Dr. Franz is an Industrial and Organizational Psychologist at St. John Fisher College. He is a Professor of Psychology as well as past Chair of the Psychology Department and past Program Director and Chair of the Organizational Learning and Human Resource Development Department. In addition to his academic work, he also works as an organizational consultant through his independent consulting organization, Franz Consulting.

His topical areas of expertise include team leadership, individual and team decision making, improving team performance, and using teams to drive organizational change. Some of his ideas about improving teams are in his book, titled Group Dynamics and Team Interventions. He is also an experienced applied researcher, specializing in conducting focus groups and individual interviews, designing custom surveys, analyzing employee and workplace data, and evaluating the effectiveness of training programs.

Prior to his work as a college professor, Dr. Franz was a Survey Consultant for the Wyatt Company (now Towers-Watson). He also worked as a consultant for Buck Consultants. In these roles, he designed and conducted custom compensation surveys and salary administration projects for clients in the Northeast and Midwest. In addition, he designed selection tests, employee development instruments, and custom organizational surveys as a contract consultant for Custom Solutions, A London House Consulting Group.

Dr. Franz is a member of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, the Association for Psychological Science, and the Erie Canal Applied Psychology Network. His scientific research has been published in premier journals such as the Journal of the American Medical Association, the Journal of Applied Psychology, and the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. He received his Doctorate in Social/Organizational Psychology from the University of Illinois at Chicago and his Master’s degree in Psychology from the University at Buffalo.