Tracey E. Rizzuto, Ph.D.

Biography

Dr. Rizzuto received her PhD from Pennsylvania State University in Industrial and Organizational Psychology, with a minor concentration in Information Systems and Technology. In June, 2021, Dr. Rizzuto accepted the position of Director of the School of Leadership and Human Resource Development. The overarching 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. Applying quantitative multilevel and network modeling to describe person-environment interactions, she studies attitudinal and behavioral responses to large-scale organizational change across a wide variety of settings and technologies used to support post-secondary education and professional training. Her secondary research interests include workforce aging issues and understanding change reactions to workplace disasters.

She 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).

She is also associated with over $9M in grant from state and federal sources including NSF, the U.S. Department of Interior, Department of Education and Department of Justice. 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.

Research Interests