Dr. Lee A. Graf
(Posted in May, 2005)

Dr. Lee A. Graf is a Professor of Management in the Department of Management and Quantitative Methods (MQM) at Illinois State University. His teaching responsibilities include classes in entrepreneurship and small business management, fundamentals of management, organizational behavior, and human resource management, both at the undergraduate and graduate levels. He has taught previously at the University of Hawaii, Indiana State University, Mississippi State University and Northern Illinois University.

From 1992 to 1994 Dr. Graf served as Acting Chairperson in Illinois State University’s Accounting Department. From 1997 to 1999 he served as Internship Coordinator for the MQM Department. In August of 1999 Graf was appointed Director of Business Administration (MBA) Programs at Illinois State University. He continues to serve in that position.

Dr. Graf’s research program has focused primarily on projects in international management, innovative management practices, unionization in institutions of higher learning, experiential learning/pedagogical innovation, sexual harassment, and issues related to entrepreneurship/small business management. More recently, however, his research has shifted to terrorism and reduction of risk associated with terrorist attacks.

Dr. Graf has published more the thirty refereed articles in prestigious journals such as the Academy of Management Journal, the Journal of Management, and the Journal of Applied Social Psychology. He also has published more than sixty business cases. His most recent books include Experiencing Modern Management and Experiencing Modern Management: Canada.

Graf has been a consultant to business and industry for over twenty-five years and has worked with such companies as Mitsubishi Motor Manufacturing of America, State Farm Insurance, Caterpillar, Country Insurance and Financial Services, Verizon, and General Electric. He has also consulted with governmental, healthcare and banking institutions and numerous small businesses.

Dr. Graf has been active in his profession, serving in leadership positions in numerous professional organizations such as the Academy of Management, Decision Sciences Institute, and the Association for Business Simulation and Experiential Learning (President, 1986). He has also served on the Board of Directors of the American National Business Hall of Fame and the Illinois Business Hall of Fame since 1989. He has been a member of the executive committees of both halls since 1991.

In 1992 Dr. Graf was selected as a Fellow of the Association for Business Simulation and Experiential Learning. In 1995 he was awarded the Illinois State University designation as Outstanding University Researcher. In 1998 he received the Caterpillar Scholar designation.