Erik Helzer, PhD

Erik Helzer develops and applies psychological, organizational, and behavioral science insights to understand the cultivation of practical wisdom for leading in organizations. Dr. Helzer's research focuses on three facets of practical wisdom: ethical behavior and moral judgment, self-knowledge, and personal agency and adjustment. These topics have been the basis of his empirical research and serve as the foundation for his teaching in both MBA and Executive Education programs.

Education

• Ph. D, Social and Personality Psychology, Cornell University
  • Graduate Minor: Cognitive Science 
• HBA, Psychology and Philosophy, Oregon State University

Research

Selected publications

• Helzer, E. G., Cohen, T. R., Kim, Y., Iorio, A., & Aven, B. (2024). Moral beacons: Understanding moral character and moral influence. Journal of Personality, 1-18.
• Cohen, T. R., Helzer, E. G., & Creo, R. A. (2022). Honesty among lawyers: Moral character, game framing, and honest disclosures in negotiations. Negotiation Journal, (38), 199-234.
• Helzer, E. G., Cohen, T., & Kim, Y. (2022). The character lens: A person-centered view of moral recognition and ethical decision-making. Journal of Business Ethics, (182), 483-500.
• Helzer, E. G, & Rosenzweig, E. (2020). Examining the role of harm-to-others in lay perceptions of greed. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, (160), 106-114.
• Helzer, E. G., Myers, C. G., Fahim, C., Sutcliffe, K. M., & Abernathy, J. H. (2020). Gender Bias in Collaborative Medical Decision Making: Emergent Evidence. Academic Medicine, 95, 1524-1528.
• Helion, C., Helzer, E. G., Kim, S., & Pizarro, D. A. (2020). Asymmetric memory for harming versus being harmed. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, (149), 889-900.
• Critcher, C. R., Helzer, E. G., & Tannenbaum, D. (2019). Moral Character Evaluation: Testing Another’s Moral-Cognitive Machinery. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, (87), 103906.
• Helzer, E. G., & Critcher, C. R. (2018). What do we evaluate when we evaluate moral character? Guilford Press.
• Fleeson, W., Furr, R., Helzer, E. G., Jayawickreme, E., Harley, A., & Meindl, P. (2014). Personality science and the foundations of character. New York, NY Oxford University Press.

Working Papers

• Bauman, C. W., Helzer, E. G., & Lee, J. Embracing pluralism to enrich theories of ethics and ethical decision-making.
• Helzer, E. G., Cohen, T. R., & Kim, Y. The character lens: A person-centered view of moral recognition.

Teaching

Current

• Advising Project Teams (MBA) 
• Foundations of Leadership and Management (Executive Education)
• Team Communication and Conflict Management (Executive Education) Applied Leadership Capstone (Executive Education)

Previous

• Ethical Leadership for Public Organizations, Naval Postgraduate School (MBA) 
• Leading Innovative Organizations and People, Naval Postgraduate School (MBA) 
• Thought and Discourse Seminar in Ethical Leadership, Johns Hopkins University (MBA)

Honors and distinctions

• 2021 Louis D. Liskin Award for Teaching Excellence in the Graduate School of Defense Management 
• 2016-2018 Dean’s Award for Faculty Excellence, Johns Hopkins Carey Business School

Impact and engagement

Business

• In partnership with the Naval Postgraduate School, Dr. Helzer has collaborated with Navy Personnel Command (N1) to improve performance assessment in the Navy; with the Navy's Office of Culture and Force Resilience (N17) to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion within Navy commands; and with the Army Resilience Directorate to understand the impact of leadership traits on career success and well-being. He has advised numerous graduate student thesis projects focused on diagnosing and addressing human-centered operational problems in the defense sector. He is currently a co-investigator on a longitudinal study following law students through three years of law school, examining changes in moral character over time.

Policy

• Smart, B. E., Helzer, E., G., & Heissel, J. A. (2023, September). Invest in enlisted education. Proceedings of the US Naval Institute, Vol. 149/9/1,447. https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2023/september/invest-enlisted-education

Community

• Tutor, Brown Memorial Tutoring Program (former)

In the media

• Smart, B. E., Helzer, E., G., & Heissel, J. A. (2023, September). Invest in enlisted education. Proceedings of the US Naval Institute, Vol. 149/9/1,447. https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2023/september/invest-enlisted-education  
• Finkenstadt, D., & Helzer, E. (2023, March). Gamified learning can be effective. Proceedings of the US Naval Institute, Vol. 149/3/1441. https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2023/march/gamified-learning-can-be-effective