Grace M. Simon

Ever since my first job at 16, I’ve had a natural curiosity about the interplay between emotions and engagement in the workplace and how organizations can enable employees to flourish. After studying Psychology at Haverford College, I chose to participate in a Management Development Program at M&T Bank. After five years across different roles including branch management, training, and crisis response communication, I decided it was time to return to academia to inform my leadership hypotheses with data-driven studies in a research setting. As a PhD student at Wharton, I draw on my experiences managing and working within teams to explore emotional support dynamics between leaders and followers and how emotions can be shared when speaking up with issues or ideas at work.  When I’m not working on research, you can find me volunteering with the Wharton Society for the Advancement of Women in Business Academia (WSAWBA) or serving as a student representative on the PhD admissions committee. If you’re looking to nerd out and discuss fascinating organizational behavior research or are a prospective student hoping to hear more about what makes Wharton an incredible place to advance management knowledge, feel free to send me an email at gmsimon@wharton.upenn.edu.