Acclaimed Emotional Intelligence Expert Bolsters HPU’s Life Skills Focus

HIGH POINT, N.C., Aug. 24, 2026 – Dr. Annie McKee, a best-selling author who is a respected academic, speaker and advisor to top global leaders, has joined High Point University’s Access to Innovators Program as HPU’s Emotional Intelligence Expert in Residence. She has written books on the subject and visited the campus to work with faculty on ways to teach emotional intelligence to students.

McKee has co-authored groundbreaking books on leadership published by Harvard Business Review, including “Primal Leadership,” “Resonant Leadership” and “Becoming a Resonant Leader.” These books and many of her articles focus on the power of emotional intelligence to change how people lead and engage with their work. Her work led her to the University of Pennsylvania, where she served as a senior fellow that led the Chief Learning Officer Executive Doctoral program and remains as an adjunct full professor.

McKee’s career has been dedicated to finding new ways to foster relationships and to ensure that people, their colleagues and their employees can reach their potential and achieve sustainable, meaningful success.

In her latest book, “How to Be Happy at Work: The Power of Purpose, Hope and Friendships,” McKee shares lessons learned from her decades of experience and research about what enables people and their teams to focus on a positive vision of the future, tap into meaning and create healthy relationships at the office. She maintains that people can be happy at work, and to be successful, they must find ways to live with passion in their day-to-day activities.

“At High Point University, our faculty and staff are dedicated to preparing our students to have success after college and live a life of significance. Employers are looking for graduates who have life skills, including emotional intelligence,” HPU President Nido Qubein said. “We look forward to welcoming Annie McKee to campus to mentor our students in the art of emotional intelligence.”

McKee has advised influential business leaders, taught executive doctoral students, worked in provincial government offices in South Africa and advised C-suite teams of Fortune 100 companies. She is committed to helping people improve as leaders and create vibrant workplace cultures where people and their institutions can thrive.

At the University of Pennsylvania, McKee has taught and led the PennCLO Executive Doctoral Program and the Penn MedEd Master’s program. Both programs are designed for seasoned senior leaders who seek to better serve their companies. She also serves on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Advisory Board and on the faculty for the Police Executive Leadership Institute, a program she co-designed to develop current and future leaders.

McKee joins several other thought leaders in the Access to Innovators Program who have spoken to students about the importance of having emotional intelligence, including:

• Dee Ann Turner, former Chick-fil-A vice president for talent and sustainability, and HPU’s Talent Acquisition Expert in Residence
• Mark Bradburn, financial leader at Morgan Stanley and HPU’s Wealth Management Expert in Residence
• Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., president and CEO of the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) and HPU’s Human Capital Expert in Residence
• Theresa Patiri, AMC Networks’ senior vice president of production, operations and global program sales and partnerships, and HPU’s Media Production and Sales Expert in Residence