Benedictine Leadership: Faculty & Advisory Councils

Michael R. Manning, Ph.D.
Director of Research; Professor of Leadership, Strategy & Change, and Core Faculty
mmanning@ben.edu, (575) 621-4052
Dr. Michael R. Manning joined the Center’s faculty in 2013 as Professor of Leadership, Strategy & Change. Dr. Manning earned a Ph.D. from Purdue University and has held faculty appointments at New Mexico State University, Case Western Reserve University, Fielding Graduate University, and SUNY-Binghamton. He currently serves as an associate editor of the Journal of Applied Behavioral Science and is active in the Academy of Management, where he is a former Chair of the Organization Development and Change Division.
Dr. Manning has dedicated his professional career to educating and developing executives, designing effective organizations, and creating applied action research processes and intervention techniques. He teaches and consults throughout the U.S. and internationally in Mexico, Europe and the Baltic States, the Middle East, and the Far East.
Research interests: Multiple topics related to the management of change (whole systems change using large group interventions, the role of affect and emotion in change, identifying change moments); leading and collective action; occupational stress and well-being.
Marie E. Di Virgilio, Ph.D.
Core Faculty, Organizational Change & Corporate Social Responsibility
mdivirgilio@ben.edu, (630) 829-2178
Dr. Marie E. Di Virgilio joined the Center in 2008 as Administrative Director. She brings over 30 years of business experience, much of it with Allstate Insurance Company, holding key leadership positions in sales, human resources, accounting, corporate education, and information technology. She earned a Ph.D. in Organization Development from Benedictine University in 2005.
Dr. Di Virgilio is a core faculty member specializing in Organizational Change and Corporate Social Responsibility at the Center and has held faculty appointments with Dominican University, the Lake Forest Graduate School of Management, the International School of Management and the U.S. State Department Middle East Partnership Initiative. She teaches internationally in Poland, the Czech Republic, and France. Consulting and speaking on a variety of topics including change management, teams, and leadership, Di Virgilio uses her scholar-practitioner skills to help organizations improve their effectiveness.
Dr. Di Virgilio is the Prospect Heights (IL) Dollars for Scholars board president. The mission of the organization is to provide local students with financial aid and support to pursue higher levels of academic achievement.
Research interests: Developing values-driven leaders; employee engagement; change leadership; work group transformation; social enterprise and responsibility.
Joanna Beth Tweedy, Ph.D.
Lead Writing Faculty
Dr. Tweedy is the founding editor and host of Quiddity international journal and broadcast (NPR IL). She serves in a consultant role as the lead writing faculty for the Center for Values-Driven Leadership’s executive doctoral program and also teaches at Western Governors University. She has presented widely throughout the United States and internationally on her research interests, which include flourishing, leadership, publishing, linguistic dialects, and writing. Publications include a novel and two book-length works on creative poiesis and leadership from (respectively) Southeast Missouri University Press, Benedictine University, and the University of Delhi; poems and short stories; as well as chapters and articles in publications related to leadership and creative craft.
With degrees in values-driven leadership (PhD), English (MA), and education (BS), Joanna Beth has served as faculty-in-residence at the University of Illinois, an Associate Professor of Arts & Letters, and a Dean of Academic Affairs at Benedictine University.
An ardent foreign-adventurist with chronic and gravitational home-soil leanings, Dr. Tweedy lives and loves in a foothilled fraction of the Ozarks steeped in the wonders of nature and the blessings of generations.
Founders Council
The Center for Values-Driven Leadership is made possible in part by the generous support of its Founders Council. The Council is comprised of individuals, corporations, and foundations that advance the mission of the Center by contributing a minimum of $25,000 per year for three years.
Magnetrol International, Inc.

