Dana Kaminstein, PhD

Affiliated Faculty, Organizational Dynamics Programs; Adjunct Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Education; Co-Academic Director of the Evidence Block, Chief Learning Officer Program; Co-Academic Director of the Educational Research Block, MedEd program

Dr. Dana Kaminstein has taught graduate courses at Penn since 1984. In 2020, he was awarded The College of Liberal and Professional Studies Award for Distinguished Teaching in Professional Graduate Programs. He has taught at Wharton Executive Education, Graduate School of Education and the School of Social Policy and Practice.

Dr. Kaminstein’s teaching and consulting focuses on organizations at the group and systems levels, specifically on group and organizational dynamics, organizational diagnosis, psychodynamics of organizational life, and leadership development. Dr. Kaminstein has conducted organizational diagnoses in large international companies, using an experiential approach to developing positive team dynamics. Dr. Kaminstein’s current research and writing focuses on what groups “carry” for the department or organization they are a part of; Veteran community advisory boards (CABs); group dynamics; a critique of leadership research and application; unequal power relationships; and mentoring.

Dr. Kaminstein has been the academic director in dozens of leadership development programs and has coached executives from 41 countries. He was a Fellow at Wharton Executive Education for over twenty years. He has consulted to and led leadership development initiatives in companies in Scotland, England, France, South Africa, and Japan. He is a founding member of Wynford Institute, which seeks to use experiential education to examine and take action on important issues affecting the human community.

Dr. Kaminstein teaches “Group and Team Dynamics” in the Organizational Dynamics Programs at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Kaminstein earned his PhD at the University of Pennsylvania with a concentration in social psychology.  

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Meet our faculty

Dr. Janet Greco specializes in transforming leadership intent into organizational momentum and has conducted extensive research into the use of stories and organizational politics for executive development.