Melissa Rocco, PhD

At the core of Dr. Rocco’s work is her desire to help individuals, groups, and communities identify, develop, and engage their capacity for change-making. Her research, teaching, and practice focus on the application of transformative and liberatory pedagogy to challenge dominant leadership narratives and center identity, equity, and justice in leadership education. Dr. Rocco primarily teaches courses on leadership and identity, social action and change, learning and curriculum design, developmental theory, and postsecondary educator preparation.

Dr. Rocco’s professional and scholarly contributions include roles as faculty director for the National Clearinghouse for Leadership Programs (NCLP), co-chairperson for the Leadership Educators Symposium (LES) and Leadership Educators Institute (LEI); and national representative to the Council for the Advancement of Standards (CAS) in higher education. She is also a collaborating author on the National Leadership Education Research Agenda 2020-2025, issue editor and author for New Directions for Student Leadership (NDSL), and contributor and reviewer for some of the most widely-used texts in graduate and undergraduate leadership education. Prior to her faculty appointments, Dr. Rocco worked as a higher education administrator in functional areas including co-curricular leadership programs, student activities, academic advising, and fraternity and sorority life. She has also facilitated hundreds of leadership programs for professionals and students across the globe through her consulting and volunteer work. Dr. Rocco holds a PhD in Higher Education, Student Affairs, & International Education Policy from the University of Maryland.