Eight decades ago, Magnetrol’s founders developed a more reliable instrument for liquid level control than was prevalent with the technology of the day. By combining a buoyancy device with the operating principle of magnetic-coupling, the first “Magnetrol” was born.
Innovation is still a prized resource at Magnetrol and is sustained by programs that recognize and reward initiative and creativity. Magnetrol nourishes responsible innovation through superior engineering, by manufacturing to the highest standards of excellence and by truly listening to its customers.
Now a global company, Magnetrol has come a long way since it produced its first electro-mechanical level switch in 1932. However, the company’s commitment to its customers, employees and the community as a whole hasn’t changed. Continuous improvement of products, processes and service remains the company’s prime objective.
Tellabs Foundation

Tellabs is a telecommunications infrastructure builder and a partner with communications service providers around the world.
The mission of the Tellabs Foundation is to advance specific, strategic endeavors in communities where Tellabs employees live and work. They aim to build the capacity of nonprofit organizations by supporting sustainable initiatives, primarily in education, health and the environment.
The Vaya Group has more than 25 years of experience in helping Fortune 1000 companies meet their talent management needs. Led by Dr. Paul H. Eccher, Dave Ross and Nino Lamberti, Vaya Group uses their insight, knowledge, experience and proprietary assessment, quantitative and intervention tools, and strategies to successfully help companies identify their talent and cultivate excellence.
Using their The Vaya Talent Optimization Framework™ Audit, Vaya Group is able to provide a multi-dimensional, holistic approach to talent cultivation taking into account the past, present and future; industry and competitive and market conditions; business strategy and direction; the organization’s goals and philosophy; and the leadership’s strengths and weaknesses.
The company’s rigorous assessment of coaching and collaboration with thousands of executives and employees at world-class organizations has produced insights and research recognized throughout the industry. They have helped highly successful organizations like Hewlett Packard, General Electric, Campbell Soup, Amgen and sanofi-aventis harness their talent and improve their profitability.

Located in Naperville, IL, Edward Hospital & Health Services is a full-service, regional healthcare provider offering access to complex medical specialties and innovative programming.
Designed for “people who don’t like hospitals,” Edward Hospital’s goal is to make the patient experience as stress free as possible. The hospital is known for its continuous innovations to provide maximum comfort, such as space for family to spend the night, peaceful healing gardens and an ER designed especially around and for kids.
The organization’s commitment extends beyond its patients to its employees and the community at large. Edward is one of the leading providers of charity care in the region, helping families who need financial assistance.
Michael L. Flynn
Chief Financial Officer,The Financial Group
Michael Flynn is the founder and chief financial officer of The Financial Group. He was also a charter member of the Advisory Board for the Small Business Development Center of the Business and Professional Institute at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn.
His passion for children and families in distress prompted Flynn to found SDG (Soli Deo Gloria) Adoption and Child Advocacy Center, a nonprofit foundation that serves families with special needs and terminally ill children. In addition to representing families who desire to adopt children locally and abroad, he also serves as a court-appointed Guardian Ad Litem.
Additionally, Flynn sits on the Board of Directors for the Red Thread, a charitable organization that facilitates medical and surgical procedures in the United States for foreign-born orphans.
Mona Amodeo, Ph.D.
Founder and President
idgroup
Philip Anderson, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Leadership
Cardinal Stritch University
Tracey Cantarutti, Ph.D.
President, TLC Leadership Options; Vice President, Midwest Region
The Leader’s Edge
Keith Cox, Ph.D.
Director, Transformational Change Management
PwC
Paul Eccher, Ph.D.
Principal & Co-Founder
Vaya Group
Michael Flynn, Ph.D. J.D.
C.F.O.
The Financial Group
Sandra Gill, Ph.D.
Associate Dean for Strategy, College of Business
Benedictine University
Thomas Griffin, Ph.D.
Director, Organizational Change Management
Sears Holdings Corporation
Kevin Lynch, Ph.D.
Former Chief Financial Officer
Pritzker Realty
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Kurt Olson, Ph.D.
VP of Talent Management & Leadership Development
Rush University Medical Center
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Mike Mantel, Ph.D.
President & CEO
Living Water International
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Walt Reilly, M.S.
Corporate Chief Human Resources Officer
Elkay (retired)
Daniel Saint, Ph.D.
Former Partner (Retired)
Deloitte
Linda Sharkey, Ph.D.
Marshall Goldsmith
Distinguished Fellow