Dr. Christopher P. Kelley
Associate Professor of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership
Bio
Dr. Christopher P. Kelley is originally from Hudson, Ohio, a small town nestled between Akron and Cleveland. He is an Associate Professor in the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership at the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA), where he also serves as the Strategic Lead for Leadership and the Directorate Lead for Sociology. A sociologist by training, Dr. Kelley earned his Ph.D. from University of Iowa, specializing in social psychology and complex organizations. His teaching and research focus on interpersonal processes, and organizations with a focus on how influence, trust, power and identity impact the ways leaders make decisions and influence group dynamics to increase performance and improve organizational outcomes.
At USAFA, Dr. Kelley was instrumental in redesigning and directing the Academy’s multi-level core leadership curriculum, which reached more than 3,000 cadets each year, and the graduate-level leadership courses for permanent party Squadron Commanders MA program through a partnership with University of Colorado, Colorado Springs. He has received numerous honors for his contributions, including the Outstanding Academy Educator Award (2024) and the Guerrero Award for teaching excellence, mentorship, and coaching (2022), Lindsey Researcher of the Year, and the Hedrix Award for scholarship excellence. Beyond his classroom accomplishments, Dr. Kelley has published widely in top scholarly outlets, mentored dozens of cadets and junior faculty, and advised institutional initiatives that have reshaped leadership development at the Academy.
Education
Ph.D. Sociology: Social Psychology & Organizations (2014)
M.A. Sociology (2008)
B.A Sociology, B.A. English & Literature (2004)
B.A. Political Science
Professional Experience
Associate Professor of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership USAFA (2020-Present)
Assistant Professor of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership USAFA (2018-2000)
Instructor Behavioral Sciences and Leadership USAFA (2016-2018)
Temporary Assistant Professor Truman State University (2014-2015)
Director Center for the Study of Group Processes\ Instructor U of Iowa (2010-2014)
Honors & Awards
Hendrix Award for Scholarship Excellence DFBL (2025)
Outstanding Academy Educator USAFA Dean of Faculty (2024)
Guerrero Teaching & Mentoring Award DFBL (2022)
DFBL Team of the Year Award: Director Leadership DFBL (2020)
DFBL Team of the Year Award: DFBL Course Director Capstone Courses (2019)
Lindsey Researcher of the Year Award: DFBL (2018)
Graduate College Summer Dissertation Fellowship (2012)
Carl J. Couch Graduate Student Teaching Award: Dept of Soc U of Iowa (2011)
Promoting Achievement Award: Gamma Chapter Foundation U of Iowa (2010)
Outstanding Recent Contribution to Literature book award ASA (2008)
Sandra H. Barkan Outstanding Graduate Student Mentor Award U of Iowa (2007)
David and Rosalie Braverman Scholarship Award, (2006)
Research and Scholarly Interests
Influence, Trust, and Power: Leadership in Organizations
Interpersonal Interaction, Identity, Decision Making
Small Groups, Teams, and Human Machine Teaming Performance
Sociology of Science and Knowledge
Publications
Kelley, Christopher P., Matthew M. Orlowsky, Shane D. Soboroff, Daphne DePorres, Matthew I. Horner, and David A. Levy. “Leadership as a Values-Driven System.” Journal of Character and Leadership Development, Vol. 11(2): 68-74. (2024)
Longtchi, Theodore T., Rosana M. Rodriguez, Kora Gwartney, Ekzhin Ear, David P. Azari, Christopher P. Kelley, and Shouhuai Xu. “Quantifying Psychological Sophistication of Malicious Emails.” IEEE Access, Accepted for Publication. Previously pre-print at arXiv. (2024)
