EVAN WITTENBERG

Evan Wittenberg is the Director of the Wharton Leadership Program, responsible for developing and overseeing academic and co-curricular leadership development activities for the Wharton MBA population.  He is also co-coordinator of the core MBA course: Foundations of Leadership and Teamwork, and teaches this course to more than 200 first-year MBAs.  Additionally Evan directs the Wharton Leadership Ventures, experiential leadership-skill building opportunities in challenging settings for MBAs students and alumni. These ventures, which range from a creativity-building workshop with the renowned Pilobolus Dance Company to an intensive examination of military style leadership at the famed U.S. Marine Corps Officer Candidate School to a trek across Antarctica, provide students with the chance to encounter the intersection between theory and practice and examine their own strengths and areas for improvement in an environment that goes beyond their natural comfort zones.  

Evan's professional work focuses on leadership development and change management.  Publications include an article in the 2005 inaugural issue of the International Journal of Leadership Development entitled “Leadership Development Beyond the Classroom,” with co-authors Mike Useem and Mark Davidson.  Evan has been interviewed for numerous articles and shows about leadership, including features in American Way Magazine and on CNN Headline News. 

Evan received his BA with Honors in Psychology and English Literature from Swarthmore College, and his MBA with Honors from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, specializing in Strategic Change Management.  Before coming to Wharton, Evan worked on the merger of New York Hospital - Cornell Medical Center and Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, which resulted in the creation of the largest hospital in the country.  There he was responsible for cultural integration of the two entities, and the creation and delivery of the leadership development program for hospital executives.