Lisa Ellen Wolf-Wendel


Lisa Ellen Wolf-Wendel
  • Interim Department Chair of Educational Leadership & Policy Studies
  • Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies in the School of Education & Human Sciences
  • Roy A. Roberts Distinguished Professor

Contact Info

Office Phone:
Department Phone:
Joseph R. Pearson Hall, room #214 H

Biography

Lisa Wolf-Wendel is the Roy A. Roberts Distinguished Professor of Higher Education in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies (ELPS) at the University of Kansas. She is also the Interim Chair of ELPS and the Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies in the School of Education and Human Sciences. Dr. Wolf-Wendel joined the faculty of the University of Kansas (KU) in 1995.

Dr. Wolf-Wendel earned her undergraduate degree in Psychology and Communications from Stanford University in 1987. She earned her doctorate in Higher Education from The Claremont Graduate University in 1995. Dr. Wolf-Wendel is the author of numerous books and refereed journal articles on topics related to equity issues in higher education. Her research focuses on faculty issues including studies of the academic labor market, the needs of international faculty and faculty from historically underrepresented groups, and several recent research projects pertaining to the policy response of academic institutions in the wake of demands for dual career couple accommodations and work/family integration. Her most recent research is about faculty during COVID, associate professors, and department chairs. Her book, Academic Motherhood, was awarded the Outstanding Publication Award by the American Educational Research Association in Division J in 2013. She was also recognized for the School of Education Faculty Research Achievement Award in 2004 and the Early Career Achievement Award from the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE) in 2000.

Dr. Wolf-Wendel is the editor of the New Directions in Higher Education Series and serves on several Editorial Boards. She is active in both the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE) and the American Educational Research Association (AERA). She is the former president of ASHE and is currently a member of the AERA Ethics Committee. Dr. Wolf-Wendel has received several accolades for her teaching and advising including the Ned Fleming Trust Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2019, the Gene A. Budig Writing Professorship in 2019, the Gene A. Budig Teaching Professorship in 2010 and the W.T. Kemper Fellowship for Recognition in Teaching and Advising Excellence in 2006. She was awarded the Distinguished Service Award by ASHE in 2017.

Research

Research interests:

  • equity issues in higher education
  • women faculty
  • work/family balance
  • dual career academic couples
  • international faculty
  • women's colleges
  • special focus institutions
  • gender and racial/ethnic diversity issues as they pertain to faculty, students, administrators
  • and institutions of higher education
  • Special area of interest focuses on dual career academic couples and work/life balance

Teaching

Courses: ELPS 883:College Student Development ELPS 884:Research on College Students ELPS 886:Theory and Practice in Higher Education (Capstone) ELPS 970:Theory and Research in Administration ELPS 998:The American Faculty

Teaching interests:

  • College Student Development
  • Faculty Issues
  • College Student Access and Retention
  • Qualitative Research Methods

Selected Publications

Ward, K., & Wolf-Wendel, L. E. (2012). Academic Motherhood: Managing Work and Family [Books]. Rutgers University Press.

Kim, D. B., Wolf-Wendel, L., & Twombly, S. (2011). Predicting International Faculty Satisfaction and Productivity Using Alternative Definitions and Institutional Characteristics [Journal Articles]. Journal of Higher Education, 82(6), 720–747.

Wolf-Wendel, L., Ward, K., & Kinzie, J. (2009). A Tangled Web of Terms: The Overlap and Unique Contribution of Involvement, Engagement, and Integration to Understand College Student Success [Journal Articles]. Journal of College Student Development, 50(4), 407–428.

Awards & Honors

School of Education Faculty Service Achievement Award

University of Kansas

2011

Gene A. Budig Teaching Professorship

University of Kansas

2009 - 2010

President Faculty Senate

2009 - 2010

Sally Loyd Casanova Distinguished Alumni Recognition

Claremont Graduate University

2010

W.T. Kemper Fellowship for Recognition in Teaching and Advising Excellence

University of Kansas

2006

School of Education Faculty Research Achievement Award

University of Kansas

2004

Higher Education Monograph Series Editor

ASHE