Julie B. Olson-Buchanan is the Dean and Sid Craig Dean’s Chair of the Craig School of Business and a Professor of Human Resource Management at California State University, Fresno. She was the recipient of the 2024 SIOP Humanitarian Award and the 2011 SIOP Distinguished Service Contributions Award. Prior to her appointment as Dean, she served as the Chair of the Department of Management for ten years and the Founding Director of the Craig Honors Program as well as interim associate dean and interim dean. She received her PhD in industrial-organizational psychology from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, where she was a National Science Foundation Fellow.
Professor Olson-Buchanan is a fellow of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology and the American Psychological Association. She previously served as SIOP’s main United Nations representative and chair, Chair of Site Selection for SIOP, Program Chair, Conference Chair, and Executive Board Member for Conferences and Programs.
Her research focuses on conflict and mistreatment in organizations, humanitarian work psychology, and the work-life interface. Her research appears in the Journal of Applied Psychology, Academy of Management Review, Academy of Management Journal, Personnel Psychology, Journal of Management, Journal of Vocational Behavior, and Industrial and Organizational Psychology: Perspectives on Science and Practice, among other outlets. She is the editor of several books, including the 2025 volume Sustainable Development Through the World of Work: Translating Insights from Organizational Psychology and the SIOP Frontiers Series book Using I-O Psychology for the Greater Good: Helping Those Who Help Others. She served as an Associate Editor for the Journal of Business and Psychology from 2008 to 2023.
She has provided consultation, training, and expert witness testimony in her research areas, with her work featured in media outlets such as the New York Times, Chicago Tribune and Washington Post.
In her local community, Professor Olson-Buchanan is a longtime member and past chair of the Board of Directors for the Central California Food Bank. She has received numerous campus awards for her work, including the Provost’s Award for Teaching Excellence. She was recognized for her professional contributions as a Top 10 Professional Woman by Marjaree Mason Center in 2011. Professor Olson-Buchanan teaches courses in human resource management and organizational behavior.
