This fall, the Lally School of Management welcomes Dr. Sam Strizver to our Organizational Behavior faculty—a scholar whose unconventional path to academia and deep curiosity about human behavior promise to make a lasting impression on students, colleagues, and alumni alike.
From aspiring actor to award-winning researcher, Dr. Strizver brings fresh energy, thoughtful inquiry, and a passion for making complex topics accessible and real. We sat down with Sam to learn more about what drives his work, how he connects with students, and why he believes trust and ambiguity are the cornerstones of effective leadership.
From Theater to Theory: A Nontraditional Journey
Before research, Sam had his sights set on the stage. “Acting was all I focused on for the first 18 years of my life,” he says. But everything changed in a college statistics class. For the first time outside of the arts, a professor told him he had a knack for something—and it stuck.
During a gap year working in retail, Sam found himself fascinated by team dynamics and the psychology of work. “I liked the people I worked with. I kept wondering—what if I could study this?” That question led him to UConn, and ultimately to a Ph.D. focused on organizational behavior.
Research Focus: Defining the Undefined
Sam’s research sits at the intersection of psychology and management, with a special focus on trust, employee vulnerability, and team disruption. One insight that changed the course of his academic work? “We talk a lot about trust in organizations, but we rarely define what we mean by vulnerability,” he explains. “It’s this core component of trust that’s often treated as a given, but it's not.”
He's also turning his attention to the effects of artificial intelligence on workplace relationships—not just whether people trust AI, but how AI reshapes the way people trust each other. It’s a question he hopes to explore with alumni partners and real-world data.
In the Classroom: Humor, Honesty, and Ambiguity
Sam’s teaching philosophy is personal, flexible, and refreshingly honest. “I don’t start with case studies—I start with people,” he says. “Sometimes that means telling a joke. Sometimes that means asking students to reflect on what they’ve seen at work.”
His goal is to help students become comfortable navigating uncertainty. “There’s rarely one right answer in social dynamics,” he says. “We’re dealing with people, not formulas. That’s why I want students to question the intuitive and embrace the ambiguous.”
What He Hopes Students Take Away
“If you walk out of my class 10 years from now and only remember one thing,” Sam says, “let it be this: Just because something sounds intuitive—like ‘employees need to trust you’—doesn’t mean it’s easy to apply. You have to work at it.”
He emphasizes the importance of approaching workplace problems with humility and rigor, especially when dealing with human emotions, behavior, and bias.
Why Lally?
After several years teaching in South Carolina, Sam was ready to return to the Northeast—and to a campus culture that values curiosity, collaboration, and rigor. “There’s a phrase I like: ‘The people make the place.’ That’s what drew me to Lally. The people here care. They’re passionate. And they’re deeply curious,” he says.
He’s especially excited to join a research-focused faculty and to engage with students who are ready to explore the social complexities of modern management.
Beyond the Classroom
When he’s not teaching or researching, you can find Sam hiking local trails with his miniature dachshund, Freddie, playing the occasional video game, or getting lost in a good science fiction novel. He’s also considering returning to his roots in community theater.
His favorite book? Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman. His favorite late-night snack? Peanut butter. And his biggest pet peeve? People breaking social norms like cutting in line. “Kindness goes a long way,” he says.
Looking Ahead
At Lally, Sam is already brainstorming new courses—especially an elective on decision-making biases. “Understanding how we make decisions—and how we’re prone to bias—is relevant in every domain, whether you're managing a team, building a product, or just trying to understand yourself.”
He also hopes to engage alumni in his teaching and research, particularly around real-world cases involving trust, team dynamics, and AI implementation. “I’d love to hear from alumni about moments when trust was tested in their organizations—those are powerful learning tools.”
Welcome to Lally, Dr. Strizver. We’re thrilled to have you on the team.