Jen Jones, Ph.D. is Associate Professor and Department Coordinator of Marketing and Communication in the School of Business at Seton Hill University. Her teaching and research interests focus on organizational and leadership ethics. She received her Ph.D. in Rhetoric from the McAnulty College of Liberal Arts at Duquesne University with emphasis areas in organizational and interpersonal communication, and ethics in the public sphere. She received an M.B.A. from Duquesne’s Palumbo-Donahue School of Business with a focus in Management, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing from the Eberly College of Business at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
Jones has been an invited speaker both nationally and internationally. She was the Business Ethics Keynote Speaker at the Schneider Downs Annual CPE event for over 400 financial professionals. At the University of Teramo in Italy, she presented a doctoral seminar on "Corporate Ethics and ESG," and at the International Symposium on Innovation, Leadership, and Change in Colombo, Sri Lanka, she presented Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics: Business Ethics Theory and Practice. She was also a presenter for the Center of University Scholars at Jackson State University where she led the workshop Collaborative Communication and Team Building. She regularly presents at the annual International Leadership Association conference. Additionally, she has been a featured speaker for multiple gender and women studies organizations such as the Pennsylvania ACE Network, The Claire R. Schmieler Leadership Institute, and The Leadership Institute for Faculty Women.
Dr. Jones maintains an active research agenda. Her scholarship integrates the humanities with contemporary issues in leadership and organizational ethics. Her work illuminates insights from key figures such as Hazel Barnes, Kafka, Saint Edith Stein, Emmanuel Levinas, Thomas Merton, and Aristotle. Notably, her scholarship on responsible leadership has been cited by numerous scholars and was integrated into an international seminar on ethics of leadership and decision-making. She serves as a reviewer for multiple journals including the Journal of Business Ethics, Business Ethics Quarterly, Business and Professional Ethics, Leadership, and Qualitative Research Reports in Communication, among others. She is a past President of the Pennsylvania Communication Association.
Jones integrates her scholarship in her academic teaching. She is subject matter expert for the MBA course Leading Change with Organizational Ethics, and the undergraduate course Corporate Ethics and Social Responsibility. She has taught internationally in China, India, and Italy, has studied in Western and Eastern Europe and Israel, and has taken students on study-abroad experiences in England, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, and Greece. In her courses at Seton Hill, Jones integrates community-engaged learning to address social justice issues and community revitalization. She and her students serve the homeless community in Pittsburgh, sponsor a shop local/small campaign, conduct a B Corp assessment simulation, and partner with a global fair trade organization to host a fair trade market. Her students also initiated a campus-wide speaker series on the topic of human trafficking.
Prior to teaching in an academic setting, Jones worked for one of the largest sporting goods retailers in the country as an assistant buyer, handling major brands and accounts. She also worked as a director for a large resort, where she coached over sixty staff members and was actively involved in strategic and capital planning. In this role, she designed and operated a team building and leadership development program that provided training for over one hundred corporate clients. Later, she worked as a consultant for two hospital systems on the topics of diversity and intercultural communication and the creation of an organizational culture of care.

Education

• Ph.D., Duquesne University (Pittsburgh, PA), 2014
• MBA, Duquesne University (Pittsburgh, PA), 2007
• BS, Indiana University of Pennsylvania (Indiana, PA), 1998

