This fall, CBE welcomes 8 new faculty members — here’s what you need to know.
Tanja Darden
Assistant Professor
Department of Management
Education:
Ph.D., Business Administration
Management – Organizational Behavior
Georgia State University
M.S., Electrical Engineering
North Carolina A&T State University
B.S., Electrical Engineering
North Carolina A&T State University
Research Interests:
I primarily study the relationships between supervisors and their employees, specifically how supervisors react emotionally and behaviorally when employees either under-deliver, over-deliver or deliver as promised on tasks. I also study the effects of abusive supervision on employees as well as gender effects in peer employee relationships.
What are you looking forward to in your new role at Towson University?
I’m looking forward to meeting new students and helping them learn how to think more critically and nurture relationships at work. So much of success in business depends on these skills. I’m also excited to get to know my new colleagues and explore new research opportunities with them.
What is something few people know about you that might be surprising to some?
I catered a wedding once for a friend because I love entertaining, and I thought catering was a natural second career. The event was a success, but A LOT OF WORK. Luckily, I had friends who attended the wedding who helped me out, but I decided then that I didn’t like it enough to give it a go.
How do you spend your free time?
I love live music so I try to find a local band or national artist, preferably at a small venue. Luckily, I’m in the perfect area for it.
If you could give your students one piece of advice from your life experiences, what would it be?
You may feel like you have no options, but you ALWAYS have a choice. Never feel stuck. Make a different choice and see where it takes you. That’s how I ended up here at Towson. I felt stuck in my consulting career. I didn’t like it anymore but I made a lot of money and I’d established a good reputation. I felt like I had no options until friends challenged me to really think about what I wanted to do in life. You know, they asked the “what would you do if you couldn’t fail” question. My answer – be a college professor. It took another year and a personal coach to work up the nerve to leave what I knew and embark on a new journey – a PhD program. Five years later, I was blessed to finish my degree and get a job at what I think is the perfect fit for me – Towson University.