Administration
Walter H. Gmelch, Dean
Walter H. Gmelch joined the USF School of Education in August 2004. Before joining USF, he was Dean of
the College of Education at Iowa State University. He also served in the role of dean, associate dean,
department chair and professor at Washington State University.
Dean Gmelch earned a Ph.D. in the Educational Executive Program from the University of California (Santa
Barbara), a master's in Business Administration from the University of California (Berkeley), and a
bachelor's degree from Stanford University.
As educator, management consultant, university administrator, and former business executive, Dr.
Gmelch has conducted research and written extensively on topics of leadership, team development,
conflict, and stress and time management. He has published over 100 articles, 20 books, and 200
scholarly papers in national and international journals.
During the 1990s he directed two national studies of 1,600 university department chairs in the United States, one study of 1,580
Australian department heads, another investigation of 1,000 community college chairs, and recently has completed an international
study of 2,000 academic deans in Australia and America.
As one of the leading researchers in the study of academic leaders in higher education, Dr. Gmelch is also serving as editor of two
journals and on the editorial board of a half dozen journals including Department Chair, Innovative Higher Education, Academic
Leadership, and the Center for Academic Leadership Newsletter.
Dr. Gmelch has received numerous honors including a Kellog National Fellowship, the University Council for Educational
Administration Distinguished Professor Award, the Faculty Excellence Award for Research, and the Education Press Award of
America. In addition, he served on the Danforth Leadership Program and as an Australian Research Fellow.
His books include:

In department leadership: Chairing an Academic Department, Leadership Skills for Department Chairs, The Department
Chair as Academic Leader, and Productivity Teams: Beyond Quality Circles.

In college leadership: The Changing Nature of the Academic Dean, Deans' Balancing Acts, and College Deans: Leading
from Within.

In stress management: Coping with Faculty Stress and Beyond Stress to Effective Management.
Recipient of a Kellogg National Fellowship, Gmelch is one of higher education's leading researchers in
the study of academic leaders—particularly chairs and deans. He is a regular presenter for the
American Council on Education Department Chair Program.