Kimberly Carlson

Kimberly A. Carlson is an Associate Professor of Practice in Management and the Director of the Business Leadership Center in the Pamplin College of Business at Virginia Tech. Previously, Dr. Carlson served as director of the Business Diversity Center in the Pamplin College of Business; as adjunct faculty for the Center for Public Administration and Policy and the Political Science Department; and as the Assistant Director for Presidential Global Scholars, a semester-abroad program, and Fulbright Program Adviser in University Honors at Virginia Tech.

Dr. Carlson’s teaching and research experiences include leadership, organizational and workforce development in national and local organizations, governments, and universities. Particularly, her Ph.D. from Virginia Tech was focused on public administration and policy, with concentrations in organizational and leadership development. Her dissertation research looked at succession planning processes in university-wide research institutes in public, doctoral universities with very high research activity.

Holding a B.S. in Psychology and B.A. in Theatre Arts with a minor in Sociology from Virginia Tech and an M.S.W. in Clinical Social Work and a certificate in Arts and Community Practice from Florida State University, Dr. Carlson has held a variety of positions related to community engagement, strategic planning, and arts education. Before returning to Virginia Tech, she worked as a director for community arts and arts education programs at various arts organizations in both Oklahoma City, OK and Pensacola, FL. Since returning to Virginia Tech, she completed three certificates – Nonprofit and Nongovernmental Management, Future Professoriate, and Higher Education Administration – and has worked on the Arts Initiative for Virginia Tech through the Office of the Senior Fellow for Resource Development and with the Long Range Planning effort through the Office of the Senior Fellow for International Advancement.

Currently, Dr. Carlson serves as a research associate for the Calhoun Center for Higher Education Innovation, faculty affiliate to the Center for Cooperative Problem Solving, senior fellow for the Honors Residential Commons, and member of the Lyric Theatre and Council Board of Directors. She advises the student organization Pamplin Leadership Development Team (PLDT), which coordinates Pamplin’s Annual Student Leadership Conference and conducts leadership training workshops for student groups across campus. As a member of the inaugural VT Faculty Fellows program from 2017-2019, Dr. Carlson incorporates service-learning in many of the leadership courses and programs that she teaches. When opportunities arise, she also leads study abroad experiences within Pamplin’s International Programs.

In her free time, Dr. Carlson enjoys outdoor activities like hiking and riding her bike, cooking and (more importantly) eating, and many indoor hobbies including reading and sewing. She lives in Christiansburg with her husband, Eric, who is a Ph.D. candidate in Material Science & Engineering at Virginia Tech.