Adrianna Kezar

ADRIANNA KEZAR is the Dean’s Professor of Leadership, Wilbur-Kieffer Professor of Higher Education and Director of the Pullias Center for Higher Education at the University of Southern California. Dr. Kezar holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in higher education administration from the University of Michigan and a B.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles. She joined the faculty at USC in 2003 after serving at the University of Maryland and George Washington University as a faculty member. 

Dr. Kezar is a national expert of change and leadership in higher education and her research agenda explores the change process in higher education institutions and the role of leadership in creating change. Adrianna’s change and leadership research has been used by government agencies, accreditation bodies, foundations, state systems, consortium, and individual campuses to forward change agendas and initiatives and me leadership research has been used to design leadership development among national associations, consortium of colleges, and campus-based leadership programs. She also regularly consults for campuses and national organizations related to her work on diversity/equity/inclusion, non-tenure track faculty, STEM reform, collaboration, and governance. She is an international expert on the changing faculty and she directs the Pullias Center’s Delphi Project on the Changing Faculty and Student Success. She is regularly quoted in the media related to her research including: New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, USA Today, The Atlantic, PBS, NPR (national and local stations), Al-Jazerra, Chronicle of Higher Education, Inside Higher Education, among others. 

Dr. Kezar is well published with 25 books/monographs, over 100 journal articles, and over 100 book chapters and reports. Recent books include: Shared Leadership in higher Education: Responding to a Changing Environment (2021) (Stylus Press); The Gig Academy (2019) (Johns Hopkins Press), and Administration for Social Justice and Equity (2019) (Routledge). She has been cited — 21,300 times — and her H-index score of 70 is at the level for the most productive scholars in academe with 55 being the average for National Academy of Science members.

She has acquired more than $22 million dollars in grant funding and has worked on grant-funded projects exceeding $35 million dollars on a variety of projects to fundamentally improve higher education.  She was Principal Investigator for a $6.2 million study funded by the Buffett Foundation, one of the largest funded research projects ever awarded in higher education.  She currently has two National Science Foundation Studies, one focused on developing a national faculty survey. 

She is an AERA Fellow, and has received several national awards including the ASHE research award, ASHE leadership award, ACE leadership award, and service award from the National Society for Experiential Learning.

Dr. Kezar has participated actively in national/professional service.  She is past Vice President for AERA Division J, WASC commissioner, TIAA-CREF Lead Fellow, Haynes Fellow, and served as a member of a consensus panel for the National Academy of Science’s National Research Council Panel. She serves as editor for Change magazine, is section editor for the Higher Education Handbook of Theory and Practice, and edits the Stylus books series on non-tenure track faculty. Formerly, she was editor of the ASHE Higher Education report series.  She has served, or is currently serving, on 12 editorial boards including The Journal of Higher education, The Review of Higher Education, The Journal of College Student Development, and serves as a reviewer for 23 journals in and outside higher education. 

Professional service roles also include Board membership for AERA-Division J Council and the Association for the Study of Higher Education. Dr. Kezar also serves(d) on numerous national higher education boards including for the Gates Foundation, American Association for Higher Education, Association of American Colleges and Universities; National TRIO Clearinghouse. She provides volunteer service for several national organizations including the SEAChange, HERS/Bryn Mawr Summer Institute, Center for the Study of Academic Labor, Accelerating systemic reform in STEM, Project Kaleidoscope, Pathways to College Network, and the Kellogg Forum on Higher Education for the Public Good. 

Dr. Kezar works regularly with national organizations as an advisor and consultant including higher education associations such as the American Council on Education, American Association of Colleges and Universities, Association of Public and Land Grants Colleges, Association for Governing Boards, League of Innovation, American Association of University Professors; philanthropic organizations such as Gates, Teagle, Spencer, Carnegie, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and Lumina Foundations; national projects such as Achieving the Dream, Accelerating Systemic Reform in STEM Education; and government agencies such as the National Science Foundation, National Institutes for Health, National Institute for the Humanities. This work represents her deep commitment to bring her change and leadership scholarship to policy and practice. 

She has been a plenary speaker for dozens of national conferences a few examples include American Association of Colleges and Universities, CUPA-HR, First Year Experience Conference, Project Kaleidescope, POD, and TIAA-CREF Leadership Forum. She has also been a plenary speaker for State Systems including Pennsylvania, Minnesota and Washington and regional organizations like the California Learning Communities Conference. 

