Leading trust scholar to lecture at Whitworth on Sept. 12

Professor Roger C. Mayer will present his lecture “Will They Trust You?” Thursday, Sept. 12, at 7 p.m. in the Robinson Teaching Theatre in Weyerhaeuser Hall at Whitworth. For more information, call 509.777.4585.

As a leading scholar on issues related to trust in organizations, his research is focused on trust and on employee decision-making, attitudes and effectiveness. “Scholars and practitioners around the globe have become increasingly interested in recent years in the impact that trust has on the ability of people to work together and get things accomplished,” says Mayer. “The importance of trust is particularly salient for Christians, as our ability to influence others, of both different denominations and different religions, hinges to a great extent on how much they trust us.”

In addition to serving on the faculties of various higher education institutions, Mayer has also worked in industries such as offshore drilling, construction and steel manufacturing. Mayer has spent more than two decades developing an understanding of why people trust each other and of what can be done to build trust. Attendees who hear Mayer speak on Thursday will leave with an understanding of a powerful yet simple model of how to garner more trust from others in their everyday lives. Additionally, he says they will leave with a framework to teach others how they can also be more trustworthy.

Mayer is currently a professor of management, innovation and entrepreneurship in the Poole College of Management at North Carolina State University. He has also served on the faculties of Notre Dame, Purdue University, Baylor University, Singapore Management University, and The University of Akron, where he served as department chair for four years.

His research has been published in many premier scholarly journals; it has been cited thousands of times in the published literature across a wide variety of fields. He authored a theory of trust with David Schoorman and James Davis that was published in Academy of Management Review, management’s top theory journal. This paper was recognized in 2004 with the Influential Article Award 1995-99 by the Conflict Management division of the Academy of Management. In 2006 it was recognized by AMR with the Best of the Second Decade Award for Frame-Breaking, Innovative Theory—at the time, one of only two papers ever to receive this honor.

Located in Spokane, Wash., Whitworth is a private liberal arts university affiliated with the Presbyterian church. The university, which has an enrollment of 3,000 students, offers 60 undergraduate and graduate degree programs.

Contact:

Ruth Pells, assistant to the dean in the School of Global Commerce & Management, Whitworth University, (509) 777-4585 or rpells@whitworth.edu.

Lucas Beechinor, media relations manager, Whitworth University, (509) 777-4703 or lbeechinor@whitworth.edu.