Richard Conroy, PhD., Dean of Academic Affairs
Dr. Richard Conroy’s combined law enforcement and academic experience extends over four decades. Specific to law enforcement, he has served as a Director of Police at the university level, an Assistant Chief of Police at the municipal level, and a Special Agent in Charge at the state level. Prior to executive level leadership positions, he worked through the law enforcement career ranks, including communications, uniformed patrol, canine, undercover operations, and criminal investigations. Rich is a results oriented problem-solver with experience and career long work in the specialized area of public safety crisis intervention. He has participated in numerous critical incident stress debriefings (CISD) as a member of the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation (ICISF). Rich is a graduate of the 150th session of the FBI National Academy as well as a life-member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP). He is a member of the National Sheriffs’ Association (NSA) and has held membership in the FBI National Academy Associates in four different states.
Dr. Conroy holds a Ph.D. in Leadership Studies from Dallas Baptist University, as well as a master of science degree in criminal justice administration from Rollins College and a bachelor‘s degree from the University of Richmond. His dissertation research interest is in the area of emotional intelligence and performance measurement in law enforcement and included using the Multifactor Measure of Performance™ instrument to predict leadership styles in sheriffs’ and chief deputies throughout the United States. This was the initial use of the MMP3™ assessment tool in a doctoral level study and included a partnership with the National Sheriffs’ Association.
Dr. Conroy has served as a law enforcement agency accreditation manager and has published in the Law Enforcement Today, FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, The Sheriff and Deputy Magazine, and The Florida Police Chief magazine on public safety topics including emotional intelligence and crisis intervention. He has taught as a police academy faculty member and is a faculty member in the Caruth Police Institute (TX) leadership development series. Rich has also designed recruit level, role-play training as well as online training in crisis intervention across the curriculum for other certified trainers. He is a certified practitioner/consultant in emotional intelligence using the EQ-i 2.0 and the EQ360 assessments.
Dr. Conroy has held faculty or administrative positions at Weber State University, Columbia College (MO), Armstrong State University, and Dallas Baptist University. His academic responsibilities have included grant writing, online distance learning course development, campus director and leadership mentoring of adjunct faculty across disciplines—including criminal justice. He is currently an assistant professor of criminal justice and leadership, teaching graduate and undergraduate classes in crisis intervention, criminal law, criminal procedure, organization and administration, law enforcement ethics, and criminology. Dr. Conroy and his wife have been married for over 40 years and have two children and three grandchildren.
