Mishra Named Thomas D. Arthur Professor of Leadership

Dr. Aneil Mishra has been named the inaugural Thomas D. Arthur Professor of Leadership, the university’s first endowed leadership chair. He began July 1 and is based in the College of Business, with the mission to help build up the capability of students and faculty throughout ECU.

Mishra is an internationally recognized expert on how leaders build trust. He is the coauthor of two books with his wife Karen Mishra: “Trust is Everything – Become the Leader others will Follow” (2008) and “Becoming a Trustworthy Leader – Psychology and Practice” (2013). He has developed and conducted leadership assessment, executive education programs, and team development for a variety of Fortune 500 firms and other organizations, including leading health care organizations and non‐profits across the globe.

Mishra says he feels like a kid in a candy store working with other colleagues who share a passion for leadership and strive to make a difference to students. “I love ECU’s desire to transform students’ lives through leadership,” he said.”I’m excited to be the champion for new initiatives, making the College of Business and entire campus strong in leadership and leadership development.”

Prior to joining ECU, Mishra served as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at North Carolina Central University.  Before that, he was Vice President of Curriculum and Faculty Relations for 2tor, Inc (now 2u), working with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler School of Business on its online MBA program, MBA@UNC. He has also served as a management professor on the business school faculties of Duke University, Wake Forest University, Penn State University, and Michigan State University’s School of Human Resources and Labor Relations.

He earned his Ph.D. in Business Administration from the University of Michigan and earned his undergraduate degree in economics, cum laude, from Princeton University.

This fall, Mishra will teach an undergraduate course in leadership as part of the College’s Leadership and Professional Development Program while also developing new research and teaching initiatives, including an MBA-level leadership course.

The College of Business’ leadership chair was made possible by Tom Arthur of Tampa, Fla., who donated $1 million to the ECU Foundation to establish the endowed professorship. The university’s long-range plan is to endow leadership chairs for each college in the university.

Arthur earned his MBA from ECU in 1971 and is the grandson of Louis C. Arthur, one of the nine men who submitted the formal location offer of the East Carolina Teachers Training School to the State Board of Education in 1907. Before his MBA, Arthur earned his undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill in 1966 and then served three years as an infantry officer during the Vietnam War, earning the Silver Star and other military awards.

Arthur said, “Leadership is everywhere you look. Thanks to this new leadership chair and others to come, we will send our students away from ECU with a stronger leadership foundation, which is critical because everybody will probably end up serving as a leader at some point – and good leaders can make a big difference.”

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