About The Author

Col. Thomas Kolditz is the professor and head of the department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. A native of New Athens, Ill., he has served in an array of military tactical command and technical staff assignments worldwide, commanding troops through battalion level and as a leadership and human resources policy analyst in the Pentagon.

Since 2001, Colonel Kolditz has served as an instructor and mentor to the U.S. Military Academy Sport Parachute Team. He weaves his personal experiences and abilities as a soldier, skydiver and scholar into the first-hand study, analysis and practice of leadership in dangerous circumstances — in extremis leadership — and how such leadership can inform the teaching and practice of leadership across the private, public, and social sectors. His book, In Extremis Leadership: Leading as if Your Life Depended on It, was published in 2007.  He is listed as a Thought Leader by the Leader to Leader Institute, and in 2008 was recognized as among the top 42 Leader Developer Practitioners by Leadership Excellence magazine.

As a professor, he has led academic seminars or given lectures to students from Babson, Wellesley and Olin Colleges, Columbia University, Duke University, Yale University, Peking University, the University of Missouri, the Beijing International MBA program and Harvard University’s Center for Public Leadership. A frequently requested speaker, his audiences have included the World Business Forum and executive audiences from jetBlue, Goldman Sachs, Anheuser Busch, Citigroup and EDS.

He holds numerous degrees, including a bachelor’s degree in psychology and sociology from Vanderbilt University, as well a master’s of military arts and science, a master’s in strategic studies and a master’s and Ph.D. in social psychology.

Kolditz has published across a diverse array of academic, military and leadership trade journals and serves on the editorial and advisory boards of several academic journals. He is Fellow in the American Psychological Association and the Interuniversity Seminar on Armed Forces and Society, and is a member of the Academy of Management and the Society of Psychologists in Management. He has also served as a research consultant in major U.S. Army studies.