The New SHRM Certification Town Hall

Dr. Debra Cohen is the Senior Vice President, Knowledge Development for the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and is responsible for the Society's Knowledge Development Division which includes the SHRM Knowledge Center (including the Society Library), the Research Department, Academic Initiatives, HR Standards and HR Competencies. Dr. Cohen joined SHRM in May of 2000 as the Director of Research. Cohen is a results-oriented, visionary leader with a strong track record of performance in knowledge and content development in higher education and association management. She has more than 25 years of HR management and leadership positions in the profit and non-profit sectors as well as public and private universities. She serves on the Executive Leadership Team of a $100 million, 400 employee organization, representing more than 260 thousand members around the world. The Leadership Team ensures the financial health of the Society and oversees the successful implementation of a strategic plan. Prior to joining SHRM, Dr. Cohen spent 15 years as an academician teaching HRM at George Washington University (10 years) and George Mason University (5 years). Dr. Cohen has published over 40 articles and book chapters and has been published in such journals as Academy of Management Journal, Personnel Psychology, Human Resource Development Quarterly, Journal of Management, Human Resource Management, Journal of Small Business Strategy, Journal of Business and Psychology, Training and Development Journal, Journal of Management Education and the Journal of Business Ethics. Dr. Cohen remains professionally active and has served on the Executive Board of the HRM Division of the Academy of Management, and formerly on the Board of the Academic Partnership Network of the American Compensation Association (now WorldatWork). She recently served as the chair of the Professional Practice Committee for SIOP, the Society for Industrial Organizational Psychology and was the co-chair of their 2010 Leading Edge Consortium. She is currently an Advisory Editor for Human Resource Management journal, serves on the editorial review boards of Human Resource Management Review, The Journal of Management, and the Academy of Management Learning and Education journal and does ad hoc reviewing for Human Resource Development Quarterly. Dr. Cohen also oversees the Michael R. Losey HR Research Award – an award for $50,000 given out annually to a premier researcher in the field of HR. She has also served as a judge for AARP's 50 Best Places to work for workers over 50 since 2006. Dr. Cohen received her Ph.D. in Management and Human Resources in 1987 and her Master's Degree in Labor and Human Resources (MLHR) in 1982, both from The Ohio State University. She received her Bachelor of Science (in Communications) from Ohio University. She is a frequent presenter at both national and regional conferences and has spoken to a wide variety of audiences. Prior to her academic career, she was a practicing Human Resources Manager (in Training and Development).