Laura Gail Lunsford, Ph.D. is a US Fulbright Scholar and professor of psychology and assistant dean, psychology and social work, in the School of Education and Human Sciences at Campbell University. She was a tenured associate professor at the University of Arizona, directed the Swain Center for executive education in the Cameron School of Business at UNC Wilmington; served as the alumni director at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business; and was the founding full-time director of the Park Scholarships at NC State. She has published over 50 peer reviewed articles, chapters, and books on leadership and mentoring, including the definitive Mentors’ guide: Five steps to build a successful mentor program now in its 2nd edition and the 2nd edition of the textbook Leadership: Leaders, followers, environments.

She has presented her work at conferences held by the International Leadership Association, the European Mentoring and Coaching Council, American Psychological Association, Association for Psychological Science, American Educational Research Association, among others. The Department of Education, National Science Foundation, Institute for Education Science, the LUCE Foundation, and the NC Collaborative have funded her work. The National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) appointed her to a consensus committee on effective mentoring in STEMM, which published one of their most downloaded reports. She was recently appointed to a NASEM Roundtable on mentoring, well-being, and professional development.

In 2009 she was honored with the International Mentoring Association’s Dissertation Award. Her BA and PhD are from NC State University and her MS is from UNC Greensboro.