The Center for Leadership Studies is the home of Northwest University’s Ph.D. and Ed.D. in Organizational Leadership. Both degree programs hold full accreditation from the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities.

I arrived at Northwest in 2017 as Director of both the CFLS and the university’s leadership doctoral programs. My goal was to train students who will write the books everyone is reading, and lead the organizations everyone is copying, not by avoiding their faith, but by living it.

Northwest’s Ph.D. and Ed.D. offer concentrations in Leading Ministry Organizations, Business Leadership and Consulting, and Higher Education Leadership. The Center houses the program’s development and serves as a support base for its students, facilitating their success and dissertation completion.

The doctoral experience at Northwest is cohort-based, placing diverse students in an inter-disciplinary learning environment. Classes take place on campus, online, and on the road, but all feature strong, supportive relational connections. About half the program content is delivered online.

The Ph.D. and Ed.D. programs shape scholar/practitioners from a Christian perspective who can draw from the highest intellectual levels, and the depths of faith simultaneously. I am convinced the life of the mind and the walk of faith are not enemies, but the best of friends.

The Center for Leadership Studies is also a platform for leadership conferences, a host for visiting scholars, a source for organizational consulting, a catalyst for research and a stimulus for new books, articles, and training resources.

The CFLS is located on the second floor of the university’s 6710 Building, a comfortable, modern facility near the main campus.The doctoral floor includes the Center offices and 6 classrooms with full multi-media and wi-fi capability, formatted for doctoral-level education. Ample parking and outstanding student amenities make 6710 a great place to study. Starbucks is right across the street!

Northwest’s beautiful campus is a semi-wooded tract of 56 acres overlooking Lake Washington, only minutes from the world-class city of Seattle with all of its amenities. A view of the snow-clad Olympics graces the skyline to the west.

But this setting offers more than impressive natural beauty. The CFLS is located amidst many of the most influential organizations of our time, including Microsoft, Boeing, Costco, Amazon, World Vision, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. In fact, Google-Kirkland is less than half a mile from our front door. These game-changing entities create a powerful learning context for students investigating organizational leadership.

Our students don’t just talk about Amazon, they can go there.

For more information on the CFLS, please email or call us at your convenience.