Linda Sama, Ph.D.

Dr. Linda M. Sama is Associate Dean for Global Initiatives and Joseph F. Adams Professor of Management in the Peter J. Tobin College of Business, St. John’s University. In her capacity as Associate Dean, Linda works with faculty and students to encourage global learning and assessment, represents the College on the University Global Coordinating Committee (UGCC), works with partner institutions on all manner of agreements and exchanges, and engages in TCB programs on St. John's campuses in Rome and Paris.

Dr. Sama founded the GLOBE (Global Loan Opportunities for Budding Entrepreneurs - www.stjohns.edu/globe) microloan academic program at TCB, a student-managed micro-credit fund and experiential learning initiative inaugurated in Spring 2009. She acts as the GLOBE Program Director, Chair of the GLOBE Steering Committee and course instructor. The program has introduced students to microfinance as practiced in some of the world’s most impoverished communities, and earned her the Academy of Management’s Innovation in Entrepreneurship Pedagogy Award in 2012, and the AACSB 2017 Entrepreneurship Spotlight Challenge award. GLOBE was also honored as the first academic program to earn the University’s Spirit of Service Award, which Dr. Sama accepted at the 21^st Annual President’s Dinner in 2018. Dr. Sama also was instrumental in the college’s decision to become a signatory of the U.N. PRME (Principles for Responsible Management Education) initiative in 2011. Serving as the UN PRME liaison for the college, she chairs the U.N. PRME Faculty Steering Committee and writes and submits the biennial PRME "Sharing Information on Progress: (SIP) report. As an outgrowth of that initiative, she launched the TCB Center for Global Business Stewardship, and acts as its Executive Director. She also applied for the college to become a PRME Champion for the 2018-2019 cycle, and was awarded this honor.

Dr. Sama founded and launched the TCB Global Destination Course (GDC) program in 2010, and runs 6-8 academic GDCs per year, with participating students and faculty traveling to destinations that have included China, U.K., France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Greece, Bermuda, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay.

Dr. Sama earned a Ph.D. in Strategic Management as well as a Masters in Philosophy from Baruch-CUNY. She also holds an MBA in International Finance from McGill University, and a BA in French and Mathematics from The University of Albany. Her doctoral dissertation addressing the twin impact of governance mechanisms and strategic slack on corporate social response strategies earned her the 1999 Lasdon Dissertation Award.

She made a transition to academe after a lengthy career in industry, where she acted as Director of Market Planning and Logistics for an international subsidiary of Transamerica Corporation that operated in the intermodal transportation space.

Dr. Sama teaches primarily in the areas of International Business, Strategic Management and Business Ethics. In addition to GLOBE, Dr. Sama has taught in the Executive-in-Residence Program (EIRP) since she arrived at St. John’s in 2007, and is honored to have worked with over 500 talented students in the program and many generous corporate sponsors. Her research has resulted in the publication of over 90 articles, proceedings papers and book chapters that address issues of corporate social responsibility, business and the natural environment, integrative social contracts theory, and global business ethics dilemmas in the new economy. Most recently, her research has focused on the connections between micro-lending and women empowerment, sustainability, religiosity, food security, and post-conflict resolutions in the developing world’s Base of Pyramid (BoP) markets, as well as exploring pedagogical innovations in the “post-truth” era classroom, and faculty well-being. In addition to serving on several not-for-profit boards, Dr. Sama devotes leisure time to her avocation, choral singing, which has allowed her to grace the stage of Carnegie Hall on over 40 occasions as a member of the Cecilia Chorus of New York City.International Business, Strategic Management, Business Ethics, Microfinance and Social EntrepreneurshipCorporate Social Responsibility and Business Ethics, International Business - Global ethical dilemmas, Base of Pyramid and Micro-finance, and Environmental Management

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