Kai Degner

Dr. Kai Degner teaches leadership and oversees numerous credit-based certificate programs at the University of Virginia School of Continuing and Professional Studies.  His teaching and scholarly interests include leadership development, listening and change management, with a particular focus on how leaders can build the trust and psychological conditions that allow teams and organizations to navigate complexity and transition effectively.

As Senior Director of Certificate Programs, Dr. Degner oversees a portfolio of eleven graduate and undergraduate certificate programs at SCPS spanning leadership, project management, human resources, public administration and information technology. 

Dr. Degner earned his PhD in Strategic Leadership Studies from James Madison University in May 2026. His dissertation, Exploring Feeling Heard as a Mediating Factor between Perceived Leader Listening Style and Follower Trust in Leader, proposed centering feeling heard as the proximal mechanism connecting how followers perceive their leader's listening style to whether followers trust their leader. In a two-wave study of 328 working professionals, structural equation modeling identified a mediated statistical pathway: listening styles predicted follower trust through the experience of feeling heard. While more study is needed to support causal inference and directionality, the practical implication for scholars and trainers is to consider additional focus on the speaker's experience of feeling heard, not only the listener's mindset and behaviors.

He is trained as a leader coach, consults with teams and organizations, and has facilitated over 400 public and community meetings and gatherings. His current and previous professional memberships include Association of Change Management Professionals, International Listening Association and the National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation.

Before joining UVA, Dr. Degner spent five years as Director of Professional Development at JMU. He also served two terms on the Harrisonburg City Council (2009-2015), including two years as Mayor (2009-10), an experience that shaped his understanding of listening not as a communication technique but as a leadership discipline under pressure. 

He earned his Ph.D. in Strategic Leadership Studies and his MBA from James Madison University’s College of Business, and he received his Bachelor’s degree in Integrated Science and Technology (ISAT) from JMU’s College of Integrated Science and Engineering. Dr. Degner lives in Harrisonburg with his wife and their two sons.