A reinvention, a Ph.D. and a dream…

By Sean Harvey ’10

Thomas Wilson ’10 had always dreamed of teaching at the university level and now, with his Ph.D. from Lynn University, he has been awarded that opportunity.

 

Wilson worked at Bellsouth for more than 26 years. Upon early retirement, he decided it was finally time to follow his dream of becoming a university professor. The only thing that stood between Wilson and his dream was receiving a Ph.D. from the perfect school. After searching for universities, Wilson realized Lynn was the perfect fit for his pursuit of a Ph.D. “I chose Lynn because I wanted small classes so that I could get individualized attention from the professors. I have been in large classes of 50+ students before, and felt as if I was lost in the crowd.  The professor did not even know who I was,” Wilson said.

 

When asked about his favorite part about getting his doctorate at Lynn, he said, “My favorite part was the support and guidance that I received from my dissertation chair committee, and also the fantastic people in the library that went out of their way to help me all the time.” 

 

Wilson’s dissertation chair committee would be proud of the success and popularity of his paper on workplace aggression behaviors. He was asked to speak at the International Association of Workplace Bullying and Harassment (IAWBH) conference in Cardiff, Wales, U.K. last June and presented his dissertation titled, “Workplace Aggression Behaviors, Organizational Justice, and Intention to Leave among U.S. Telecommunications Workers.”

 

After 26 years at Bellsouth, Wilson has completed his career reinvention successfully. Wilson is currently living his dream as a professor at the University of Phoenix. At present he is awaiting approval from a publisher for a journal article he submitted on his presentation at the IAWBH Conference.