Outstanding Instruction

Outstanding instruction is a hallmark of Eckerd College Leadership Development Institute (LDI) programs. Our instructors are experienced individuals who have worked with clients from hundreds of diverse organizations. They are experts in helping leaders fulfill their potential. Participants consistently rate LDI programs 4.8 or higher on a 5-point scale in both value and enjoyment and often cite LDI programs as the best, the most powerful and the most meaningful development programs they have attended.

Margaret CooleyMargaret Cooley, M.A.

Margaret is the Director of the Eckerd College Leadership Development Institute and has been a lead instructor since 1986. With extensive experience in organizational consulting, seminar design and executive coaching, Margaret has special interests in leadership and gender, conflict resolution, interpersonal styles and the assessment of factors associated with executive success. She has created and conducted countless workshops aimed at strengthening leadership capabilities, enhancing self-awareness, building high-performance teams and leading under pressure.  Margaret received her degrees from Rhodes College and the University of Chicago.

Jen HallJennifer Hall, Ph.D.

Jennifer is the Director of Coaching and Feedback at the Eckerd College Leadership Development Institute. In this role, she manages LDI’s staff of adjunct coaches, and also serves as a lead instructor, facilitator and executive coach for LDI clients. A licensed clinical psychologist, Jennifer came to Eckerd in 1994 and served for five years as a professor of psychology before discovering a passion for leadership development.  Since then, she has been working with individual leaders and leadership teams across a wide variety of industries, helping them to leverage their strengths, enhance their working relationships, and realize their potential.  Recently, Jennifer has developed an interest in researching and assessing entrepreneurial mindset, with the ultimate goal of helping individuals and teams recognize the ways in which they can activate their latent capacity for entrepreneurial thinking and action in order to drive business growth and innovation.  Jennifer received her B.S. from Trinity College and her Ph.D. from the University of Connecticut.

Craig Runde, Ph.D., J.D.Craig Runde, J.D.

Craig is the Director of the Eckerd College Center for Conflict Dynamics and oversees the Conflict Dynamics Profile® (CDP), an assessment instrument that focuses on workplace conflict. He has been with LDI since 2000 and conducts certification workshops in the CDP and provides individual feedback in LDI’s leadership programs. Craig holds a B.A. from Harvard University, a J.D. from Duke University, and an M.L.L. from the University of Denver.  Craig is is the co-author of three books, Becoming a Conflict Competent Leader ,Building Conflict Competent Teams, and Developing your Conflict Competence.

Peter HammerschmidtPeter Hammerschmidt, Ph.D.

Peter is a Professor of Economics and has been a member of the Eckerd College faculty since 1977. He has served as a lead instructor at LDI since 1984. He makes frequent public presentations on economics, leadership, decision-making and creative problem solving styles. His research interests and publications include Male/Female Management Diversity, Leadership traits and Creative Problem Solving styles and team effectiveness. In 1984, he was the recipient of the Robert A. Staub Distinguished Professor of the Year Award. For five years Peter hosted the Economics segment of the Tampa Bay Today (NBC) television show. He is a graduate of Colorado State University. 


Joe CarellaJoseph D. Carella, Psy.D.

Joe is the Customized Solutions Consultant and a lead instructor at LDI as well as a licensed clinical psychologist with 15 years of experience in the practice of psychotherapy. He has extensive experience as a psychotherapist, executive coach, instructor and group facilitator, and is currently an independent practitioner in St. Petersburg. Joe was the Director of Eckerd College's Counseling & Health Services as well as an adjunct member of the psychology faculty from 1995 to 2005. Joe earned his B.A. from Fairfield University, his Psy.D. from Nova University and completed his post doctoral fellowship at the University of Rochester.

julia_imageJulia Welch, Ph.D.

Julia is a lead instructor and executive coach at LDI. Before joining LDI, she taught management at Suffolk University and the University of Houston.  She has presented at numerous conferences and conducted research in such areas as employee motivation, compensation, challenges faced by fast-growth companies, multicultural diversity and work-life balance.  Julia holds a Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management from the University of Michigan and a B.A. in Economics from Eckerd College.