Office of the Dean

Dr. Adrian B. Popa has been a faculty member in the Department of Organizational Leadership (ORGL) for nearly 20 years. Adrian has served in various leadership roles, most recently as Acting Dean, and previously as Chair of the IRB and Chair of the Organizational Leadership program, during periods of growth, innovation, and transition. He has served on many department, school, and university committees, as well as advisory boards in the Spokane community. He is a former co-editor of an international journal on higher education and democracy, and has been involved in internationalization efforts through Eastern European partnerships for over two decades. Adrian has taught courses in partnership with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) during the “Arab Spring” and pro-democracy movements, and he continues to teach a NATO-sponsored simulation course on inquiry and strategy in collaboration with a European NGO. Adrian has been invited as a Diaspora Scholar in Romania, his native country, on several occasions. He has also taught courses and sessions on resilient leadership for the European Security Defense College (ESDC) in Romania. Most recently, he collaborated with the Center for Global Engagement and colleagues from Timișoara West University (UVT), Romania, to establish a European Commission Erasmus+ fully funded mobility exchange for students, staff, and faculty at Gonzaga and UVT. This multi-year collaboration has already supported a semester-long study abroad program for a graduate student, with short exchanges for two staff members and two faculty members.

Before joining Gonzaga, Adrian worked as a research analyst at the University of Utah and as a Clinical Counselor at Loma Linda University Medical Center and Children’s Hospital. His early clinical experience on pediatric units, academic background in psychology, and upbringing in Communist Eastern Europe inspired his interest in resilience. He has expanded his scholarship and teaching of resilience to encompass various aspects of leadership development and organizational context. His clinical training influences and guides the experiential courses he teaches on campus, in the backcountry of Mt. Adams, WA, and in Brussels, Belgium. He draws heavily on scholars like Viktor Frankl, Kierkegaard, and modern figures in Positive Psychology to shape his courses and experiential teaching that engage the mind, body, and spirit, reflecting Jesuit Education.

Adrian was born and raised in Romania, and immigrated to Los Angeles with his mother and brother after his refugee father received asylum in 1983. He earned an undergraduate degree in Psychology and Social Behavior from the University of California at Irvine, an MSW from California State University of Long Beach, and practiced as a clinician for several years. He returned to higher education and earned his doctorate in Social Work and a second Master's in Public Administration from the University of Utah while working as a research analyst on Federal and State contracts and grants.

When out of the office, you will find Adrian in the outdoors, surfing with his kids and childhood friends in California, camping, hiking, sea kayaking, and mountaineering with friends in the Pacific Northwest, and visiting family and friends in Europe.