• EDUC 500 Foundations of Higher Education
• EDPH 502 Administration in Higher Education
• EDHP 508 Organizational theory
• EDUC 524 Leadership
• EDPA 612 Qualitative Methods
• EDCU 625 Social foundations and inquiry course
• EDUC 653 Advance Qualitative Methods

• Kezar, A., & Kitchen, J. (Eds.) (2019). Supporting first-generation, low-income, and underrepresented students’ transitions to college through comprehensive and integrated programs. [Special issue]. American Behavioral Scientist, 64(3), 223-229.
• Books
• Holcombe, E., Kezar, A., Elrod, S., & Ramaley, J. (2021).  Shared Leadership in higher Education: Responding to a Changing Environment.  Sterling, VA: Stylus Press.
• Kezar, A., & Depaola, T., Scott, D. (2019). The gig academy. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
• Kezar, A. & Posselt, J., (2019). Administration for social justice and equity. New York, NY: Routledge.
• Kezar, A., Drivalas, Y., & Kitchen, J.A. (Eds.). (2018). Envisioning public scholarship for our time: Models for higher education researchers. Sterling, VA: Stylus Publishing.
• Kezar, A. (2018). How colleges change: Understanding, learning, and enacting change (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.
• Kezar, A. & Maxey, D. (2016). The Faculty for the 21st century: Moving to a mission-oriented and learner-centered faculty model.  New Jersey:  Rutgers Press.
• Kezar, A. (2014). How change works in higher education. New York:  Routledge.
• Kezar, A. (2013). How colleges change. New York:  Routledge.
• Kezar, A. (Ed.). (2012). Embracing non-tenure track faculty:  Changing campuses for the new faculty majority.  New York:  Routledge.
• Kezar, A. & Lester, J. (2011). Enhancing campus capacity for leadership:  An Examination of grassroots leaders.  Stanford Press.
• Kezar, A. (Ed.). (2010).  Recognizing and serving low-income students in postsecondary education: An examination of institutional policies, practices, and culture. New York:  Routledge.
• Kezar, A & Lester, J. (2009).  Organizing for collaboration in higher education: A guide for campus leaders.  Jossey Bass Press.
• Monographs
• Bernstein, S. & Kezar, A. (2017). Intellectual Property, Faculty Rights, and the Public Good.  New Directions for Higher Education.  Number.  San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
• Kezar, A., & Sam, C. (2011). Non-tenure track faculty in higher education: Theories and tensions. Association for the Study in Higher Education Report, 36(5). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
• Kezar, A. & Sam. C. (2010).  Understanding the new majority: Contingent faculty in higher education. Volume. I ASHE Higher Education Report Series.  San Francisco:  Jossey Bass.
• Kezar, A. & Sam. C. (2010).  Understanding the new majority: Contingent faculty in higher education. Volume II. ASHE Higher Education Report Series.  San Francisco:  Jossey Bass.
• Kezar, A., & Carducci, R  & Contreras-McGavin, M. (2006).  Rethinking the “L” word in higher education:  The revolution of research on leadership.  San Francisco:  Jossey-Bass.
• Kezar, A. (Ed.). (2005). Higher education as a learning organization:  Promising concepts and approaches.  New Directions for Higher Education.  Number 131/Fall.  San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
• Kezar, A., Hirsch, D., & Burack, K. (Eds.).  (2002).  Understanding the role of academic and student affairs collaboration in creating a successful learning environment.  New Directions for Higher Education.  Number 116/Winter. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
• Kezar, A. (2002).  Reconstructing exclusive and static images of leadership: An application of positionality theory. The Journal of Leadership Studies, 3(3), 94-109.
• Kezar, A.  (2001). Understanding and facilitating organizational change in the 21st Century:  Recent research and conceptualizations. Washington, D.C.:  ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Reports.
• Kezar, A,. & Eckel, P. (Eds.).  (2000).  Moving beyond the gap between research and practice in higher education.  New Directions for Higher Education.  Number 110/Summer.  San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
• Toma, D., & Kezar, A. (Eds.). (1999). The collegiate ideal:  The current state and future prospects of the idea of campus.  New Directions for Higher Education.  Number 105/Spring.  San Francisco:  Jossey-Bass
• Articles in Refereed Journals
• Kezar, A. & Gehrke, S. (2018). Communities of transformation: Creating changes to deeply entrenched issues.  International journal of qualitative education research.
• Kezar, A. & Gehrke, S. (2017). Lasting STEM reform: Sustaining non-organizationally located communities of practice focused on STEM reform.  Journal of higher education.
• Kezar, A. Gehrke, S., &  Bernstein, S. (2017). Designing for success in STEM communities of practice:  Philosophy and personal interactions.  Review of higher education.
• Kezar, A. & Gehrke, S. (2017). Strategies for achieving scale within communities of practice aimed at pedagogical reform in higher education.  Teachers College Record  
• Lester, J., Kezar, A. & Bernstein, S. (2017). Leadership within communities of practice:  Strategies for distributing leadership and challenges. Journal of the professoriate.
