COL Virginia W. Gerde

Director of National Security Studies
Email COL Virginia W. Gerde

COL Virginia W. Gerde is a Director of National Security Studies at the U.S. Army War College Strategic Studies Institute. She is also an associate professor of management and ethics at the Palumbo Donahue School of Business at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She earned a Ph.D. in management and ethics from Virginia Tech, a M.E. in environmental engineering from the University of Virginia, and a B.S.E. from Princeton University. She also completed a graduate certificate in health care ethics and graduated from the U.S. Army Command and Staff College.

Since 2001, she served in the U.S. Army Medical Command Federal Coordinating Centers in the National Disaster Medical System as the Plans and Operations Officer in El Paso, TX, the Deputy Administrative Officer in Washington, DC, and then the Administrative Chief in Washington, DC. In 2004, she served as a Medical Plans and Operations Officer for Coalition Joint Task Force-7/Multi National Corps-Iraq and 2nd Medical Brigade in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

COL Gerde’s research focuses on organizational ethics, decision making, organizational performance, sustainability, and corporate governance. She has presented her work at over 12 international conferences such as the International Symposium on Military Ethics, the Society for Business Ethics, and the International Association for Business and Society. Her research articles have been published in the Journal of Business Ethics, Business & Society, Journal of Management History, Journal of High Technology Management Research, Business Strategy and Environment, and Journal of Entrepreneurship Education. She has contributed chapters to Research in Corporate Social Performance and Policy, Advancing Business Ethics Education, and Unfolding Stakeholder Thinking. COL Gerde teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in ethics, decision making, strategy, public affairs, and sustainability. As a professor, COL Gerde was the Director of the Beard Center for Leadership in Ethics from 2008-2010, and she continues to participate as a Senior Fellow in the Beard Institute. She served in various leadership positions in two professional organizations: the International Association of Business and Society and the Social Issues in Management Division of the Academy of Management. Her awards include 1999 Best Dissertation in the Social Issues in Management Division of the Academy of Management, Faculty Leadership Award at the University of New Mexico. Her military awards include the Joint Service Commendation, Army Commendation-2, Army Achievement Medal-4, Global War on Terrorism Medal and the Joint Meritorious Unit Award.