Deborah Kolb's Bio
Dr. Kolb is an international expert on gender issues in negotiation and other forms of conflict management. She examines how women and men can become more effective problem solvers by empowering themselves and connecting with others. Kolb recently published Everyday Negotiation: Navigating the Hidden Agendas in Bargaining, a book co-authored with Judith Williams ('80) that shows women and men how to become more effective in their everyday negotiations by attending to the dual requirements of the Shadow Negotiation: Advocacy for Oneself and Connection With Others. This book is a revised and updated version of The Shadow Negotiation: How Women Can Master the Hidden Agendas That Determine Bargaining Success, published in 2000, which won the Best Book Award from the International Association of Conflict Management. Kolb currently is working on a new book that looks at the challenges women need to negotiate when they take on leadership roles.
Dr. Kolb's teaching and professional practice focus on negotiation and conflict resolution in the leadership of organizations. She has published more than 50 papers and regularly presents nationally and internationally on these topics. Kolb also serves as a consultant to such organizations as Pricewaterhouse/Coopers, Deloitte, Fidelity Investments, The Ford Foundation, and Women in Technology International.
Dr. Kolb is also author of The Mediators and Making Talk Work: Profiles of Mediators, co-editor of Hidden Conflict in Organizations: Uncovering Behind-the-Scenes Disputes, and editor of Negotiation Eclectics: Essays in Memory of Jeffrey Z. Rubin.
Kolb joined the Simmons faculty in 1977. From 1991-1994, she was the Executive Director of the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School, and is currently on the program's steering committee. Kolb is a principal in The Shadow Negotiation, LLC, an e-learning company that provides negotiation training specially designed for women, and is also Board President of the Patriot's Trail Girl Scout Council.
