The management department would like to highlight faculty member Kimberly Carlson.

Kimberly A. Carlson is an Associate Professor of Practice in Management and the director of the Business Leadership Center in the Pamplin College of Business at Virginia Tech and teaches courses within the Management department including MGT 2354, MGT 4964, and MGT 4354. She received her PhD from Virginia Tech in Public Administration and Policy in 2011 and holds a B.S. in Psychology, a B.A. in Theatre Arts, and a M.S.W. in Clinical Social Work.

After her undergraduate degrees, Dr. Carlson was interested in becoming a therapist. After working in the field for around 2 months, Dr. Carlson shifted her attention toward non-profit organizations.  She worked at various art organizations in Oklahoma City, OK and Pensacola, FL where she worked for arts education programs and was a director for community arts. When Dr. Carlson returned to Virginia Tech, she worked for the Arts initiative for Virginia Tech and helped with the development of the Moss Arts Center.

One of Dr. Carlson's favorite parts of her job is engaging with students. She says being engaging and student centric is an important attribute of being a good instructor. Dr. Carlson likes to have more discussion focused lectures that relate to the professional world. She also leads study abroad programs, notably in Dominican Republic and Switzerland.

Dr. Carlson is currently researching the effects of COVID-19 on the classroom experience of students and is trying to understand what pedagogy will look like in the post-covid world. She is also doing research on how to incorporate social justice discussions into business and management classes.

Dr. Carlson says she chose Virginia Tech due to the great faculty and people here. In her free time Dr. Carlson likes to exercise, cook, and try different foods. She likes to do outdoor activities including hiking, biking, and camping. Dr. Carlson tries to go on two camping trips every year. When asked about restaurants in Blacksburg, Dr. Carlson stated Our Daily Bread, the Cellar, and Lefty’s are all good and stated that Sharkey’s has one of the best salads in town.

Dr. Carlson’s advice to incoming Pamplin freshman would be to very simply “be curious and ask questions.”