Sophie Leroy

Dr. Sophie Leroy is an Associate Professor of Management. She received her Ph.D. from NYU, Stern School of Business. She joined the University of Washington Bothell in 2014.

Dr. Leroy has several lines of research and has published her work in top scientific journals. Her primary focus has been to study the effects of interruptions on our ability to have focused attention and reach high performance. Her results help understand how to manage task transitions and interruptions to enhance focus and performance.

In particular, she developed and coined the term attention residue. Attention residue reflects situations in which people find it hard to be fully focused on the task at hand and instead find their attention shifting to other, unrelated tasks. Dr. Leroy’s research explores when and why attention residue occurs, how it affects performance, and how to prevent it when the effects are detrimental. Click here to learn more about attention residue and click here to view her media appearances.

Her other line of research lies at the intersection of leadership, self-regulation, and diversity, exploring how leaders emerge within social system.

Dr. Leroy teaches courses in Leadership, Managing High Performance Teams, Managing Globally, Ethical Decision Making.

She received many teaching awards, including the MBA program Faculty of the Year Teaching Award in 2019, 2018, 2016 and the Undergraduate Program Faculty of the Year Teaching Award in 2017.

Education

• Master in Management/MBA HEC Paris (1997 — 1998)
• Exchange Program - MBA Columbia University - Columbia Business School (1997 — 1997)
• Undergraduate Degree Equivalent HEC Paris (1994 — 1996)

Companies

• Associate Professor University of Washington Bothell (2018)
• Assistant Professor University of Washington, Bothell - School of Business (2014 — 2018)
• Assistant Professor Carlson School of Management - University of Minnesota (2007 — 2014)
• Director Interbrand (1999 — 2001)
• Associate PricewaterhouseCoopers (1998 — 1999)
• Senior Analyst Societe Generale (1996 — 1998)

Skills

• Leadership
• Strategic Planning
• Qualitative Research

Other

Data Analysis, Statistics, Research, Public Speaking, Student Development, University Teaching, Teaching, Higher Education, Lecturing