“I have a deeper understanding of how to be an authentic leader because of my Doctor of Ethical Leadership degree from Olivet Nazarene University,” says Dr. Amy Morys ’00/’19 EDD. “In business, in the military, in education, I’m synergizing what I learned to create my own leadership style.”
Growth in Careers
Dr. Morys earned her undergraduate degree in Music Education from Olivet Nazarene University (ONU) in 2000. From 2000 through 2015, she then pursued two career paths simultaneously: higher education administration and military service. At both ONU and Fontbonne University, she directed advising and academic student services and programs for each institution’s graduate and continuing education divisions.
Her next career move merged her passions for supporting veterans and military-affiliated communities as they traverse the on- and off-ramps between career development and education. In 2016, she moved from higher education administration in the education nonprofit sector, managing veterans’ career and education initiatives at the Council for Adult & Experiential Learning (CAEL).
In 2018, she took a more focused role as a senior consultant for military prior learning, working with colleges, universities, and state higher education systems as they build capacity to evaluate and articulate military learning for academic credit. In 2023, she joined the team at Solutions for Information Design, LLC, as Client Delivery Portfolio Director, where she serves today.
From 2002 to 2024, Dr. Morys also served with the U.S. Air Force/Illinois Air National Guard. She was deployed twice to the Middle East in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Serving under public affairs, she was a military musician and a member of concert, jazz, and rock ensembles for the 566th Air Force Band. Her service took her all over the world — 20 countries over 4 continents — including several wartime forward-operating locations in Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2024, she retired with the rank of Master Sergeant.
Growth in Leadership
Dr. Morys’ military service and the post-9/11 GI Bill military benefits opened the door for pursuit of an advanced degree. So from 2016 to 2019, she added EDD studies to her schedule. “My first decision was: PHD or EDD?” she recalls. “I chose ONU’s EDD path because I wanted a practitioner’s degree that would equip me with knowledge and tools I could immediately apply to the work I do and the teams I lead.”
As a student, Dr. Morys was impressed with the variety and depth of ONU’s EDD curriculum. She and her cohort were quickly immersed in the study of business, strategy, leadership, and communication, as well as spiritual growth and personal challenge.
“ONU’s program exacted an original research dissertation approach,” she says. “Many EDD programs no longer require a formal dissertation. I wanted that formal academic experience and research background, so I could confidently leverage the critical skills I needed to evaluate programs and processes related to the work I was doing each day.”
Working on her dissertation was very intensive but, with ONU’s “lock-step” model that began on day one, Dr. Morys found the process very achievable. “We worked on the dissertation incrementally,” she says. “Academic rigor was never forfeited for the sake of convenient or quickened timelines. Instead, academic integrity and a model that works for busy executives was woven into the curricular process. I never lost momentum or focus with ONU’s model.”
She was impressed with the consistency of ONU’s mission, vision, values and culture she found in the EDD program. “In our cohort, we examined topics through a professional lens, a business lens, an academic lens as well as through the lens of a faith-based, Christian worldview,” she says. “This approach to ethical leadership required me to step back, examine my personal vision and values within the context of leadership, and craft a bespoke strategy and framework for the kind of work I wanted to do, and the kinds of organizations that were a best fit for me to collaborate with.”
Growth in Service
Since earning her EDD degree in 2019, Dr. Morys has found that one of the most surprising outcomes for her has been the variety of positions and opportunities for which she is now qualified. Currently, she is a member of the George W. Bush Presidential Center’s Veterans Higher Education Task Force; a trusted advisor for PsychArmor, providing custom learning pathways and educational content specific to veterans’ needs; a military faculty evaluator for the American Council on Education; and an adjunct faculty instructor for National Louis University, teaching business law and ethics.
Dr. Morys recalls how her EDD experience also prepared her and her cohort for the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the world. “My three years in the EDD program was a spiritual shot in the arm for me,” she says. “ONU prepares people to handle not only academics or business, but maybe most importantly, how to handle life.”
As she continues to traverse the field of higher education and advance the cause of military learning for academic credit, Dr. Morys — equipped with her EDD degree from ONU — is able to lead in more meaningful and effective ways. “Even with 25 years of professional experience, I found that having this credential has made all the difference for me in my career and service,” she says. “This degree has been a differentiator for me in all aspects of my life.”
