Dr. Katie Thiry serves as Dean of the Malcolm Baldrige School of Business at Post University. With more than two decades of experience across higher education, human resources, and organizational learning, she brings a practitioner-scholar perspective to business education and academic leadership. Her work focuses on strengthening institutional effectiveness, aligning academic programs with workforce needs, and advancing student success through career-focused, high-quality business education.
Before joining Post University, Dr. Thiry held academic leadership and faculty roles at the University of Arizona Global Campus, where she served as Professor and Assistant Dean in the Forbes School of Business and Technology. In that role, she provided leadership for graduate and undergraduate programs in business, human resources, and organizational management, supporting curriculum innovation, faculty collaboration, and program development designed to meet evolving workforce demands.
Dr. Thiry’s professional background includes leadership roles in human capital development and organizational performance, including Manager of Human Capital Development, Training and Performance Improvement Consultant, and Senior Training Specialist. She has partnered with organizations to design strategic learning initiatives, strengthen leadership capability, and implement technology-enabled learning systems that enhance organizational effectiveness.
A Fulbright Specialist, Dr. Thiry collaborates internationally to support academic development and global exchange initiatives. She also served as a founding board member of the Center for Women’s Leadership, where she co-established the CWL Mentoring Program to advance women in leadership through mentorship, collaboration, and professional development. She further expanded her work in student-centered leadership by completing the Ensuring Equitable Student Success in Higher Education certificate program through the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Dr. Thiry holds a PhD in Education with a specialization in Training and Performance Improvement from Capella University, a Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership from St. Catherine University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Communication from the University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh.
She maintains several professional credentials in human resources and learning and development, including the SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP), Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR), Certified Performance Technologist (CPT), and Certified Professional in Learning and Performance (CPLP), along with specialty credentials in Talent Acquisition and Workplace Investigations from the Society for Human Resource Management.