Publications

• Jones, J. (Ed.) (2023). A Research Agenda for Organizational Ethics. Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar. [More Information]
• Jones, J. (2023). Expanding Horizons: Mythodology for Interpretive Scholarship. In J. Jones (Ed.) A Research Agenda for Organizational Ethics. Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar. (3-17).
• Jones, J. (2023). Preface. In J. Jones (Ed.) A Research Agenda for Organizational Ethics. Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar. (xvii-xxiii).
• Jones, J. (2022). Collective Responsibility. In G. R. Goethals, S. T. Allison, & G. J. Sorenson (Eds.) Encyclopedia of Leadership Studies, (in press), New York, NY: Sage.
• Jones, J. (2020). A Metamorphosis for Leaders: Caring in Good Faith. In L. Tomkins (Ed.) Paradox and Power in Caring Leadership: Critical and Philosophical Reflections. Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar (109-120). [More Information]
• Jones, J. (2020). Pragmatism as a Way of Democracy: Ruth Anna Putnam’s Pragmatist Ethics. The Pennsylvania Communication Annual, 76(2), 68-82.
• Jones, J. (2020). Existential Responsiveness and Moral Growth: A Review of Kate Ott’s Christian Ethics for a Digital Society. Journal of Moral Theology, 9(1), 249-250.
• Jones, J. (2020). People Bingo. In T. McDevitt, Taylor-David, S., and Schweitzer, A. M. (Eds.) Ingredients for Thriving at IUP: Center for Teaching Excellence 30th Anniversary Edition. The Center for Teaching Excellence: Indiana, PA
• Jones, J. and A. Podoletz (2018). Generating Buzz on Campus about Fair Trade through the Writing for Public Relations Course. In T. McDevitt and C. P. Finegan (Eds.) Library Service and Learning: Empowering Students, Inspiring Social Responsibility, and Building Community Connections. Atlanta, GA: American Library Association (205-226).
• Jones, J. (2018). Empathic Leadership: Saint Edith Stein’s Phenomenological Perspective. In B. J. Denison (Ed.) Women, religion, and leadership: Female saints as unexpected leaders. New York, NY: Routledge. (155-177).
• Jones, J. (2018). Promoting Scholarly Conversations through an Undergraduate Research Conference in the Library: A Communication Class Project. In T. McDevitt and C. P. Finegan (Eds.) Library Service and Learning: Empowering Students, Inspiring Social Responsibility, and Building Community Connections. Atlanta, GA: American Library Association (275-299).
• Jones, J. (2018). Thomas Merton: Rediscovering Communication as a Message of Love for Communion. In R. H. Woods and N. K. Wood (Eds.) Words and Witnesses: Communication Studies in Christian Thought from Athanasius to Desmond Tutu. Peabody: MA: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc. (215-221).
• Jones, J. (2017). Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Theology. Journal of Communication & Religion, 40(3), 116–122.
• Jones, J. (2016). Colloquium on Levinas, leadership, and ethics: The derivative organization and responsible leadership - Levinas's dwelling and discourse. Leadership and the Humanities, 4(1), 41-44. [More Information]
• Jones, J. (2015). Walking with Merton: A Soul’s Journey – Review of Simply Merton: Wisdom from His Journals. The Merton Seasonal, summer.
• Jones, J. (2014). Leadership lessons from Levinas: Revisiting responsible leadership. Leadership and the Humanities, 1(2), 44-63. [More Information]
• McDevitt, T. and Jones, J. (2013). We’re all in this together: Stress reduction and team building for modern library organizations. Codex, 2(3), 78-99.
• Jones, J. and Bharadwaj, P. (2013). Instrumental to ethical: Ancient guidance for contemporary individual social responsibility. Competition Forum, 11(1), 160-164.
• Jones, J. and Michalec, B. (2013). Existential leadership: ‘Good Faith’ in contemporary Capitalism. In A. Marturano (Ed.) ISLC: Sustainable Leadership for Socially Responsible Organizations (46-47). Rome, Italy.
• Jones, J. (2011). Building research projects in teams. In T. McDevitt (Ed.), Let the Games Begin! Engaging Students with Field-tested Interactive Information Literacy Instruction, (11-14), Chicago, IL: Neal-Schuman.

