Distinguished Wilson Chair and Professor of Management, School of Business, Wake Forest University
Colonel, U.S. Army (Retired)
Professor Hannah is an experienced senior leader, scholar, and leader development expert. He studies, teaches, and consults on exemplary leadership, leader development, strategy, culture-building, and building high performing teams. He is a co-creator of the Leader Functions Index®, a 360° assessment used to assess leader’s capabilities across five major functions of leadership; as well as the groundbreaking academic research in Neuro-Leadership that has identified key neurological and psychological capacities that impact the leaders’ effectiveness. Ultimately, he seeks to develop exemplary leaders.
Prior to his appointment to the Wilson Chair at Wake Forest he served 26 years in the US Army, retiring in 2012 as a Colonel. He served as the Director of the Center for the Army Profession and Ethic, and the Director of Leadership and Management Programs, both at West Point. He served as an Infantry officer in command and staff positions in Europe, Cuba, Panama, Southwest Asia, and the United States, including combat with 3d Armored Division in Desert Storm, and in contingency operations such as Operation Sea Signal (Panama and Cuba), and the control cell for Joint Task Force Los Angeles (LA Riots). Present in the Pentagon on 9/11, he was reassigned after the attack to lead the reconstitution of the organization that sustained the highest casualty level in the attack to rebuild its multibillion dollar operation. Upon his retirement from the Army he was awarded his 44th military decoration and was inducted in the U.S. Army Officer Candidate School Hall of Fame.
Sean has been honored as a Fellow in both the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology and the Association for Psychological Science. He is the Editor in Chief of the Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies, and sits on the editorial boards of three other major academic journals. He has published over 60 papers on leadership, character, and management in premier journals such as Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, and Journal of Applied Psychology. He was recognized by the Academy of Management amongst its 19,000 members with the 2017 Practice Impact Award, recognizing his overall significant impact on management practices.
Sean has conducted over 600 executive education and consulting engagements in the US, Europe, and Asia, with highly successful firms such as Microsoft, Deloitte, DOW, GE, 7-11, IBM, UTC, P&G, MetLife, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Morgan Stanley, TIAA; including training 16 CEOs and their top management teams.
Dr. Hannah holds a PhD in Management from the University of Nebraska, MBA from Syracuse University, Masters of Public Administration from Syracuse University, Masters in National Security Studies from the Marine Corps University, and a Bachelor of Political Science from California State University.
James Farr Faculty Fellow and
Associate Professor of Management
Research Associate, Allegacy Center for Leadership & Character
Wake Forest University School of Business
John Sumanth is the James Farr Faculty Fellow and Associate Professor of Management at the Wake Forest University School of Business. His research focuses on issues of leadership, employee voice and upward communication, and status, and 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 (cruise) and fast food industries. John is an award-winning teacher 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., ExxonMobil, Royal Caribbean, Wells Fargo, Huber Engineered Woods) and top US military officers and government leaders (e.g., Army, Navy, Air Force, Special Operations, Veterans Affairs). John holds a holds a Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior from UNC-Chapel Hill, an MBA in Marketing and Management from the University of Florida and a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering (cum laude) from the University of Miami. 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.