Marietta College

« Back to Recent News

Marietta College professor publishes a book on teaching leadership

Dr. Gama Perruci is the Dean of the McDonough Center for Leadership & Business

by Elizabeth Nedved

Marietta, Ohio (09/18/2018) — Marietta College's Dr. Gama Perruci, McCoy Professor and Dean of the McDonough Leadership Center, recently published his second book, entitled Teaching Leadership: Bridging Theory and Practice (Edward Elgar Publishing).

Co-authored by Sadhana Warty Hall, Deputy Director of the Rockefeller Center for Public Policy and Social Sciences at Dartmouth College, Teaching Leadership addresses the lasting debate; can we teach leadership? And if so, how? The book is framed with three conceptual approaches in mind: teaching about leadership, teaching for leadership and teaching leadership wisdom.

"In a way, it makes sense that I wrote this book now after being (at Marietta College) for 19 years," Perruci said. "It is really the product of all this time being in the field that has given me the depth of knowledge and ability to write with educators and practitioners in mind."

Teaching Leadership is part of the "New Horizons in Leadership Studies" series by Edward Elgar Publishing. After the book came out in July, it topped the Amazon's "New Releases Chart in Social Studies Teaching Material" best sellers. The book showcases the McDonough Leadership Program and the Rockefeller Center, both nationally recognized programs, as case studies for the practice of teaching leadership education.

Teaching Leadership is Perruci's second book on leadership education. His first book, Understanding Leadership (Routledge, 2015), was co-authored by McDonough professor Dr. Robert McManus. The first book also has done well, and they are currently working on a second edition, due out next year.

"Dr. Perruci is a noteworthy scholar and educator who is highly respected in the field of leadership studies," McManus said. "His most recent work, Teaching Leadership, is a testimony to the legacy the McDonough Center at Marietta College has given to undergraduate leadership education. It is an honor to serve alongside him and to be a part of this grand intellectual heritage that began right here in Marietta."

Aside from teaching, Perruci brings a wealth of experience to the book. He serves as a session facilitator for the Rockefeller Global Leadership Program at Dartmouth and as a consultant for The New York Times in which he writes an online weekly column titled "Connecting Theory and Practice."

"The thinking (Hall) and I had is we both have all this experience; let's share with others and maybe they will find it intriguing and useful," Perruci said.

Located in Marietta, Ohio, at the confluence of the Muskingum and Ohio rivers, Marietta College is a four-year liberal arts college. Tracing its roots to the Muskingum Academy back in 1797, the College was officially chartered in 1835. Today Marietta College serves a body of 1,200 full-time students. The College offers 49 majors and is consistently ranked as one of the top regional comprehensive colleges by U.S. News & World Report and The Princeton Review, as well as one of the nation's best by Forbes.com. Marietta was selected seventh in the nation according to the Brookings Institution's rankings of colleges by their highest value added, regardless of major.

###

Media Attachments

Copyright © 2025 Merit Pages, Inc. • All Rights Reserved. • Terms of Service • Privacy Policy • Opt Out