• Gehrke, S. & Kezar, A. (2017). The roles of STEM faculty communities of practice in institutional and departmental reform in higher education. AERA Journal.
• Gehrke, S. & Kezar, A. (2017). Perceived individual benefits related to STEM Reform associated with engagement in and design of undergraduate faculty communities of practice. Research in higher education.
• Kezar, A. & Gehrke, S. (2016). Exploring deans’ decision-making process in hiring at four-year institutions:  Exploring a model of pressures, values, and organizational processes. Journal of Higher Education.
• Gehrke, S. & Kezar, A. (2015). The benefits of STEM reform through communities of transformation. Change.
• Kezar, A., Gehrke, S., & Elrod, S.  (2015). Implicit theories of change:  Hidden barriers to change on college campuses.  Review of Higher Education.
• Maxey, D. & Kezar, A. (2015). Improving education research through the Delphi method.  Education Policy. June 1, 2015, doi: 10.1177/0895904815586856
• Gehrke, S. & Kezar, A.  (2015). Unbundling the faculty role:  A historical, theoretical and empirical review.  In Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research (pp. 93-150). Springer International Publishing.
• Kezar, A. & Maxey, D. (2015). Delphi Process:  An untapped form of participatory research.  Journal of Social Science Research Methods, 1-18.
• Maxey, D. & Kezar, A (2015).  Understanding the shift to a largely non-tenure track faculty.  Journal of Higher Education.   86.4 (2015): 564-594
• Elrod, S. & Kezar, A. (2014). The Keck/PKAL Scientific Framework for strategic change in STEM education. 
• Kezar, A. & Maxey, D. (2014). Faculty matter:  So why doesn’t anyone think so?   Thought and Action.  30, 29-44.
• Kezar, A & Maxey, D. (2014).  Understanding Key Stakeholder Belief Systems or Institutional Logics Related to Non-Tenure-Track Faculty and the Changing Professoriate. Teacher’s College Record. 116(10), on-line so no page numbers.
• Kezar, A., & Maxey, D. (2014). Troubling ethical lapses: The treatment of contingent faculty. Change, 46(4), 34-37.
• Gehrke, S. J., & Kezar, A. (2014). Supporting non-tenure-track faculty at four-year colleges and universities: A national study of deans’ values and decisions. Educational Policy. Advanced online publication. doi: 10.1177/0895904814531651
• Kezar, A. & Lester, J. (2014). Building STEM faculty leaders on campus. Journal of Leadership Studies, 8(1), 57-62.
• Elrod, S. & Kezar, A. (2014).  Developing leadership in STEM fields:  The PKAL summer leadership institute. Journal of Leadership Studies, 8(1), 33-39.
• Kezar, A. & Gehrke, S. (2014). Why are we hiring so many non-tenure-track faculty?  Liberal Education, 100(1), 44-51.
• Kezar, A. (2014). Higher Education Change and Social Networks: A Review of Research. The Journal of Higher Education, 85(1), 91-125.
• Kezar, A. & Maxey, D.  (2013). Change requires discipline: How faculty members working through disciplinary associations can create a better future for the professoriate.  Academe, 99(5) (no page numbers, electronic journal). 
• Kezar, A. (2013).  Non-tenure-track faculty’s social construction of a supportive work environment. Teachers College Record, 115(12), on line, no page numbers.
• Kezar, A. & Gehrke, S. (2013, August/September).  Supporting the new faculty majority: Perspectives from a national study of deans.  Peer Review.
• Kezar, A. & Gehrke, S. (2013). Why are we hiring so many non-tenure-track faculty?  Liberal Education.
• Kezar, A. & Maxey, D.  (2013, May/June). The Necessity of Trustee Leadership to Address the Changing Faculty. Trusteeship, 12-15.
• Kezar, A.  (2013). Comparing supportive and unsupportive departments for non-tenure track faculty:  Impact on willing, capacity and opportunity to perform. Research in Higher Education, 54(5), 571-598.
• Shahjahan, R. &  Kezar, A. (2013). Beyond the “National Container”: Addressing Methodological Nationalism in Higher Education Research.  Educational Researcher, 42, 20-28. 
• Kezar, A. (2013).  Four cultures of the new academy:  Support for non-tenure track faculty.  Journal of Higher Education, Volume 84, Issue 2, 153-158.
• Kezar, A. & Sam, C. (2013). Institutionalizing equitable policies and practices for contingent faculty.  Journal of Higher Education, 84(1), 56-87.
• Kezar, A. (2012).  Understanding sensemaking in transformational change processes from the bottom up.  Studies in Higher Education, 65, 761-780. 
• Kezar, A. & Sam, C. (2012). Governance as a catalyst for change:  Creating a contingent faculty friendly academy.  Educational Policy, 24, 500-533.
• Kezar, A. (2012).  Bridging the great divide:  Campus ideals for faculty and non-tenure track faculty realities.  Change, 44(6) 6-14. 
• Kezar, A., Hartley, M. & Maxey, D.  (2012).  Increasing civic engagement on college campuses:  The missing role of shared governance.  Liberal Education, 98(3), on-line no page numbers. 
• Kezar, A.  (2012). Organizational conditions that shape the implementation of student learning outcomes assessment. Innovative Higher Education.
• Lester, J. & Kezar, A. (2012).  The formation and strategies of grassroots leadership teams.  Innovative Higher Education, (37)2, 105-124.
• Kezar, A. (January, 2012). The path to pedagogical reform in the Sciences:  Engaging social movement and mutual adaptation models of change.  Liberal Education, (98)1, 14-19.
