Kerry L. Priest, Ph.D.
Professor, director of leadership studies
kerryp@ksu.edu
Individualization | Connectedness | Input | Learner | Intellection
Campus office: 209 Leadership Studies Building
Teaching
I believe leadership education creates the conditions for exercising leadership on our campus and in our communities, locally and globally. When we engage with one another in leadership learning, we gain knowledge, self-awareness, skills, and experience that is needed to solve problems and create a better world for all.
Current courses
- LEAD 701: Foundations of Leadership
- LEAD 755: Systems Leadership
- LEAD 814: Graduate Studies in Leadership Communication
- LEAD 820: Contemporary Perspectives on Leadership Theory and Practice
My research explores how people develop leadership, new approaches to teaching leadership, and how groups and communities can collaborate to effect change. I am especially interested in collective, adaptive, and systems approaches to leadership. By combining theory and practice, I seek to help individuals and communities develop resilience to navigate complex challenges and create a better future for all.
- Leadership in complex adaptive systems
- Leadership education and development
- Qualitative and community-engaged methods
- K-State Roots of Research Award, 2025
- Peter Northouse Outstanding Teaching Award, Association of Leadership Educators, 2022
- Outstanding Scholar Award, Association of Leadership Educators, 2019
- Outstanding Recent Graduate Alumni, Agricultural, Leadership and Community Education, Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, 2018
- K-State Civic Engagement Fellow, 2017-2018
- International Leadership Association
- Association of Leadership Educators
- Collective Leadership Research Network
- Human Systems Dynamics Institute
- Staley School director of leadership studies
- Leading Change Graduate Certificate
- Guthrie, K. L., & Priest, K. L. (Eds.) (2022). Navigating complexities in leadership: Moving towards critical hope. Contemporary Perspectives in Leadership Learning Series. Information Age Publishing.
- Chung, J., Cummings Steele, M., Gleason, M., Guthrie, K. L., Navarro, C. D., Pierre, D. E., Priest, K. L., Weng, J. (2021). New Directions for Student Leadership, No. 172: Leadership Education through Complex Transitions.
- Priest, K. L., & Jenkins, D. M. (2019). Developing a Vision of Leadership Educator Professional Practice. In K. L. Priest & D. M. Jenkins (Eds.) New Directions for Student Leadership: No. 164. Becoming and Being Leadership Educators, 9-22. Jossey-Bass.
- Kliewer, B. W., & Priest, K. L. (2019). Building Collective Leadership Capacity: Lessons Learned from a University-Community Partnership. Collaborations: A Journal of Community-based Research and Practice, 2(1), 16, 1-10.
- Gott, T., Kliewer, B. W., Priest, K. L., & Tolar, M. H. (2018). The Path Forward: A Case for Openness in Leadership Studies. Journal of Leadership Studies, 12(12), 55-59.
- Priest, K. L., & Seemiller, C. (2018). Past Experiences, Present Beliefs, Future Practices: Using Narratives to Re(present) Leadership Educator Identity. Journal of Leadership Education, 17(1), 93-113.
- Priest, K. L., & Kliewer, B. W. (2017). Introduction: Advancing Leadership Education through Community Engagement. Journal of Leadership Studies, 11(1), 36-39.
- Kliewer, B. W., & Priest, K. L. (2017). Why Civic Leadership for social Justice? eJournal of Public Affairs, 6(1), 1-10.
- Ph.D. in agricultural and extension education, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
- M.A. in agricultural leadership, University of Georgia
- B.S. in agriculture, Kansas State University
Staley School of Leadership
252 Leadership Studies Building
1300 Mid-Campus Dr. N.
Manhattan, KS 66506
785-532-6085
leadership@ksu.edu