Leslie DeChurch

While at CASBS, Leslie DeChurch will analyze the leadership of Lucrezia Tornabuoni, a formidable figure in Renaissance Florence. Using a historiometric approach, DeChurch will extract and code 374 documented incidents from historical sources, categorizing them across 16 theoretical domains. This project bridges leadership studies with cultural and historical analysis, contribution uniquely to organizational sciences. 

DeChurch is chair and professor of communication studies (School of Communication) and holds courtesy appointments in management & organizations (Kellogg School of Management) and the department of psychology (Weinberg College of Arts & Sciences) at Northwestern University. Her research examines the leadership and teamwork that make extraordinary success possible, from the Italian Renaissance to space exploration to human-AI partnerships. 

DeChurch leads the ATLAS lab: Advancing Teams, Leaders, and Systems, and is also .. director of the immersive undergraduate program “Leading a Renaissance, Then and Now”, convened in Florence, Italy each summer.

DeChurch holds a PhD in organizational psychology and is fellow of the American Psychological Association (APA), Association for Psychological Science (APS), and the Society of Industrial & Organizational Psychology (SIOP).