Denise M. Rousseau

Denise M. Rousseau is the H.J. Heinz II University Professor of Organizational Behavior and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University, affiliated with both the Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy and the Tepper School of Business. She holds honorary doctorates from Athens University of Economics and Business and the Tallinn Institute of Technology. Her research focuses on psychological contracts, evidence-based management, organizational behavior, and public policy.

Education: A.B., M.A., and Ph.D. in Psychology and Anthropology from the University of California, Berkeley.

Research interests include the psychological contract theory, organizational change, human resource management, and evidence-based practices. She has pioneered frameworks for understanding employer-employee obligations and their impact on organizational effectiveness.

Key awards include the Academy of Management’s Distinguished Scholar Award and the Society for Industrial/Organizational Psychology’s Lifetime Achievement Award. She founded the Evidence-Based Management Collaborative and serves as Academic Board President of the Center for Evidence-Based Management.

Professional roles include past Academy of Management President (2004-2005) and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Organizational Behavior (1998-2007). She has advised institutions like the National Science Foundation and the Institute of Medicine.

Her work bridges academic research and practical applications, emphasizing data-driven decision-making in organizations. She leads the Project on Evidence-Based Organizational Practices and chairs the Health Care Policy and Management program at CMU.