Ajay Mehra, Ph.D.

Professor, Chellgren Endowed Chair in Corporate Strategy, Director - LINKS Center for Social Network Analysis

Education

• Ph.D., Penn State, 1998
• MBA, Temple, 1992
• BS, Mansfield U., 1989

View CV

Ajay is a professor in the Gatton College of Business and a board member of LINKS, a center for social network analysis (www.linkscenter.org). His research focuses on the role of psychology in the perception and construction of social networks in the workplace. Ajay has done consulting work with a range of business organizations, both here in the U.S. and overseas, to help them harness the power of social networks to enhance innovation and employee well-being. He has served on the editorial boards of the Academy of Management Review, Administrative Science Quarterly, and the British Journal of Management. Ajay is a past recipient of the University of Kentucky Alumni Association's Great Teacher award.

Teaching Expertise:

• Social Networks at Work
• Organizational Behavior

Research Expertise:

• Social network effects in work settings
• Leadership
• Creativity
• Teams

Selected Publications:

• Brands, R., Garrett, B., & Mehra, A. 2026 (forthcoming). A Paradox of Brokerage: Alter Distrust, Network Self Promotion, and the Willingness to Accept Referrals from Brokers . Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes.
• Van den Born, F. Mehra, A., & Kilduff, M. 2023. Network leadership and team creativity: An exploratory study of New York City jazz bands. Academy of Management Discoveries, 9: 46-66.
• Sasovova, Z., Mehra, A., Borgatti, S.P., & Schippers, M.C. 2010. Network churn: The effects of self-monitoring personality on brokerage dynamics. Administrative Science Quarterly, 55:639-670
• Borgatti, S.P., Mehra, A., Brass, D.J., & Labianca, G. 2009. Network analysis in the social sciences. Science, 323: 892-895.