Dr. Tracey Rizzuto, expert in industrial–organizational psychology, has been appointed the interim director of the School of Leadership & Human Resource Development by the Louisiana State University College of Human Sciences & Education.
Dr. Rizzuto is the associate director of the School of Leadership & Human Resource Development at LSU. She is the Mary Ethel Baxter Lipscomb Memorial Endowed Professor of Human Resource, Leadership, and Organizational Development.
“Rizzuto has taken an active role in research that benefits local and state interests, such as workplace disaster recovery through the Katrina Aid and Relief Effort (KARE), the Baton Rouge Choice Initiative, and smart policing and prosecution initiatives like the Baton Rouge Area Violence Elimination (BRAVE) program and Crime Strategies Unit (CSU),” noted officials.
Dr. Rizzuto is associated with over $9M in grant from state and federal sources including NSF, the U.S. Department of Interior, and Department of Education and Department of Justice, said the officials. “Her research is published in journals across disciplines including psychology, management, information systems, sociology, and education, and has been featured in popular media outlets such as The New York Times, National Public Radio’s Market Place and American Public Radio Works. She was also a 2015 TEDxLSU speaker.”
Dr. Rizzuto received her PhD from Pennsylvania State University in industrial and organizational psychology, with a minor concentration in information systems and technology. The over-arching focus of her research program is on developing human capital and organizational capacity through technology-mediated processes, with the goal of increasing access to the knowledge, expertise, and resources needed to manage change in the modern workplace. Her secondary research interests include workforce aging issues and understanding change reactions to workplace disasters.
“The School of Leadership & Human Resource Development is critical in achieving the college mission to improve quality of life across the lifespan, and I am confident that our students, programs, and faculty research will thrive under her leadership during this time of transition,” said Dean Roland Mitchell.
In her current role, Dr. Rizzuto is hoping to recruit additional professionals to help her with growing research responsibilities. According to the job announcement, she is recruiting a social science researcher as a project coordinator/post doc for several NSF-funded, multi-year, multi-institutional projects that study and enhance the diversity of graduate students and professionals across a variety of workplace settings.