Leaders: Amy L. Fraher  
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Amy L. Fraher recently returned from a year abroad, as a Visiting Social Scientist at the Tavistock Institute of Human Relations in London, to accept the Chief Pilot position at San Diego Miramar College. She is a retired US Navy Commander, former United Airlines pilot and Principal Consultant at Paradox and Company, where her research interests include leadership, organizational behavior, change management, systems psychodynamics, and group dynamics in high-risk teams. Dr. Fraher enjoys working on the boundary between the technical and the interpersonal, studying forces that affect leadership, communication, teamwork and sense-making in high-risk organizations such as aviation, military, police, fire fighting, and medicine. To this work she brings a unique perspective honed through twenty years of leadership experience as a military officer, eight years as a commercial airline pilot, doctoral research in group dynamics, and system psychodynamics studies at the Tavistock Institute.

Dr. Fraher's diverse career in the field of aviation-commercial, military and general aviation-has shown her that it is a given in most high-risk careers today that one possesses mastery of the technical skills required by the job. What differentiates excellent performers from average ones in high-risk organizations is leadership, an ability to communicate and perform in a team under often highly stressful situations. Out of necessity, a new definition of leadership has emerged in many technical fields over the past decade and Dr. Fraher's research and training program addresses these needs from a systems psychodynamics perspective.

Dr. Fraher's Aviation Operations Program now emphasizes the study of a unique combination of group dynamics, human factors, and safety awareness along with the technical fundamentals of flight in order to enhance students' development of situational awareness, critical thinking and problem solving skills. Integrating simulator flight training with rigorous academic study, the program offers students the opportunity to increase their teambuilding skills, providing graduates with a strong foundation for leadership positions within the aviation industry.

Education

• 2002 Doctorate in Education in Leadership (Ed.D.)
  University of San Diego, San Diego, California
  Dissertation: The Development of the Tavistock and Tavistock-Inspired Group Relations Movement in Great Britain and the United States: A Comparative and Historical Perspective.
• 1995 Master of Arts in Educational Technology
  San Diego State University, San Diego, California
• 1984 Bachelor of Science in Textile Design
  Philadelphia University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Bibliography

Book
(2004). A History of Group Study and Psychodynamic Organizations. London: Free Association Books. Nominated for the American Psychological Association's 2005 William James Book Award.
Download and preview Chapter 1 here.

Peer Reviewed Chapters in Books
(2005). [Re]Thinking Leadership in a Global Economy. In E. Klein (Ed.),Relatedness in a Global Economy. New York: Psychosocial Press.

Peer Reviewed Journal Articles
(2004). Systems Psychodynamics: The Formative Years of an Interdisciplinary Field at the Tavistock Institute. History of Psychology. 7(1), 65-84.

(2004). Flying the Friendly Skies: Why U.S. Commercial Airline Pilots Want To Carry Guns. Human Relations. 57(5), 573-595. Nominated by Editors for Best Paper of 2004 volume. Download article

(2004). Systems Psychodynamics: The Formative Years (1895-1967). Organisational and Social Dynamics. 4(2), 191-211.

(Under review). An Unconscious Sense of Guilt.

(In work) A New 'Crew Resource Management' Pedagogy: Non-Linear Forces in Process.


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