addressing societal grand challenges – pressing social problems with ripple effects. His three most recent papers provide new insights into qualities associated with leadership effectiveness in addressing grand challenges and highlight the potential for diversity in leadership positions to achieve favorable outcomes.

His paper on U.S. Governors’ female leadership advantage during the COVID-19 crisis received a Responsible Research Finalist Award from the Academy of Management in 2021. Alex’s 2023 paper on Ethics of Care Leadership demonstrates a Female Leadership Advantage in achieving effective outcomes in the context of the urban revitalization crisis. Most recent paper showed that the gender and race of police chiefs were associated with violence during the BLM protests, such that protests in cities with Black women police chiefs were associated with the lowest levels of violence compared to other groups.

Alex received a Gaumnitz Distinguished Research Award (UW-Madison, WSB), a Mabel Chipman Excellence in Teaching Award (UW-Madison, WSB), and an Excellence in Teaching Award at UC-Irvine, GSM. He has served on the Editorial Boards of Journal of Applied Psychology (contributing editor), Academy of Management Journal, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, South African Journal of Human Resource Management, Organizational Dynamics, and as a member of the Advisory Council of Harvard Business Review.

Alex has published in premier psychology and Management journals such as Psychological Bulletin, Journal of Applied Psychology, Academy of Management Journal, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Personnel Psychology, Journal of Management, Journal of Business Ethics, and Journal of Organizational Behavior. This research generated close to 15,000 citations.

Alex received his PhD (Organizational Behavior) and MA (Management) degrees from University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and a BSc in Economics from University of Belgrade (Serbia). He teaches in WSB Executive and Professional MBA programs, has conducted executive education seminars globally (e.g., Australia, Chile, China, Germany, Korea, Singapore, South African Republic), and has presented at over 100 professional conferences.