Bio
William A. (Bill) Gentry, Ph.D., is the Director of Learning and Development at Wake Forest University. During his career, Dr. Gentry has amassed more than 90 academic presentations and has published more than 50 academic articles in the areas of first-time managers and new leaders, leader character and integrity, mentoring, derailment, organizational politics and political skill, communication, and empathy. In addition, he and his research have been featured in more than 50 internet and news outlets, including Forbes.com, the Wall Street Journal, CNN.com, and the Harvard Business Review. Dr. Gentry also used his passion for research and developing first-time managers to write the bestselling book, “Be the Boss Everyone Wants to Work For: A Guide for New Leaders” (Berrett-Koehler Publishers).
Before coming to Wake Forest University, Bill worked for five years at High Point University as the Director and then Assistant Vice President of Career and Professional Development and as the Executive Director of the Siegfried Leadership Fellows Program. He also held the titles of Interim Vice President of Student Life and Associate Vice President of Student Affairs. Before that experience, Bill worked for more than a decade at the Center for Creative Leadership, a top-ranked global provider of executive education and leadership development as a researcher, trainer, and manager. Bill graduated summa cum laude from Emory University, and he earned his M.S and Ph.D. in industrial-organizational psychology from the University of Georgia.