
Joann Baney
Professor Baney teaches in the Executive Masters of Public Administration (EMPA) program at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA). She has also taught in Columbia’s Executive MBA program, and the University’s Speech Department and at the Mailman Graduate School of Public Health, the Film School, the Medical School and in Post Doctoral programs. In Columbia Executive Education, she is faculty director of the FDNY Officers Management Institute (FOMI), the IPADE CEO Leadership Program, and the General Management Leadership Program. She is one of the principal faculty in NYPD’s Police Management Institute (PMI), and also teaches in various executive programs such as the King Khalid Foundation in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Executive Development Program, Senior Leaders’ Program, Eruditas, and others. Through SIPA, she has taught groups of executives and government representatives visiting from China, Malaysia, Ireland and Saudi Arabia; she teaches at Externado University in Bogota, Colombia, and at various universities and government agencies in the Republic of Georgia and in Qatar. In 2016, she visited China as a representative of Columbia University to the government of Tianjin. She has also taught at Dartmouth’s Tuck School, NYU’s Stern and Wagner Schools, UNC’s Kenan-Flagler School, and Yeshiva University’s Stern College for Women.
Professor Baney is co-founder and Vice President of the Professional Development Company (PDC), a communications consulting firm in New York City (NYC). She coaches senior executives and presents customized programs to organizations such as: Dow Jones, State Farm Insurance, Mubadala Investment Company, The Wall Street Transcript, Del Monte Foods, Trinity Church Wall Street, Takeda Pharmaceuticals, Cornell Medical Center, Whyte & Mackay, Lend Lease Americas, RobinHood, UPC Wind Management and numerous government agencies. PDC is certified in NYC as a Women-owned Business Enterprise (WBE).
As Associate Director of the Professional Development Center at Columbia Business School for seven years, she oversaw the management communications program, teaching classes and supervising a staff of 16 instructors who taught presentation skills, writing, interviewing, team and interpersonal skills. Additionally, she worked with faculty and PhD candidates in developing their course design and teaching skills. Prior to working at Columbia, she was Director of Communications for a Management Consulting consortium, managing all marketing and public relations activities. A classically trained vocalist, she has performed extensively as a singer and actress in numerous off-Broadway productions. She is certified in positive psychology and graphology and is co-creator of dontquityourdayjob.net. She provides executive communication coaching through LeadvantEDGE.com.
Professor Baney has a BA with Dean’s Honors from the University of Chicago and an MBA from Columbia. She is the author of Guide to Interpersonal Communication through Prentice Hall. Professor Baney has received numerous awards for her popular EMPA course that has been rated in the top five out of nearly 200 courses for over seven years and received the highest possible evaluations in 2016. In 2018 she received SIPA’s Outstanding Teaching Award. Professor Baney serves on the Board of Trustees of Point Park University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In recognition of her commitment to the FDNY, Professor Baney has been sworn in as an Honorary Battalion Chief.