Poonam Arora

Dr. Poonam Arora is the Louis F. Capalbo Professor and Chair in the Management Department at Manhattan College, and an Adjunct Research Scientist at AC4, Earth Institute, Columbia University.

Dr. Arora’s research program explores how individuals, through their choices, can create economic, environmental, and social sustainability for our communities, organizations, and society. Human decisions are multi-motive, interdependent, inter-generational, and context-dependent. They frequently address dilemmas where rational actions may yield short term benefits but create long-term burdens. Dr. Arora uses game theoretic models, lab and online experiments, qualitative fieldwork, agent-based models, and conceptual frameworks to help decision-makers manage conflicting goals and ensure long-term integrated sustainability. Dr. Arora’s research has been published in management, psychology, economics, and sustainability journals.

Prior to joining academia, Dr. Arora worked as a consultant at McKinsey and Co., and an investment banker at Citi. She earned her BBA summa cum laude in Business Economics from John Cabot University in Rome, Italy, an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, and a Ph.D. in Psychology from Columbia University, where she was an NSF Graduate Fellow. She lives with her family in New York. She volunteers with organizations and community groups to help them carve their own path of responsible and value-based sustainable leadership.