• Kezar, A. & Elrod, S. (February, 2012). How campuses can facilitate interdisciplinary learning: Leadership lessons from Project Kaleidoscope’s national initiative. Change, 13-21.
• Kezar, A. & Sam, C. (2011). New Theories for conceptualizing contingent faculty.  American Behavioral Scientist, 55(11), 1419-1442. 
• Kezar, A. (2011).  Faculty and staff grassroots leader’s beliefs about power:  Do their beliefs affect their strategies and effectiveness?  International Journal of Leadership Studies, 6(1), 84-103. 
• Kezar, A. & Dee. J.  (2011).  Conducting paradigm-crossing analyses of higher education organizations:  Transforming the study of colleges and universities.  Higher Education Handbook, 26, 265-315.
• Kezar, A.  (2011).  Leading bottom up change:  Encounters with power and oppression. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 24(4), 1-31.
• Kezar, A. (2011). What is the best way to achieve reach of improved practices in education. Innovative Higher Education, 36(11), 235-249.
• Kezar, A., Gallant, T., Lester, J.  (2011).  Everyday people making a difference on college campuses:  The tempered grassroots leadership strategies of faculty and staff.  Studies in Higher Education, 36(2), 129-151.
• Kezar, A. (2010).  Faculty and staff partnering with student activists:  Unexplored terrains of interaction and development.  Journal of College Student Development, 51(5), 451-480.
• Kezar, A. (2010). Culture clashes and their impact on partnering between community agencies and postsecondary institutions to help low income students attend college. Education and Urban Society, 1-39.
• Reille. A & Kezar, A. (2010).  Balancing the pros and cons of community college “Grow your own leadership programs.  Community College Review, 38(1), 59-81.
• Kezar, A. & Lester, J.  (2010).  Breaking the barriers of essentialism in leadership research:  Positionality as a promising practice. Feminist formations, 22(1), 163-185.
• Kezar, A., Lester, J, & Yang, H. (2010). Financial education: A missing piece in student learning, About Campus, 20-28.
• Kezar, A. & Lester, J. (2009).  Supporting faculty grassroots leadership. Research in Higher Education, (50), 715-740. 
• Kezar, A., Lester, J. & Yang, H.  (2009).  Non-profits partnering with postsecondary institutions to increase low-income student access.  Educational Policy,24(3), 500-533.
• Kezar, A. (2009, November/December).  Unexplored Terrain:  Is too much change happening in higher education? Change, 35-45.
• Kezar, A. & Lester, J. (2009, March/April).  The importance of external influences in the promotion of grassroots change in higher education: The promise of virtual networks. Change, 45-51.
• Kezar, A. & Eckel, P.  (2008).  Advancing diversity agendas on campus:  Examining transactional and transformational presidential leadership styles.  International Journal of Leadership in Education, (11)4, 379-405.
• Kezar, A. (2008).  Is there a way out?  Examining the commercialization of higher education.  Journal of Higher Education, 79(4) 473-482.
• Kezar, A, (2008).  Understanding leadership strategies for addressing the politics of diversity.  The Journal of Higher Education. 79(4), 406-441.
• Kezar, A., Eckel, P., Contreras-McGavin, M. & Quaye, S. (2008). Creating a web of support:  An important leadership strategy for advancing campus diversity.  Higher Education, 69-92
• Kezar, A.& Lester, J.  (2008).  Leadership in a divided world of feminism.  Journal of Women in Higher Education, 1(1), 49-73.
• Kezar, A., Lester, J. Glenn, W., & Nokamato, J. (2008).  Examining contextual features that affect implementation of equity initiatives.  Journal of Higher Education. 79(2), 125–159.
• Kezar, A. (2007).  Tools for a time and place:  Phased leadership strategies for advancing campus diversity.  Review of Higher Education, 30(4), 413-439.
• Kezar, A. (2007).  A tale of two cultures:  Universities and schools working together.  Metropolitan University Journal (18) 4, 28-47 .
• Kezar, A., Lester, J., Carducci, R., Bertram Gallant, T., Contreras McGavin, M. (2007).  Where are the faculty leaders?  Liberal Education, 93(4), 14-21.
• Kezar, A. (2007).  Learning from and with students:  College presidents creating organizational learning to advance diversity agendas. NASPA Journal, 44(3), 578-610.
• Kezar, A.  (2007).  Successful student engagement: Aligning and fostering institutional ethos.  About Campus, 3(6), 13-19.
• Kezar, A. (2007, July/August). Learning to ensure the success for students of color: A systemic approach to effecting change.  Change, 19-25.
• Kezar, A. (2006).  Rethinking public board performance:  Results of a national study of public governing boards.  The Journal of Higher Education. 77(6), 968-1008.
• Kinzie, J., Magolda, P. Kezar, A., Kuh, G., Hinkle, S. Whitt, E.  (2006).  Methodological Challenges and Tensions in  Multi-Investigator Multi-Institutional Research.  Higher Education, June, electronic journal, no page numbers .
• Kezar, A. (2006). Redesigning for collaboration in learning initiatives:  An examination of four highly collaborative campuses. The Journal of Higher Education, 77(5), 804-838.
• Kezar, A.  (2006).  Examining the ways institutions create student engagement:  The role of mission.  Journal of College Student Development 47(2), 149-171.
• Kezar, A. (2006).  To develop or not to develop theory:  That is the question? Handbook of Higher Education Research, Vol. XXI, 283-344. 