Awards

• Carroll Arnold Distinguished Service Award

Organizations

• Society for Business Ethics; B Academics, Inc.; International Leadership Association; Pennsylvania Communication Association; Beta Gamma Sigma; Phi Kappa Phi

Presentations

• “Learning Moral Decision-Making in Leadership Ethics through Fable: Aesop’s The Grasshopper and the Ants” 2023 International Leadership Association (ILA), Vancouver, Canada
• “Meet the Authors: A Research Agenda for Organizational Ethics” 2023 International Leadership Association (ILA), Vancouver, Canada
• “Prepositions as Pre-positions: Looking at, along, and with Burke in Conversation among Others” 2022 Kenneth Burke Salon, East Stroudsburg, PA
• “Grounding Conscious Organizations: Existentialist Ethics of Hazel Barnes” 2021 International Leadership Association (ILA) (Online)
• “A Center for Institutional Values and Inclusive Capitalism (CIVIC): Promoting Economic Justice for the Common Good” 2021 International Vincentian Business Ethics (Online)
• “Renewing and Transforming Organizations: An Existentialist Ethics Approach” 2021 National Communication Association (NCA) (Seattle, WA)
• “Questioning Philanthrocapitalism through an Arendtian Lens: Totalitarianism with Good Intentions” 2021 Pennsylvania Communication Association (PCA) (Online)
• “Philosophically Grounding Inclusive Capitalism: A Living Memorial for the Future of Work 2021 Pennsylvania Communication Association (online)
• “Subversive Leadership for People at the Edge” 2020 International Leadership Association (ILA) (online)
• “An Ethic of Care on the Edge: Paradoxes of Caring Leadership” 2020 ILA (online)
• “Edith Stein’s Empathic Leadership: On the Phenomenological Edge of the Finite and Infinite” 2020 ILA (online)
• “Giving Voice to a Female Pragmatist: Ruth Anna Putnam” 2019 Philosophy of Communication Salon, Pennsylvania Communication Association (Reading, PA)
• “Courageous Love Casting Out Hatred: How Women Religious Risk their Safety to Care for the Marginalized” 2019 Pennsylvania Leadership Studies (Harrisburg, PA) and 2019 ILA (Ottawa, Canada)
• “Empathic Student Leadership: Stein’s Phenomenological Perspective for Experiential Learning” 2018 Extensions of Stein: Advocacy and Empathy in Philosophy of Communication (Greensburg, PA)
• “What do Libraries have to do with the YMCA, Humane Society, Fair Trade, and Undergraduate Research?” 2018 Pennsylvania Libraries Association Conference (Harrisburg, PA)
• “Women Advocating for Women” 2018 Pennsylvania ACE Network (Greensburg, PA)
• “Leadership Lessons from Female Philosophers: Underrepresented Valuable Voices” 2018 Pennsylvania Leadership Studies (Harrisburg, PA)
• “Leadership for Community and Social Entrepreneurship” 2018 ILA (West Palm Beach, FL)
• “Small Teaching in Activity-Based Learning: Expanding Big Ideas throughout a Communication Research Course” 2017 PCA Conference (Pittsburgh, PA)
• “Empathic Leadership: Saint Edith Stein’s Phenomenological Perspective” 2017 Pennsylvania Sociology Association (Pittsburgh, PA)
• “An Aristotelian Perspective of Place Making and Branding for Community Development” 2017 PCA (Pittsburgh, PA)
• “Issues of Accreditation Changes and Our Responsiveness in Communication” 2017 PCA Conference (Pittsburgh, PA)
• “A Pragmatic Leadership: Ruth Anna Putnam’s Moral Value and Democracy in an Age of Populism” 2017 International Studying Leadership (Richmond, VA)
• “Apologia Pro Vita Mea: Humanities and Business” 2017 National Communication Association (Dallas, TX)
• “Student Poster Session” Judge, 2018 International Leadership Association (West Palm Beach, FL)
• “Collaborative Communication and Team Building” 2017 Center for University Scholars (Jackson, MS)
• “Collaborative Communication and Team Building” 2017 Center for University Scholars (Jackson, MS)
