Toby Egan

Toby Egan, PhD is an associate professor in the School of Public Policy and the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland (UMD). He was previously a tenured professor at Texas A&M University, Purdue University Graduate School, and has also taught at the University of Minnesota, George Washington University, and the University of Houston. Prior to joining academia, he was a vice-president in the Professional Development Group/Korn Ferry international, a global organizational consulting firm, for seven years. He has also served in several university leadership roles including as director of several university academic programs, many of which he founded/co-founded. Egan recently received the School of Public Policy Research Excellence Award.

Egan’s research emphasizes learning organizations and organization development, dyadic workplace development, creativity, COVID-19 responses, and social innovation. His research is widely cited—with over 4300 Google Scholar Citations. He has been awarded the outstanding early career scholar award by the Academy of Human Resource Development (AHRD), was co-author of two Human Resource Development Quarterly best journal articles, was awarded Best Article in Review of Public Personnel Administration journal and received the Best Research Article Award by the World Institute for Action Learning. Among the 12 ‘dissertation of the year awards’ received by his former doctoral students and mentees, he chaired three AHRD and two ATD dissertation of the year awards. Egan has co-authored articles/chapters in two Advances in Developing Human Resources best issue award winners and the R. Wayne Pace Book of the Year Award. He has also been co-PI and evaluator of over $25 Million in US Federal Grant research projects. He teamed with UMD colleagues to garner over $35 Million in private donations to form the Do Good Institute (DGI) and was the DGI’s founding faculty director where he led a UMD presidentially sponsored initiative. He also co-founded the Texas A&M University International HRD and HRM Programs and originated the largest and longest standing undergraduate Leadership Minor in the world, at the University of Minnesota. 

Recognizing the importance of contributing his research and practice expertise to benefitting the COVID-19 pandemic response, he teamed with physicians and medical technology firm consultants to launch a series of studies—the results of which are currently being disseminated widely. The first peer-reviewed journal article was recently published in the Journal of Microbiology, Immunology and Infection by Egan and co-authors and reports improved outcomes for healthcare worker and patient safety interventions using controlled patient care pathways as part of COVID-19 prevention. 

From the beginning of his career, Egan has been consulting, teaching, developing training and academic courses, and supporting strategy related diversity and inclusion efforts. His consulting practice area emphasized organizational work culture, anti-discrimination, inclusion and performance improvement. He originated and taught diversity and inclusion academic courses at three universities. As a faculty member, the majority of his graduate level academic advisees have been from underrepresented groups, and several have gone on to be professors, deans, provosts and organizational executives.  

Along with having academic advisees from over 25 countries, Egan has worked, researched, and taught internationally, in Kenya, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, China, South Korea, Mexico, Canada, Guatemala, Taiwan, The Netherlands, Bahrain, Kuwait and several other countries. Some of Egan’s former clients include: 3M, Macy’s, Abbott Laboratories, American Express, Ameriprise, Aramco Services, Corporation for National and Community Service, Centers for Disease Control, Delta Airlines, Deluxe, Inc., ExxonMobil, The Federal Reserve, GlaxoSmithKline, Green Bay Packers, Indian Economic Service, Institute of Human Virology, Iridium, Josten’s, Leonard, Street & Dinard, Maryland Global Initiatives Corporation, Mayo Clinic Motorola, National Football League, Saudi Aramco, Southern California Edison, Target, TRS Texas Retirement Fund, U.S. National Guard, U.S. Department of State, and several others.

A former high school track and field champion and NCAA Division I athlete, Egan is the current U.S. Senior National Track and Field Champion and the 2018-20 Maryland State Senior Track and Field Champion in the shot put. He also holds a Top-10 All-Time Performance Record at U.S. Senior Nationals and the Maryland Senior Track and Field All-time Best Performance. A member of a diverse, multicultural family, he is married to a nonprofit management professor, has a teenage daughter, and lives in Potomac, Maryland.