Fred Bolton, Ph.D.

Adjunct Faculty
Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness

BIOGRAPHY

Fred has over 35-years of experience leading the creation and delivery of adult education and training programs in the public and private sector. Fred retired in 2022 from the Federal civil service as Chief of Employee & Leader Development and Chief Learning Officer for the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) where he led activities to improve employee, leader, and team performance for nearly 5,000 civilian employees. Prior to joining DCSA, he served in faculty and executive positions in higher education including professor and Dean of Graduate and Professional Studies at Averett University. Fred is also a retired Army Colonel with more than 30 years of service primarily in the reserve component. A veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom and a joint qualified officer, his military career included Field Artillery and Information Operations assignments through brigade‐level Command and senior staff positions at the 2‐, 3‐, and 4‐star level.

Fred currently provides executive, leadership, and team coaching as well as custom training programs for government and non-profit organizations. He remains active in higher education as an adjunct faculty member at Averett University and Virginia Commonwealth University as well as an on-call faculty for the Center for Creative Leadership. Fred regularly participates as a faculty evaluator for the American Council on Education credit review team and as a reviewer for the Academy of Management annual conference. He remains active in national security affairs as a contract faculty instructor in the U.S. Army War College’s distance education program and as the Honorary Colonel of the 111th Field Artillery Regiment.

An ICF Professional Certified Coach, Fred is certified in a variety of instruments including Everything DiSC, the Myers Briggs Type Indicator, Workplace Big‐5, Emotional Intelligence Quotient 2.0, Leadership Practices Inventory, and Center for Creative Leadership 360 assessments.

Fred is a member of several military organizations and serves as a board member of the Military Veterans Alumni Council at VCU, supporting military-affiliated students and alumni. Fred is a founding member of Averett University’s chapter of Sigma Beta Delta the international honor society for business, management, and administration as well as a member of Pi Alpha Alpha the global honor society for Public Affairs and Administration.

The father of three adult sons, Fred was a Boy Scout leader for over 15 years. He and his wife reside in Richmond and Coles Point, Virginia. They enjoy spending time on Virginia’s Northern Neck and traveling in the Caribbean, where they were married in 2009.

EDUCATION

Ph.D., Public Policy and Administration, Virginia Commonwealth University
MPA, George Mason University
Master of Strategic Studies, U.S. Army War College
Chief Information Security Officer graduate certificate. National Defense University
B.A., History, American University

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Fred’s research interests focus on communication, engagement, leadership, performance improvement, and resilience. His publications include Perspectives on Motivation and Employee Engagement, Breaking Down the Fundamental Challenges in Effective Operational Assessment, Use of the AAR to Enhance Student Learning, Cybersecurity and Emergency Management: Encryption and the Inability to Communicate, Rubrics and Adult Learners: Andragogy and Assessment, and Non‐prior Service Retention in the Virginia Army National Guard (dissertation). He has presented on these and other topics at the Virginia Assessment Group, the Consortium for the Advancement of Adult Education, the Academy of Management, and other professional venues. A veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom, Fred’s military awards include the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star Medal, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff Identification Badge.