Rodney Luster Ph.D.

Rodney Luster, Ph.D., is a higher education administrator, entrepreneur, and healthcare practitioner who maintains a private practice as a licensed professional counselor with his own company called Inspirethought, as well as Senior Director of Research Strategy, Innovation, and Development for the College of Doctoral Studies at the University of Phoenix where he also leads the Center for Leadership Studies and Organizational Research.

Rodney is a published researcher with his most recent work published through IGI Global Press as a chapter contributor for a 2022 book entitled Handbook of Research on Entrepreneurship and Organizational Resilience During Unprecedented Times in which he contributed the chapter The Rise of the Stress Arc: Managing Rapid Onset of Change (ROC) and VUCA Phenomena Through Efficacious Strategy, as well as lead contributor to the chapter The Cohesive Factor in Building Resilience and Team Dynamism in a Turbulent Era: Team Motivation and the Organizationally Resilient. He has also written pieces for magazines like "The Psychiatric Times" — First Responders and Mental Health: When Heroes Need Rescuing, "Giddy Magazine" featuring the article Are We in the Middle of a Mental Health Crisis? and "Everyday Health Magazine" — featuring the article What Is a Healthy Relationship With Work? As well, his work on leadership and diversity was also included in the 2021 Journal for Leadership Studies symposia article entitled, Relational Leadership Perspectives of Key Constructs on Diversity, Inclusion, and Social Equity in Higher Education.

He is an active national presenter and conference speaker and has presented at the American Psychological Association's 2023 National Conference on The implications of a protein named FosB in addictive behavior. In addition, he has presented at the International Leadership Association's [ILA] conference annually. At the Vancouver conference he facilitated a roundtable discussion on The rise of the stress arc: managing (ROC) rapid onset of change in business through efficacious strategy at the ILA Vancouver conference in October 2023. He was also interviewed in 2023 by KPI Institute's SERO Boost Podcast host Lu Ngo regarding the topic of Happiness and Hope.

Rodney's exploration of emotion through art, writing, and music has always served him as a source of inspiration for conveying the intricate complexities of psychology and feelings. He is currently exploring the genre of "psychological realism" in fictional writing and short stories, with his most recent work "Blur" published in 2023 as part of an anthology called Dark Speculations: Tales of Various Shapes & Shadows Volume 1. His love of artistic expression also extends through his work as a songwriter, with a growing compilation of songs under the name Moody Priest.