Ron Sheffield

Clinical Assistant Professor & Executive in Residence, University of Louisville
Ron Sheffield

Dr. Ron Sheffield, a Native American man with short salt-and-pepper hair color, is framed wearing a charcoal-colored suit with a light yellow-shaded tie.

Dr. Ron Sheffield is a member of the Quechan Indian Tribe of Yuma, Arizona. He is currently a Clinical Assistant Professor and Executive in Residence at The University of Louisville. For the past eight years, he has taught Leadership and American Studies as an Adjunct Professor at Christopher Newport University and Advanced Organizational Change as a Professorial Lecturer with The George Washington University’s Graduate School of Education and Human Development. In addition, Ron owns and operates OrgScience, Inc., a Virginia-based management consulting firm.

Ron conducted his dissertation research on the Fort Yuma Arizona Quechan Indian Reservation; this work is titled The Influence of Language on Culture and Identity: Resurgence of the Quechan Native American Tribal Language. Dr. Sheffield interviewed many respected tribal elders and sought to gain an understanding of the influence that language restriction, and then later legitimization by the United States Federal government, had on tribal elders’ individual perspectives of culture and identity.

In 2019, Dr. Sheffield completed an IRB-approved research study with Christopher Newport University (CNU) titled Native American Entrepreneurs (IRB #18.059). The research sought to gain a greater understanding of the Native American entrepreneur.  Although faced with numerous challenges, many Native American entrepreneurs, with various tribal affiliations, have learned to transcend tough obstacles, leverage resources, and strategically pursue opportunities to achieve business success. At its completion, twenty Native American entrepreneurs were interviewed using a structured set of fifteen questions. This work was co-authored with Dr. Mark Munoz (current Advisor to the AI Initiative at Harvard University and Professor of Business at Millikin University), and published through Business Expert Press, in book form, in January 2020.

Dr. Ron Sheffield, Clinical Assistant Professor and Executive in Residence at the University of Louisville is an annually invited lecturer at The College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, Youngstown State University in Youngstown, Ohio, and the Seminole Tribe’s Native Learning Center in Florida. His lectures have included: Cross-Cultural and Values Leadership, Leadership in Native America, Abuse in Indian Country, the Indigenous Perspective on Counseling, and the Journey through Formal Education for the Indigenous Student.

Ron holds current and active certifications as:

  • Project Management Professional (PMP)
  • Six Sigma Black Belt (SSBB)
  • Certified Scrum Master (CSM)
  • Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) Agilist
  • Citi Social and Behavioral Science Researcher

Ron has been an active member of the Board of Directors for the American Indigenous Business Leaders (AIBL.org) since 2013 and currently resides in Williamsburg, Virginia. He has been married for 32 years, has two brilliantly cool daughters (Hannah 30 and Emily 24), and one beautiful granddaughter, Giuliana.

Roundtable: Beyond the Land Acknowledgment: Decolonial Actions for the Watson Conference and the University of Louisville

Date: Wednesday, April 21, 3:30-5:15 PM EST

Description: What does a decolonial approach to conference design look like? This roundtable seeks to help planners of academic conferences generally (and the Watson conference specifically) consider concrete ways to support Indigenous people, communities, and nations and dismantle white supremacist structures. Native scholars from several different institutions will share their experiences with conference planning and other projects; native and settler scholars from the University of Louisville (UofL), assembled for the first time, will begin the conversation about actions and initiatives that UofL might take and that the Watson Conference could advance. As they offer their perspectives, presenters will draw on their expertise in archaeology, geography, leadership and organizational development, linguistics, linguistic anthropology, literary studies, rhetoric, and sociology.