• Kezar, A. & Carducci, R. (2006).  Cultivating revolutionary educational leaders: Translating emerging theories into action.  Journal of Leadership Development, 1(2), 1-46. 
• Kezar, A., Lester, J., & Anderson, G. (2006, Fall).  Lacking courage, corporate sellout, not a real faculty member:  Challenging stereotypes of non tenure track faculty that prevent effective governance.  Thought and Action, 22, 121-132.
• Kezar, A.  (2006). The impact of institutional size on student engagement.  NASPA Journal, 43(1), 87-114.
• Kezar, A. (2005). Redesigning for collaboration with higher education institutions:  An exploration into the developmental process.  Research in Higher Education, 46(7), 831-860.
• Kezar, A. (2005). Consequences of radical change in governance.  The Journal of Higher Education, 76(6), 634-668.
• Kezar, A. (2005).  Moving from I to we: Re-organizing for collaboration in higher education. Change, 37(6), 50-57.
• Kezar, A. (2004).  Philosophy, leadership, and scholarship:  Confucian contributions to a leadership debate.  Leadership Review, 4, 110-131.
• Kezar, A. (2004).  Obtaining integrity?:  Reviewing and examining the charter between higher education and society.  The Review of Higher Education, 27(4), 429-459.
• Kezar, A., & Eckel, P.  (2004). Meeting today’s governance challenges:  A synthesis of the literature and examination of a future research agenda. The Journal of Higher Education 75(4), 371-400.
• Kezar, A. (2004).  Wrestling with philosophy:  Improving scholarship in higher education.  The Journal of Higher Education, 75(1), 42-55
• Kezar, A. (2003). Achieving student success:  Strategies for creating partnerships between academic and student affairs.  NASPA Journal, 41(1), 1-22.
• Kezar, A. (2003). Elite interviews:  Missing link to transforming power relations.  Qualitative Inquiry, 9(3), 1-21
• Kezar, A. (2003).  Enhancing innovative partnerships:  Creating a change model for academic and student affairs collaboration.  Innovative Higher Education, 28(2), 137-156.
• Eckel, P. & Kezar, A. (2003).  Key strategies for making new institutional sense.  Higher Education Policy, 16(1), 39-53.
• Kezar, A. (2002). Expanding notions of leadership to capture pluralistic voices:  Positionality theory in practice. Journal of College Student Development, 43(4), 558-578.
• Kezar, A., & Eckel, P. (2002).  Examining the institutional transformation process: The importance of sensemaking, inter-related strategies and balance.  Research in Higher Education, 43(4), 295-328.
• Kezar, A., & Eckel, P. (2002).  The effect of institutional culture on change strategies in higher education: Universal principles or culturally responsive concepts?  The Journal of Higher Education, 73(4), 435-460.
• Kezar, A.  (2002).  Assessing community service learning:  Are we identifying the right outcomes?  About Campus, 7(2), 4-20.
• Kezar, A. (2002). Overcoming obstacles to change within urban institutions: The mobile framework and engaging institutional culture.  Metropolitan Universities Journal, 13(2), 68-80.
• Kezar, A. (2002). Becoming a pluralistic leader: Using case stories to transform beliefs.  Metropolitan Universities Journal, 13(2), 95-104.
• Kezar, A., & Rhoads, R. (2001).  The dynamic tension of service learning: A philosophical perspective.  The Journal of Higher Education, 72(2), 125-148.
• Kezar, A.  (2001). Theory of multiple intelligences: Implications for higher education.  Innovative Higher Education, 26(2), 141-154.
• Kezar, A. (2001).  Investigating organizational fit in a participatory leadership environment.  Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 23(1), 85-102.
• Retrieved June, 2001, from, http://www.nawe.org/journal/59.4/gangone.htm    
• Kezar, A. (2000).  Still trees without fruit?: Higher education research at the millennium.  The Review of Higher Education, 23(4), 443-468.
• Kezar, A., & Moriarty, D.  (2000).  Expanding our understanding of student leadership development:  A study exploring gender and race/ethnicity. Journal of College Student Development, 41(1), 55-70.
• Kezar, A. (2000).  Pluralistic leadership: Incorporating diverse voices.  Journal of Higher Education, 71(6), 722-743.
• Kezar, A., & Gangone, L. (2000).  Meeting the leadership challenges of the 21st Century:  An evaluation of a national leadership institute.  Initiatives, 59(4).
• Kezar, A. (2000).  Pluralistic leadership: Bringing diverse voices to the table.  About Campus, 5(3), 6-11.
• Kezar, A.  (2000).  Pilot studies:  Beginning the hermeneutic circle.  Research in Higher Education, 41(3), 385-400.
• Special Issue Editor for Journals
• Kezar, A. (Ed). (2011). Contingent faculty in academy:  Current challenges and prospects.  American Behavioral Scientist, 55(11).
• Kezar, A. (Ed.). (2009).  Understanding the dynamics of grassroots leadership in postsecondary education.  Journal of Change Management, 25(2).
• Kezar, A. (Ed.). (2004).  Critical methodological questions:  Refining higher education research.  The Journal of Higher Education, 75(1).
• Kezar, A. (Ed.). (2002).  Leadership in urban universities in the 21st century:  Institutional change, accountability, and inclusiveness.  Metropolitan Universities Journal, 13(2).
• Kezar. A. & Elrod, S. (2014).  Educating and developing STEM faculty leaders. Journal of Leadership Studies. 8(1).

