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Marjorie Meier, DPA

Associate Dean of Illinois College
Associate Professor
Department of Economics and Business Administration

Education: University of Illinois-Urbana, B.S. 1975; MBA 1976; University of Illinois-Springfield, DPA 2005

Courses: Leadership

Achievements: Recipient: Harry Joy Dunbaugh Distinguished Professor Award 1990; Ambassador Award 1994

Research Interest: Emotional labor

According to Professor Marjorie Meier, willingness to take risks is a characteristic of a good leader-a fact she learned at a young age. Her father was an Illinois farmer who took risks every day buying and selling grain on the commodities market. When he retired from farming, he went into an oftentimes riskier endeavor-the stock market.

"I grew up surrounded by business and marketing talk," Meier said, "so when it came time to choose a path in college I naturally gravitated toward business studies."

Meier earned both her B.S. and MBA from the University of Illinois-Urbana where she developed expertise in the area of organizational behavior. In 1976, she was recruited by the Caterpillar Tractor Company in Peoria into a fast-track training program. She worked as staff engineer and a line supervisor, which gave her first-hand experience in dealing with the flow of materials, scientific management, union organizations, discrimination and sexual harassment.

"Many people are in denial that they’ll run into issues of discrimination or sexual harassment in business today," said Meier. "Certainly things are better than when I started out but the glass ceiling still exists."

During her more than 25 years at Illinois College, Meier has helped build awareness about these issues and raise that ceiling through her teaching and leadership. She joined the college in 1980 as an instructor and rose to the rank of associate professor in 1987. Meier helped initiate the Gender and Women’s Studies program at Illinois College and developed several courses, including Women in Learning Communities, Women and Leadership and Women’s Issues Online. In 1990, Meier received the Harry Joy Dunbaugh Distinguished Professor Award for outstanding classroom teaching.

"I never teach the same class the same way," she said. "I like to jazz it up and look for examples that will help students connect with the theories."

Meier served as chair of the Department of Economics and Business Administration from 1992 to 2000. In 2003, she was named associate dean of the college and in 2005 she completed her doctorate of public administration at the University of Illinois-Springfield.

Meier’s current research interest is emotional labor, particularly in higher education. She’s been invited to present her work on the subject at the 2006 International Global Conference on Business and Economics at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom.

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