Jen Jones

Bio

Jen Jones, Ph.D. is Professor and Department Coordinator of Marketing and Communication in the School of Business and Technology at Seton Hill University. Her teaching and research interests focus on organizational and leadership ethics.

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. She has conducted graduate seminars with doctoral students including, "Corporate Ethics and ESG" at the University of Teramo, Italy and "People, Planet, Precarity, and Polycrisis: Situating B-Corps Phenomenologically to Respond to Stakeholders in Good Faith" at Western University in Ontario, Canada, and with MBA students, "Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics: Business Ethics Theory and Practice" at the International Symposium on Innovation, Leadership, and Change in Colombo, Sri Lanka. She was also a presenter for the Center of University Scholars at Jackson State University, where she led the Collaborative Communication and Team Building workshop. She regularly presents at the annual International Leadership Association and International Studying Leadership conferences.

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 a subject matter expert for the MBA course Leading Change with Organizational Ethics, and the undergraduate courses Corporate Ethics and Social Responsibility, and Organizational Leadership. 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, Wales, Italy, and Greece. In her courses at Seton Hill, Jones integrates community-engaged learning for community revitalization and business as a force for good. 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. She is a board member of Building New Hope, a fair trade coffee company.

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, coaching 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 to create an organizational culture of care and intercultural competency.

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. and Fritz, J. H. (2025). Retreating for Leadership: Lessons from Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton. In C. Egan, S. Smulowitz, and M. Tabata (Eds.) Inspirational Women Leaders: The Challenges and Rewards of Religion, Spirituality, Purpose, and Calling in Leadership. Leeds, England: Emerald. (in press).
• Fritz, J. H. and Jones, J. (2025). Leadership Mythodology, Narrative, and Communication Ethics: Engaging the Other. In S. Pensoneau-Conway, N. Bardhan, & S. Eddington (Eds.) Leadership Communication Theory and Practice: An Advanced Introduction. New York, NY: Routledge. (in press).
• Jones, J. (Ed.) (2023). A Research Agenda for Organizational Ethics. Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar.
  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).
  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.
• 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.
• 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

• Nominated for Outstanding Reviewer, Journal of Business Ethics
• Carroll Arnold Distinguished Service Award, PA Communication Association
• Nominated for Instructor of the Year, B Academics
• Nominated for Committee Member of the Year, B Academics
• Advisor of the Year, Seton Hill University
• Top Paper Award, Business Communication, National Communication Association
• Graduate Writing Competition, 1st Place Paper, Pennsylvania Communication Association

Organizations

• Society for Business Ethics
• B Academics, Inc.
• International Leadership Association

