About the Center - Staff

Thomas Shields, M.T., Ph.D.
Dr. Tom Shields is on the faculty at the Jepson School of Leadership Studies and is director of the Center for Leadership in Education at the University of Richmond. He is also an instructor at the Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership at the University of Virginia. As director of the Center for Leadership in Education, Dr. Shields is responsible for the implementation of programs and research in leadership studies for students, teachers, and administrators in the K-12 market. The Center offers various programs in leadership studies, such as the Emerging Leaders Institute for the Virginia Association of Independent Schools and the Next Generation Leadership Academy for public school divisions in the greater-Richmond area.

At the Jepson School he has taught classes on the Political Context of Leadership, Foundations of Leadership, Histories and Theories of Leadership, and Leadership and Analyzing Public Policy. He has published articles in Academic Exchange Quarterly (Civic and Political Leadership Education in HTML), the Journal of Black Studies (The "Tip of the Iceberg"... in PDF) and in Politics and Policy (The Fight for Political Representation... in PDF) and has presented his research at numerous academic conferences. In the classroom, Dr. Shields focuses on creating learning environments where students apply theoretical knowledge to practical learning experiences. An example would be the following exercise in which students in his "Leadership in Political Context" class organized a Candidate's Forum for the First Councilmanic District in the City of Richmond: http://www.richmond.com/printer.cfm?article=4461023.

He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in History with minors in English and Political Science from the University of Scranton. He holds a Master of Arts in Teaching and doctorate in Public Policy and Administration from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Download Dr. Shields' Curriculum Vitae in PDF format

Claudia Mills is the Administrative Coordinator for the Center for Leadership in Education. Ms. Mills brings a great deal of experience to the Center. She was Executive Assistant to the President of Historical Associates, Ltd., in Richmond, VA. She has held other positions in higher education as Coordinator of the Alumni Admission Network at the College of William and Mary and Assistant to the Academic Dean at Mount Mercy College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Ms. Mills is a graduate of The University of Maryland with a B.S. degree in Business and Management.

Eric Loepp joined the Center as Program Coordinator in July 2008. Mr. Loepp is a graduate of the Jepson School of Leadership Studies, majoring in leadership studies and political science while at the University of Richmond. He plans to attend graduate school in one or both of those areas. His career aspirations include work in the fields of education and public policy. Eric first worked with the Center in August 2006 and served as Youth Programs Coordinator before assuming the role of Program Director.