Skip to main content
students standing at the state capitol building

College of Leadership & Public Service

Where Tennessee Turns for Leadership

To be a transformative, innovative leader in today’s world requires more than knowledge. You need the confidence, practical experiences, and most importantly, the integrity and heart to lead others toward a common goal and a better future. Lipscomb’s College of Leadership & Public Service is “Where Tennessee Turns for Leadership” by intentionally addressing local, national and global issues to prepare leaders to navigate, shape and steer the direction of matters affecting communities and people around the world. Our college is comprised of four institutes and one school, all of which focus on both outreach and academics. Through our distinctive approach to leadership and public service, built on a model of civil discourse, innovation and bold action, you will graduate ready to speak your mind and advocate for new ways to serve others. You will be ready to take immediate action that makes a lasting difference.

students in a mock trial

Undergraduate Programs

Be ready to affect change. Our undergraduate programs model the highest standards of professional practice, public service and community engagement. You will receive the specific skill sets, theoretical foundations and practical expertise that will prepare you to successfully live out your calling as a leader in communities around the world.

View Undergraduate Programs
mentor speaking with student outside of the State Capitol

Graduate Programs

Our graduate programs in conflict management, leadership and public service, public administration, and sustainable practice offer experiential academics and skills that will help you succeed in serving the common good. We offer graduate awards in transit and mobility, education policy, diversity and inclusion, immigration, civil discourse and regional prosperity.

View Graduate Programs
Class in Nashville

Regional Scholars Program

To equip leaders and prepare them to govern in rural areas and small communities, the Regional Scholars Program gives public servants from various regions across Tennessee the opportunity to earn a discounted master’s degree and take their education back to their communities to better serve their constituents. Our aim is that communities would be changed and lives transformed across Tennessee through this program.

About the Regional Scholars Program
Alum Grant Mathis with community members

Reaching the Community

The College of Leadership & Public Service provides a number of opportunities for you not only to get involved in organizations within the community, but also to develop innovative solutions and compassionate action to address problems affecting our city. We serve the region and nation by partnering with national leaders, providing citizen education through seminar training, offering conflict management training and much more.

People

Meet the key people that make up the College of Leadership & Public Service.

  • Steve Joiner headshot

    Steve Joiner

    Executive Director ICM and Dean, College of Leadership and Public Service

    Steve Joiner is the Dean of the College of Leadership and Public Service and Executive Director of the Institute for Conflict Management at Lipscomb University. Joiner also serves as Professor...

    Meet Steve Joiner
  • Kimberly McCall headshot

    Kimberly Mccall

    Associate Dean of Academics and Director of Fred D. Gray Institute for Law, Justice & Society

    Kimberly L. McCall was named the Academic Director for the Fred D. Gray Institute for Law, Justice and Society effective January 1, 2021. In March 2023, McCall was named Associate...

    Meet Kimberly Mccall
  • Laura Encalade headshot

    Laura Encalade

    Executive Director School of Public Policy/Assistant Professor

    Laura Encalade is an experienced educational leader with deep expertise in strategic planning, innovative program design and implementation, and consulting. She is passionate about supporting communities and organizations to advance...

    Meet Laura Encalade
  • Dodd Galbreath headshot

    Dodd Galbreath

    Professor and Director, Institute of Sustainable Practice

    In the Fall of 2007, Professor Galbreath founded the Institute for Sustainable Practice, the Southeast's first, comprehensive, academic sustainability program. As the director of graduate programs, his teaching primarily focuses...

    Meet Dodd Galbreath
  • Scott Bledsoe headshot

    Scott Bledsoe

    Assistant Professor

    Scott Bledsoe, a 2014 graduate from Lipscomb University, is currently completing his PhD in political science from George Mason University in Arlington, Virginia. After graduating from Lipscomb University, Scott moved to New York City, where he received an MA in comparative politics from NYU and worked as an editorial assistant at Oxford University Press. While at George Mason University, Scott served as a research assistant for the "Closing the Gap Project" at the United States Institute of Peace in conjunction with USAID, which explored the role of religious freedom in global socioeconomic development. Scott’s research interests include the role of religiosity in motivating behavioral polarization, religious identity in the United States, and early American political thought.

    Meet Scott Bledsoe
  • Craig Bledsoe headshot

    Craig Bledsoe

    Director of the Ph.D. in Leadership and Policy Studies Program

    Bledsoe has served as the provost and chief academic officer at Lipscomb University since 1997. Under his leadership, the university has expanded to ten colleges that offer over 200 undergraduate...

    Meet Craig Bledsoe
  • Bill Johnson headshot

    Bill Johnson

    Professor of Leadership and Practice

    Dr. Johnson is a professor of leadership and practice within the College of Leadership and Public Service at Lipscomb University in Nashville, TN. His role is to provide classroom instruction...

    Meet Bill Johnson
  • Elizabeth McMillan headshot

    Elizabeth McMillan

    Assistant Professor

    Elizabeth McMillan is an Assistant Professor of Conflict Management in the College of Leadership and Public Service. She also serves as the Training Director for Lipscomb's Institute for Conflict Management....

    Meet Elizabeth McMillan

Undergraduate Programs


Discuss and engage with current issues through the many academic and outreach opportunities offered by our College of Leadership & Public Service. Our programs also feature events and visits from national and international leaders related to the work of the college. This unique, creative engagement approach to undergraduate education will help prepare you for successful leadership, no matter what field you pursue.

Graduate Programs


Lipscomb’s College of Leadership & Public Service offers degree programs that will prepare you for a multitude of impactful, action-oriented careers from day one, including careers in policy, advocacy, elected offices, community engagement, corporate social responsibility and more.