• Director, Pullias Center for Higher Education          2020-present
• Professor, University of Southern California           2012-present
• Co-Director, Pullias Center for Higher Education 
• Associate Professor, University of Southern California  2003-2012
• Associate Director, Center for Higher Education Policy Analysis, Higher Education
• Assistant Professor, University of Maryland Department of Educational Policy and Leadership
  2001-2003
• Assistant Professor, The George Washington University
  1996-2001
• Director, ERIC Clearinghouse on Higher Education Department of Educational Leadership
  1996-2001
• Coordinator for Assessment, University of Michigan Center for Research on Learning and Teaching
  1993-1995
• Student Affairs Associate, University of Michigan Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs  
  1992-1996

Dr. Kezar’s research agenda explores the change process in higher education institutions and the role of leadership in creating change (see http://www.usc.edu/dept/chepa/kezar/). She regularly speaks at conferences, seminars, and workshops to help higher education leaders tackle the key challenges of changing demographics and diversity, student success, student outcomes assessment, and STEM reform and ways campuses can be more effective through collaboration/partnerships, effective shared governance, communities of practice, organizational learning, and shared leadership. She is one of the foremost experts internationally on contingent or non-tenure track faculty (see www.thechangingfaculty.org). She has published 18 books/monographs, over 100 peer reviewed journal articles, and over a 100 book chapters and reports.  She has acquired approximately $13 million dollars in grant funding and has worked on grant-funded projects totaling approximately $26 million dollars. She has been cited in the scholarly literature over 5200 times.

