Leigh Anne Liu Appointed to Connie D. and Ken McDaniel WomenLead Chair

ATLANTA – International business scholar Leigh Anne Liu of Georgia State University’s J. Mack Robinson College of Business has been appointed to the Connie D. and Ken McDaniel WomenLead Chair.

WomenLead advances women’s leadership in the world by empowering students to aspire to and achieve leadership roles. The program has grown from one class in the area of business to offering students their choice of sections emphasizing business, science, technology, policy and politics, entrepreneurship and innovation, the arts, and graduate school.

A professor and director of Robinson’s Institute of International Business, Liu is the author of more than 40 peer-reviewed publications and two books. Professor Liu’s research centers on studying the role of cultural diversity in negotiation, conflict management, leadership development, and collaboration at interpersonal, organizational, and country levels. She is the recipient of numerous awards and grants, including funding from the World Health Organization, the U.S. Department of Education, the Department of Defense, the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong, and the European Commission. Liu was awarded the Fulbright-Hanken Distinguished Chair in Business and Economics in 2020 by the U.S. Department of State, Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board, and Fulbright Finland Foundation.

Along with her work as a professor and leader, Liu supports women’s leadership through groups such as Women in the Academy of International Business and Georgia State’s Leadership Academy for Women Faculty. She also formed and now leads the Globally Responsible Organization and Work (GROW) initiative, which includes an annual symposium, GROW service learning projects, and scholarship and alumni awards. The symposium promotes conversations among faculty, students, executives with business and nongovernmental organizations, and government leaders on global sustainability, inclusion, and responsible leadership.

“Leigh Anne Liu is a valued colleague and distinguished leader at Robinson, and she will be an exceptional holder of the Connie D. and Ken McDaniel WomenLead Chair. She brings extensive experience in research and women’s initiatives to the appointment and an accomplished record of fostering international ties connecting faculty and students and enriched research opportunities and academic programs,” said Richard Phillips, dean of the Robinson College.

Donors Connie McDaniel (B.B.A. ’80) and Ken McDaniel (B.B.A. ’82, M.P.A. ’84) met as undergraduate accounting students. Connie spent most of her career at The Coca-Cola Company, retiring as vice president and chief of internal audit. A past chair of the Dean’s Board of Advisors and a current member of the WomenLead Advisory Board, she has received the Alumni Award for Service to the Robinson College and the Georgia State Distinguished Alumni Award. Ken taught in the School of Accountancy and served as faculty advisor for Beta Alpha Psi, an international honor society for business students.

WomenLead began as a pilot program with 26 students in spring 2015 to equip students to excel in school, enter the workforce with developed skills and find their place in leadership positions. Since its inception, over 1,800 students across the university have taken the semester-long course. The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) named it an “Innovation that Inspires” in 2018.