When Colonel Thomas J. Gibbons graduated Johnson & Wales University’s Educational Leadership Doctoral Program, he won the Dissertation of the Year award.
Tom didn’t know his dissertation, Relationship of College Honor Codes and Core Values to Unethical Behavior in the Military Workplace, would win.
But early on, he knew he was focusing on a universal, relevant topic: cheating. Tom was so passionate about the topic that he entered the EdD program’s Higher Education cohort, and completed the program in just three years. Doctoral Thesis with Practical Applications Tom is well-versed in honor codes and military core values. He’s a 1979 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy.
His 30 years of experience came in handy. In his study, he used military personnel ranging from recent high school graduates to seasoned professionals.
Tom found that students exposed to honor codes, as well as military personnel well-versed in military core values, were less likely to cheat in school and in the workplace. He gets to use his findings as an army advisor to the Naval War College in Newport. And the benefits of the honor code system have special meaning for Tom as well. His son John followed in his father’s footsteps at West Point.