Presentations

• “Arendt, Beauvoir, and Barnes: Thinking Critically about Critical Leadership and Collectives” 2024 International Studying Leadership Conference (ISLC), Birmingham, UK
• “Critical Approaches to Phenomenological Inquiry and Leadership Studies” Symposium, 2024 ISLC
• “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 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 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 PCA (online)
• “Teaching and Learning Post-COVID: Sustaining Strengths and Improving Weaknesses” 2021 PCA (online)
• “Edith Stein’s Empathic Leadership: On the Phenomenological Edge of the Finite and Infinite” 2020 ILA (online)
• “An Ethic of Care on the Edge: Paradoxes of Caring Leadership” 2020 ILA (online)
• “Subversive Leadership for People at the Edge” 2020 ILA (online)
• “Courageous Love Casting Out Hatred: How Women Religious Risk their Safety to Care for the Marginalized” 2019 Pennsylvania Leadership Studies (PLS), Harrisburg, PA
• “Leadership for Community and Social Entrepreneurship” 2018 ILA, West Palm Beach, FL
• “Short Course: Card Making for Children and Caregivers in Children’s Hospitals” 2018 PCA, Greensburg, PA
• “Empathic Student Leadership: Stein’s Phenomenological Perspective for Experiential Learning” 2018 Extensions of Stein Salon, 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
• “Leadership Lessons from Female Philosophers: Underrepresented Valuable Voices” 2018 PLS, Harrisburg, PA
  “A Pragmatic Leadership: Ruth Anna Putnam’s Moral Value and Democracy in an Age of Populism” 2017 ISLC, Richmond, VA
• “An Aristotelian Perspective of Place Making and Branding for Community Development” 2017 PCA, Pittsburgh, PA
• “Empathic Leadership: Saint Edith Stein’s Phenomenological Perspective” 2017 Pennsylvania Sociology Association, Pittsburgh, PA
• “Apologia Pro Vita Mea: Humanities and Business” 2017 NCA, Dallas, TX
• “Small Teaching in Activity-Based Learning: Expanding Big Ideas throughout a Communication Research Course” 2017 PCA, Pittsburgh, PA
• “Issues of Accreditation Changes and Our Responsiveness in Communication” 2017 PCA, Pittsburgh, PA
  “Hegemony with Good Intentions: Problematizing Conscious Capitalism and Other Socially Responsible Business Practices” 2016 NCA, Philadelphia, PA
• “Social Media as Social Change: A Basis of Culture” 2016 PCA, Johnstown, PA
• “Assessment in the Context of National Communication Learning Outcomes” 2016 PCA, Johnstown, PA
• “A Word of Caution for Appreciative Inquiry” 2015 NCA, Las Vegas, NV
• “Being and Somethingness: In Inquiry into Existential Communication” 2015 Patterns of Connection: Gregory Bateson, American Pragmatism and European Philosophy, York, PA
• “Mythodology for Interpretive Leadership Scholarship” 2014 ILSC, Copenhagen, Denmark) competitive paper track
• “Existential Leadership: Interpersonal Engagement within Organizations” 2014 ILA, San Diego, CA
• "From the Toy Store Pink Aisle to Marketplace Pink Collar Jobs: Building and Becoming Otherwise with Goldie Blox" 2014 NCA, Chicago, IL
• “An Interplay of Rhetoric and Phenomenology in the Working Life of the Poor” 2014 NCA, Chicago, IL
• “Existential Meeting of Horizons” 2014 Phenomenology Roundtable, Buffalo, NY
• “Existential Education: An Indirect Communicative Pedagogy” 2014 PCA, Pittsburgh, PA
• “The Interplay of Narrative and Communication Competence in Women’s Leadership: Resilience in Male-Normed Cultures” 2013 ILA, Montreal, Canada
• “Existential leadership: ‘Good Faith’ in Contemporary Capitalism” 2013 ISLC, Rome, Italy, competitive paper track
• “Preparing the Way for Existential Leadership: Existentialism and Authenticity in Business Ethics & Leadership” 2013 ILA, Montreal, Canada competitive paper track
• “Exploring the Upsurge of Authentic Leadership: Preparing the Way for Existential Leadership” 2013 ILA Montreal, Canada
• “Leading with Care” 2013 The President’s Commission on the Status of Women, Indiana, PA
• “Engaged Literature in Interpretive Scholarship: Barnes’s Mythodology” 2013 Albert Camus Salon: Making Sense in an Age of Absurdity, Erie, PA
• “Background and Philosophy of Hazel E. Barnes: Contributions to Existential Phenomenology” 2013, Phenomenology Roundtable, Chicago, IL
• “Building Leadership Skills to Promote Equality, Inclusion, and Personal Growth” 2013 Women’s Consortium Conference, Mansfield, PA
• “Altruistic and Authentic: Adding Service-Learning Activities for Relevant and Real-Life Work Experience for the Common Good” 2013 Lilly International Conference on College Teaching, Oxford, OH
• “Responsible Leadership through a Levinasian Lens” 2012 ILA, Denver, CO, competitive paper track
  “Gender Awareness” 2012 Sex and Gender Conference, session co-presenter, Indiana, PA
• “Overcoming Gender Inequality through Activities that Expose Gender Stereotypes” 2012 The PASSHE Women's Consortium, California, PA
• “Integrating Care and Justice in Noddings’ Ethical Ideal and Benhabib’s Interactive Universalism: Toward an Existentialist Ethics” 2012 NCA, Orlando, FL
• “Sophistic Rhetoric in a Postmodern Public Sphere” 2012 PCA, Collegeville, PA “Ancient Texts of the East and West: Toward a Model of Individual Social Responsibility” 2011 Academy of Management, San Antonio, TX, competitive paper scholarship track
• “Language and Power: Lessons for Intercultural Communication” 2011 Eastern Communication Association (ECA), Washington, DC
• “Positive Social Change and Emmanuel Levinas” 2011 Phenomenology Roundtable, Pittsburgh, PA
• “Cause Related Marketing as Aristotle’s Epideictic Rhetoric, an Organizational Citizenship Perspective” 2010, NCA, San Francisco, CA, competitive paper track
• “How Women Weave the Social Web” 2009 The President’s Commission on the Status of Women, Indiana, PA
• “Social Capital Barriers for Women & Minorities” 2008 The PASSHE Women's Consortium, Slippery Rock, PA

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