Principal investigator, (2022-2023). FACE project. National Science Foundation, $1,500,000. Design a survey and pilot a nationally representative faculty survey.

Principal investigator, (2021-2025). Promoting at promise student success. Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, $5 million. Mixed methods study of the impact of a comprehensive student transition and success program for low-income students.

Principal Investigator, (2021-2022).  Creating systemic institutional change through an ecology of leader ship. A project to refine tools for leaders to enact institutional transformation. Gates foundation, $260,000

Principal Investigator, (2021-2023).  Equity minded-leadership in higher education.  A qualitative study of campus leadership teams to explore how they achieve equity goals through equity leadership practices. Arthur Vining Foundation, $320,000.   

Principal investigator, An Examination of the Thompson Scholars Learning community Program. Anonymous Foundation, 6-year study. Mixed methods study of the impact of a comprehensive student transition and success program for low income students,

Principal investigator, Planning grant for the Thompson Scholars Learning community Program.  Anonymous Foundation, 6 month study.  Planning for a mixed methods study of the impact of the program on student affect and cognitive outcomes. 

Principal investigator, Association of American Universities – Transforming undergraduate STEM reform, (2014-2017). National Science Foundation, $400,000. Mixed methods study of AAU’s ability to scale STEM pedagogical reform at AAU campuses.

Principal investigator, Delphi Project on New Faculty models, (2014-2015), TIAA-CREF Research Institute, $70,000, Study to understand stakeholder’s views of new faculty model in higher education.

Principal investigator, California State University STEM collaboratives, (2014-2017).  Helmsley Trust, $400,000. Mixed methods study of undergraduate STEM reform directed at student success.

Principal investigator, Achieving scale for STEM reform:  Studying and enhancing undergraduate STEM communities of practice/networks, (2013-2016).  National Science Foundation, $600,000. Mixed methods study of large scale communities of practice for faculty to adopt and scale new pedagogical practices in STEM courses.

Co- Principal investigator (with Project Kaleidoscope), Facilitating institutional transformation for STEM undergraduate reform. (2012-1014).  Keck Foundation. $250,000. Develop an instrument that helps campuses undergo an organizational learning process to facilitate institutional transformation aiming to make undergraduate STEM education more engaging, active, interdisciplinary, and outcomes based.