Orlowsky, Matthew M., Courtney E. Day, Christopher P. Kelley, David E. Levy, Amanda Metcalfe, and Trevor Rosenberg. “Aligning, Integrating, and Synthesizing Leadership Development Education at the US Air Force Academy: A Small Success Story.” Journal of Character and Leadership Development, Vol. 10(2): 42-48. (2023)
Shane D. Soboroff, Christopher P. Kelley. “Modeling Status Interventions with Affect Control Theory.” American Behavioral Scientist, Sage, Vol. 67(1): 60-76. (2023)
Rosana Montanez Rodriguez, Theodore Longtchi, Shouhuai Xu, Zkzhin Ear, Kora Gwartney, David Azari, Christopher P. Kelley. “Quantifying Psychological Sophistication of Malicious Emails” Book Chapter. Springer Cham, Science of Cyber Security, Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Science of Cyber Security. (2023)
Metcalfe, Amanda, Shane D. Soboroff, Christopher P. Kelley. “Social and Leadership Processes within the Kurdish Women’s Freedom Movement.” Res Militaris, Vol. 10(2): 1-19. (2020)
Baxter, Amy, Christopher P. Kelley, Peter J. Reiley, and Jeffrey W. Lucas. “We (Might) Want You: Expectations of Veterans' General Competence and Leadership.” Current Research in Social Psychology, Vol. 28(1): 1-9. (2019)
Soboroff, Shane D., Christopher P. Kelley, Michael J. Lovaglia. “Group Size, Commitment, Trust, and Mutual Awareness.” The Sociological Quarterly, Vol. 60(2): 334-346. (2019)
Reiley, Peter J., Christopher P. Kelley, & Shane D. Soboroff. “Military leadership and the effective use of power and influence.” In D. Watola & A. MacIntyre (Eds.), From knowing to doing: International perspectives on leading effectively. Kingston, Ontario, Canada: Canadian Defence Academy Press. (2018)
Raymer, Steven D., James M. Dobbs, Christopher P. Kelley, & Douglass R. Lindsey. “Leadership Education and Development – Theory Driven Evolutions.” Journal of Leadership Education, Vol. 17(2): 138-148. (2018)
Lovaglia, Michael J., Shane D. Soboroff, Christopher P. Kelley, & Jeffrey Lucas, “Systematic Interventions,” in J. Trevino and A. Marvasti (Eds.), Researching Social Problems, New York: Routledge. (2018)
Kelley, Christopher P., Shane D. Soboroff, & Michael J. Lovaglia. “The Status Value of Age.” Social Science Research, Vol. 66, pp. 22-31. Included use of Virtual reality and Online simulations in the laboratory. (2017)
Kelley, Christopher P., James M. Dobbs, Jeffrey W. Lucas, & Michael J. Lovaglia, “Power and Status: The Building Blocks of Effective Leadership.” Journal of Character & Leadership Integration, Vol. 4, pp. 55-76. (2017)
Raymer, Steven, Christopher P. Kelley, & Matthew Laney. “Chapter 8: Alignment through Technology: How Leaders can use Organizational Structure to Create a Culture of Empowerment.” Pp 149-164 in D.J. Watola & A. MacIntyre (Eds.), The Impact of Technology on Leadership. International Military Leadership Association. (2017)
Lovaglia, Michael J., Shane D. Soboroff, Christopher P. Kelley, Christabel Rogalin, & Jeffrey W. Lucas. “The Status Value of Age and Gender: Modeling Combined Effects of Diffuse Status Characteristics.” Advances in Group Processes, Vol. 34. Shane Thye and Ed Lawler (Eds). Emerald Group Publishing Bingley, UK. (2017)
Lovaglia, Michael J., Jeffrey W. Lucas, Wesley Huey, Christopher P. Kelley, & Shane D. Soboroff. “The Social Psychology of Leadership in Science and Technology.” pp 69-76 in Leadership in Science and Technology. Edited by William Sims. Bainbridge, SAGE. (2010)
Lovaglia, Michael J., Christabel L. Rogalin, Shane D. Soboroff, Christopher P. Kelley & Jeffrey W. Lucas. “Humor and the Effectiveness of Diverse Leaders.” pp 21-35 in Social Structure and Emotion, edited by Dawn Robinson and Lynn Smith-Lovin. Elsevier. (2008)
Leicht, Kevin T., Douglas Tompkins, Tina Wildhagen, Christabel L. Rogalin, Shane D. Soboroff, Christopher P. Kelley, Charisse Long, & Michael J. Lovaglia. “Women’s Predominance in College Enrollment: Labor Market and Gender Identity Explanations.” Advances in Group Processes, Vol. 24, pp. 283-309. (2007)