Dr. Payal Sharma is a qualitative researcher and organizational psychologist. Her research interests lie in leadership and power dynamics at work. She has studied these topics in settings including the hip hop and rap music industry and the military. She is currently examining leadership in professional sports, namely across the ecosystems of the National Football League (NFL) and the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Dr. Sharma is an award-winning educator and has been honored for her teaching at the university and departmental levels. She also has delivered academic keynotes and workshops to industry audiences in sectors such as health care, higher education, hospitality, information technology, and law. Through her courses and speaking engagements, she offers evidence-based toolkits which are focused on leadership development and power and politics in organizations.

Prior to UNLV, Dr. Sharma was a visiting faculty member at the Wharton School of Business and tenure-track faculty member at Rutgers Business School, Newark and New Brunswick. Pre-academic life, she worked for the U.S. Government Printing Office in strategic human capital and at Harvard Business School in external relations.

She holds a Ph.D. in organizational behavior from the University of Maryland, College Park; a Master's degree in higher education administration from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; a Master's degree in organizational management from The George Washington University; and bachelor degrees in anthropology and history from the University of California, San Diego.