Fred Luthans, University and George Holmes Distinguished Professor of Management Emeritus at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, has received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Organizational Behavior Division of the Academy of Management.
The award, sponsored by the Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, recognizes senior scholars who make exceptional contributions to the discipline of organizational behavior.
“This award should be shared with my Nebraska administrators, staff support, faculty colleagues and students because my ‘lifetime’ of achievement was all accomplished here,” Luthans said. “I could not have done it without them.”
As one of the founders of the organizational behavior approach to management, Luthans created the field of psychological capital and integrated positive psychology into organizational behavior. In recent years, he co-authored Psychological Capital and Beyond with Carolyn Youssef-Morgan and Bruce Avolio, and traveled the world speaking about psychological capital while serving as a top consultant with companies such as China Mobile.
As a professor, Luthans established a record of scholarship rarely achieved in the field, publishing more than 200 articles and dozens of books over five decades, with citation counts totaling more than 51,000 and an age-index of 87 on Google Scholar. He played a crucial role in determining how the field of organizational behavior is defined.
As the author of one of the first textbooks in the field of organizational behavior and a leader for 26 years of one of the highest-impact translational journals, Organizational Dynamics, he also played a significant role in determining how organizational behavior research translates into practice. He came to the university in 1967 after serving as a captain in the U.S. Army, teaching psychology and leadership at the United States Military Academy.
He earned multiple honors and awards during his career, including the University of Nebraska Outstanding Research and Creative Activity Award, the University of Iowa Distinguished Alumni Award, an honorary doctorate from DePaul University and the Harvard Impact Global Health Catalyst Distinguished Leader Award. Luthans was president of the Midwest and National Academy of Management and received the Academy of Management’s Distinguished Educator Award and is an inaugural member of the Academy of Management’s Hall of Fame, as well as a fellow in the Academy and the Decision Sciences Institute.
Luthans taught the first master’s program offered by Nebraska Business at Offutt Air Force Base and played an integral role in creating the MBA program during his two-year stint as associate dean. He mentored about 65 doctoral students as a faculty advisor.
“Throughout his career at Nebraska, Fred has been a forerunner in the field of management through his research on organizational behavior and positive psychological capital,” Interim Dean Kathy Farrell said. “Through his work and dedication to the College of Business Administration, he has impacted generations of students as well as workplaces around the world.”
