Billy Obenauer, Ph.D.

Dr. Billy Obenauer joined the Maine Business School in 2021. He was previously full-time faculty in the School of Business at Ithaca College. Prior to that, he earned his PhD at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Billy’s research focuses on issues related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in organizations, with an interest in learning more about how research design influences our understanding of DEI. His research has been published in journals such as The Leadership Quarterly and Industrial and Organizational Psychology: Perspectives on Science and Practice. He integrates his research expertise into his teaching by illustrating to students how various decisions that they will make as managers will influence DEI in their organizations.

Billy’s teaching style is driven by his core values which include transparency, equitable access to education, and that no one should be defined by their worst day. His commitment to creating an engaging educational environment with multiple opportunities for students to succeed has been shown to improve student engagement and performance. Additionally, he shares lectures on YouTube where he has over 1,600 subscribers and has received more than 190,000 views.

Billy is married with four children. He and his family live in Glenburn. In his spare time, he enjoys riding his motorcycle, playing basketball, and reading comic books.

Education

  • Ph.D., Management, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (2019)
  • MBA, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (2014)
  • MSEd, Business and Marketing Education, State University of New York at Oswego (2013)
  • B.S., Professional Retail Management, Bellevue University (2012)

Teaching Areas

  • Organizational behavior
  • Human resource management

Research Interests

  • Contextual distinctions that influence racial and gender discrimination in organizations, as well as other outcomes related to diversity in the workplace
  • Recognition of actionable steps that can reduce discrimination and support efforts towards inclusion and equitable outcomes in the workplace
  • The evaluation of research methodology with a focus on discovering previously unidentified nuances that enhance the knowledge gleaned from prior research

Dr. Obenauer’s CV

Social Media

Awards / Professional Accomplishments

Academic Awards

  • 2023 Faculty Mentor Impact Award
  • 2023 Excellence in Research Award
  • 2022 Southwest Academy of Management Best Paper in Track (Human Resource, Career, and Diversity)
  • 2019 RPI Del and Edith Karget Dissertation Prize in Management
  • 2016 AoM William H. Newman Award Nominee
  • 2014 RPI 2014 Chief Innovation Officer of the Future Award

Reviewing Awards

  • Outstanding Reviewer, Eastern Academy of Management, 2019, 2016
  • Outstanding Reviewer, OB Division, Academy of Management, 2017
  • Outstanding Reviewer, GDO division, Academy of Management, 2016
  • Outstanding Reviewer, Midwest Academy of Management, 2015

Selected Publications

Obenauer, W.G. & Kalsher, M.J. (2022) Is Honesty the Best Policy? Examining the Effects of Accuracy and Explicitness of Safety Information on Attributions of Responsibility. Accepted for publication at American Business Review

Obenauer, W.G. & Kalsher, M.J. (2022) Is White Always the Standard? Using Replication to Revisit and Extend What We Know About the Leadership Prototype. The Leadership Quarterly, 101633.

Obenauer, W.G. The Price of Technology is Responsibility: A Discussion of Threats Created by Cybervetting that Employers Must Address to Ensure Equal Employment Opportunity. (2022). Industrial and Organizational Psychology: Perspectives on Science and Practice, 15(3), 348-351.

Obenauer, W.G. (2021). Flexible by Design: Developing Human Resource Policies and Practices That Provide Flexibility Through the Uncertainties Created by a Pandemic. Industrial and Organizational Psychology: Perspectives on Science and Practice, 14(1-2), 101-104.

Obenauer, W. G., & Langer, N. (2019). Inclusion is not a slam dunk: A study of differential leadership outcomes in the absence of a glass cliff. The Leadership Quarterly, 30(6), 101334.

Obenauer, W. G. (2019). Are all voluntary attritions created equally? Understanding the need to incorporate employee diversity into attrition modeling. Industrial and Organizational Psychology: Perspectives on Science and Practice, 12(3), 302-305.

Kalsher, M.J.; Obenauer, W.G; & Weiss, C.F. (2019). Reconsidering the Role of Design Standards in Developing Effective Safety Labeling: Monolithic Recipes or Collections of Separable Features? Human Factors, 61(6), 920-952.

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