Dean's Professor (Emeritus) of Leadership and Motivation
R.H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland
Edwin A. Locke is an American psychologist and codeveloper of goal setting theory, and Dean’s Professor of Motivation and Leadership Emeritus at the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, College Park. He was also affiliated with the Department of Psychology.
He has published more than 320 chapters, notes and articles in professional journals, on such subjects as work motivation, job satisfaction, incentives and the philosophy of science. He is the author, co-author, or editor of fourteen books, including The Illusion of Determinism: Why Free Will Is Real and Causal; The Selfish Path to Romance: How to Love with Passion and Reason; Study Methods and Study Motivation; Goal Setting: A Motivational Technique That Works; A Theory of Goal Setting and Task Performance; Handbook of Principles of Organizational Behavior (Second Edition); The Prime Movers: Traits of the Great Wealth Creators; Postmodernism and Management: Pros, Cons and the Alternative; and New Developments in Goal Setting and Task Performance.
He is internationally known for his research on goal setting. A survey found that Dr. Locke’s goal setting theory (developed with G. Latham) was ranked #1 in importance among 73 management theories and is generally considered to be the leading theory of motivation in Industrial-Organizational Psychology.
Dr. Locke has been elected a fellow of the American Psychological Association, the Association for Psychological Science and the Academy of Management, and has received many additional scholarly awards. He has been a consulting editor for leading journals.
He has written articles and given talks for the Ayn Rand Institute and is interested in the application of the philosophy of Objectivism to behavioral sciences. He is a member of the board of directors of the Anthem Foundation for Objectivist Scholarship.
University of Maryland
2001 – present
Board of Directors
Anthem Foundation for Objectivist Scholarship
Dean’s Professor of Leadership and Motivation
University of Maryland
1998 – 2001
Business and Mangement, and of Psychology
University of Maryland
1967 – 2001
The Illusion of Determinism: Why Free Will Is Real and Causal March 2018
The Selfish Path to Romance: How to Love with Passion and Reason (with Ellen Kenner) February 2011
New Developments in Goal Setting and Task Performance (with G. Latham) December 2012
Postmodernism and Management: Pros, Cons and the Alternative (ed.; including a chapter with O. Ghate) September 2003
The Prime Movers: Traits of the Great Wealth Creators March 2000
Study Methods and Study Motivation: A Practical Guide to Effective Study October 1998
Goal Setting: A Motivational Technique That Works! (with G. Latham)January 1984
“Business Ethics: A Way Out of the Morass” in Academy of Management Learning and Education 2006
“What Is Capitalism? Some Comments on Kasser, Cohn, Kanner and Ryan”” in Psychological Inquiry 2007
Review of J. Bean (ed.), Race and Liberty in America: The Essential Reader in Human Resource Management 2011
“The Traits of Business Heroes in Atlas Shrugged” in Essays on Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged” April 2009
“Individualism, Collectivism, Leadership, and the Greater Good” in For the Greater Good of All December 2011
“Setting Goals for Life and Happiness” in Handbook of Positive Psychology March 2005
“Self Interest” in Encyclopedia of Management 2004
“Rational Principles of Management”
“Setting Goals to Improve Your Life and Happiness”
“The Life and Achievements of Thomas Edison”
“Studies of American Business Heroes”
“General Electric: A Corporation Without Peer”
“Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway vs. Ken Lay’s Enron”
“Wal-Mart: The Story of the World’s Greatest Retailer”
“Heroic Business Dynasties”
“Traits of Business Heroes”
“The Assault on Self-Esteem”
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