Debby Thomas, PhD

Debby Thomas is a scholar, entrepreneur, and organizational leader whose career has spanned missionary work in Rwanda, cross-cultural business development, and now the front lines of AI-integrated business education. She joined George Fox University in 2016 and currently serves as Dean of the College of Business, where she leads faculty, curriculum strategy, and the university's most ambitious academic initiative: an MBA program built from the ground up around artificial intelligence and ethical leadership.

Under her leadership, George Fox launched one of Oregon's first AI-integrated MBA programs, embedding artificial intelligence across every course and equipping graduates to direct AI, not merely use it. Thomas also developed and produces the university's AI Certificate course series, a practitioner-focused curriculum designed to help business professionals lead teams through AI adoption and transformation. She participates in national conversations on AI in higher education, most recently at the ASU+GSV Summit.

Thomas is not only an institutional architect of AI education but an active practitioner. She augments her leadership with custom-built AI tools, designs and deploys AI workflows across her organization, and works daily with platforms including Claude, ChatGPT, and Gemini, as well as Google Workspace's enterprise AI suite. She has completed the MIT Sloan and MIT Schwarzman College of Computing certificate program, Implementing Agentic AI: Building Your Organizational Playbook. This hands-on experience directly shapes the curriculum she oversees.

Her scholarly roots are in organizational leadership, empowering leadership, and cross-cultural management. She served as a missionary and holistic community development leader in Rwanda beginning in 1995, where she founded several small businesses and became fluent in Kinyarwanda. That global foundation, combined with her ongoing work at the intersection of faith, technology, and human flourishing, gives her a distinctive lens on what it means to lead responsibly in an AI-transformed world.

Thomas holds a PhD in Organizational Leadership from Regent University, a master's degree in Global Leadership from Fuller Theological Seminary, and a bachelor's degree in Elementary Education and International Studies from George Fox. She lives in Newberg with her husband, David, and has four children.

Professor Thomas Teaches

• Leadership, Management, Organizational Behavior and Research
• Undergraduate, MBA and Doctor of Business Administration

Education

• PhD, Regent University, Virginia - Organizational Leadership
• MA, Fuller Theological Seminary, CA - Global Leadership 
• BA, George Fox University - Elementary Education and International Studies 

Research Interests

• Classroom as organization and experiential teaching methodologies
• Empowering leadership
• Women in leadership
• Biblical studies and leadership topics combined

Journal Articles 

• Chappell, S. and Thomas, D. (2019). The shadow side of teaching Classroom as Organization (CAO). Journal of Management Education.
  
• Thomas, D., Rahschulte, T. (2018). The Moderating Effects of Power Distance and Collectivism on Empowering Leadership and Psychological Empowerment and Self-Leadership in International Development Organizations. International Leadership Journal, 10(3), 3-39.
  
• Thomas, D. (2018). Jesus’ Cross-Cultural Model of ‘Leader As Servant’ In Luke 22:24-30. Theology of Leadership Journal, 1(1), 67-78.
• Thomas, D. (2014). Comparison of Rwandan and American followership styles. Journal of Leadership Education, 13(4), 124-135. doi:10.12806/V13/I4/C13
• Thomas, D. (2014). Learning curve in Rwanda: A long journey of transformation. Evangelical Missions Quarterly, 50(2), 222-225.
• Thomas, D. (2014). Daniel as an example of exceptional cross-cultural leadership. Journal of Biblical Perspectives in Leadership, 6(1), 58–66.
• Thomas, D. (2014). Love as a replacement for fear in the workplace. Emerging Leadership Journeys7(1), 27–33.

Books and Book Chapters

• Thomas, D., Chappel, S. and Bright, D. (2020). Teaching Methods in Business Series: Classroom as Organization. Eduard Edgar Publishing. 
• Thomas, D. (2018). Empowerment and holistic community development in Rwanda In Thompson, R.J., & Storberg-Walker, J. (Eds.). Leadership and Power in International Development: Navigating the Intersections of Gender, Culture, Context, and Sustainability. London, England: Emerald Publishing.

Presentations

• Thomas, D. Panel of authors on the topic Courageous Leadership in International Development. International Leadership Association, October 2019.
• Thomas, D. Exploring Leadership at the Doctoral Level: Preparation, Writing Circles, and Growing Relational Leadership. International Leadership Association, October 2019.
• Thomas, D. and Chappell, S. Classroom as Organization: A new model and an exercise in peer-to-peer feedback. Management and Organizational Behavior Teaching Conference, June 2019
• Thomas, D. Panel of authors of book chapters in the book Leadership in International Development.ILA, October 2018.
• Thomas, D.  and Chappell, S.Experiential workshop on how to teach Classroom as Organization. ILA, October 2018.
• Chappell, S.and Thomas D. The Golden Shadow of Classroom as Organization. MOBTC, June 2018
• Thomas, D.  and Chappell, S. Panel presentation on how to teach Classroom as Organization. MOBTC, June 2018.
• Thomas, D. (2017, June). Giving Voice: How Quaker methods can support women’s voice into organizational decisions. Interactive round table discussion at the ILA Women in Leadership Conference, Rochester, NY.
• Thomas, D. (2014, October). Comparison of Rwandan and American Followership Styles.Presentation at International Leadership Association (ILA) pre-conference on Followership: San Diego, California.

Publications in Process

• Thomas, D. and Chappell, S. Dissertation Writing Circles for Doctoral Students.
• Thomas, D. and Chappell, S. Classroom as Organization: A Literature Review and Future Research Agenda
• Thomas, D. Jesus’ Yoke as An Antidote to Burnout. Preparing for publication in the Theology of Leadership Journal.
• Thomas, D. Daniel as a Model for Cross Cultural Leadership