About Me
William “Billy” Obenauer is an assistant professor of management in the Maine Business School at the University of Maine. He earned his PhD from the Lally School of Management at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Troy, NY where he studied organizational behavior. His research focuses on the contextual nuances that influence diversity and inclusion issues within organizations. Billy’s research has been published in journals such as The Leadership Quarterly, Group and Organization Management, Industrial and Organizational Psychology: Perspectives on Science and Practice, and Human Factors. Billy has had papers accepted for presentation at the annual conferences of the Academy of Management, the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, the Southern Management Association, the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences, the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, the Eastern Academy of Management, the Southwest Academy of Management, and the Midwest Academy of Management.
Billy’s impact is growing globally. He is an Executive Board Member for the Advancement of Replications Initiative in Management, where he also leads a team of 35 international scholars working on a large-scale replication project. He is on the editorial boards of Group and Organization Management and Journal of Management Scientific Reports. He also maintains his own educational YouTube channel that has received more than half a million views!
Prior to attending RPI as a PhD student, Billy earned his MBA at RPI. While attending RPI as a master’s student, he participated on a team that designed, developed a business plan for, and produced a prototype for a new type of athletic apparel. He also participated in the Lally Masters’ Scholars Program where he had the opportunity to work with researchers and practitioners in research on corporate entrepreneurship. Billy was also honored with the school’s annual Chief Innovation Officer of the Future Award.
Billy has also earned a Master of Science in Education from SUNY Oswego and a Bachelor of Science in Professional Retail Management from Bellevue University, graduating from both programs with a 4.0 GPA. At SUNY Oswego, he was also a member of the Omicron Delta Kappa honor society. His work experience includes positions as a high school business teacher and a college cross country coach as well as a decade in the field of retail management. Billy also spent five years helping to build data management communities in New York’s Capital Region through his consulting work with the New York State Technology Enterprise Corporation.
Billy is married with four children. His household also includes one cat, two dogs, three birds (one of which is his “famous” parrot Jellybean), and various small animals. He and his family enjoy going to college hockey games, hiking, kayaking, and sitting around around a campfire. Billy is also an avid Buffalo Bills and New York Knicks fan. He is also the business manager Marsh Island Psychiatry, PLLC, a business founded by his wife, Michelle. Billy and Michelle consider themselves “reluctant entrepreneurs.”