• “Hegemony with Good Intentions: Problematizing Conscious Capitalism and Other Socially Responsible Business Practices” (2016) National Communication Association Convention (Philadelphia, PA)
• “Methodology for Interpretive Leadership Scholarship” International Studying Leadership 2014 Conference (Copenhagen, Denmark)
• “Existential Leadership: Interpersonal Engagement within Organizations” International Leadership Association 2014 Conference (San Diego, CA)
• "From the Toy Store Pink Aisle to Marketplace Pink Collar Jobs: Building and Becoming Otherwise with Goldie Blox" NCA 2014 Conference (Chicago, IL)
• “An Interplay of Rhetoric and Phenomenology in the Working Life of the Poor” National Communication Association 2014 Conference (Chicago, IL)
• “Merton’s Existential Communication: The Meaning and Power of Love” Pennsylvania Communication Association 2014 Pre-Conference (Pittsburgh, PA)
• “Existential Education: An Indirect Communicative Pedagogy” Pennsylvania Communication Association 2014 Conference (Pittsburgh, PA)
• “Existential Meeting of Horizons” Phenomenology Roundtable 2014 (Buffalo, NY)
• “Applying and Interviewing for Employment” (2015). Society for Human Resources, Student Chapter (Indiana, PA).
• “Women in the Workplace: Building & Maintaining Sisterhood” (2014). The Claire R. Schmieler Leadership Institute (Slippery Rock, PA)
• Keynote “Determinants of Success: Rats, Brick Walls, and 10,000 Hours” 2014, Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi Annual Initiation Ceremony (Greensburg, PA)
• “A Word of Caution for Appreciative Inquiry” (2015). National Communication Association Convention, Las Vegas, NV.
• “Being and Somethingness: In Inquiry into Existential Communication” (2015). Pennsylvania Communication Association Pre-Conference, York, PA.
• “Cultural Diversity in Business Communication” 2013 Case per ferie “Casa di Nazareth” Suore della Sacra Famiglia di Nazareth (Boccea, Italy)
• “Women in the Workplace: Building & Maintaining Sisterhood” 2014; “Women in the Workplace: Historical and Contemporary Issues” 2011 The Claire R. Schmieler Leadership Institute (Slippery Rock, PA)
• “Interpersonal Communication” “Servant Leadership” “The Meaning and Power of Love” St. Anne Home, Sponsored by the Felician Sisters (Greensburg, PA): 2012; 2013; 2014
• “Team Building” The Leadership Institute for Faculty Women (State College, PA): 2010 & 2012
• “Promoting Information Literacy through Activity-Based Learning” Point Park University co-presenter 2011 (Pittsburgh, PA)
• “Business Ethics Theory and Practice” 2010 International Symposium on Innovation, Leadership, and Change (Colombo, Sri Lanka)

Achievements

• “Corporate Ethics and ESG” 2023 University of Teramo Incontro Seminariale Corporate Ethics and ESG Corso di Dottorato in Economic and Social Sciences (Teramo, Italy) – presented 3 sessions • “Organizational and Leadership Ethics” • “Mythodology for Leadership Studies” • “A New Horizon for Business”
• “Advisor of the Year” Award 2022
• Reviewer: Journal of Business Ethics; Business Ethics Quarterly; Business & Professional Ethics; Leadership
• Keynote address “The Purpose of Business is to…” 2019 Business Ethics, Schneider Downs Annual CPE Event (Pittsburgh, PA)
• Director, Graduate and Undergraduate Writing Competition, PCA
• Interest Council Chair, Honors Societies, PCA
• Feature Article, "Learning through Service" Forward Magazine, 2015, spring/summer, p. 45.
• Past President, Pennsylvania Communication Association
• Undergraduate Communication Research Interest Group Chairperson, Pennsylvania Communication Association, 2016-2017, 2019-2020
• Interpersonal/Organizational Interest Group Chairperson, Pennsylvania Communication Association, 2015-2016