Michael Moodian

Dr. Michael A. (Mike) Moodian has served as a faculty member in various capacities at Chapman University since 2007. He teaches for the leadership studies minor and master of arts in leadership development programs. The leadership studies department presented Mike with the Richard L. Resurreccion Outstanding Educator Award in May 2023.

Mike cofounded the inaugural Orange County Sustainability Decathlon. This was a major competition in which college teams from across the globe designed and built innovative, highly sustainable, ultra-efficient homes and displayed them at a sustainable village at the OC Fair & Event Center in October 2023. The goal for the event was to help spark Orange County and the greater Southern California region to be the world’s sustainability and clean-technology capital.

Mike released the television documentary Coastal Crisis: California’s Vanishing Beaches, which PBS aired in 2022 in the L.A. region. The documentary explores the causes and effects of coastal erosion on California’s beaches. Mike is the program’s co-producer, co-director, and lead writer. The documentary won the OC Press Club’s top honor (the Real Orange Award), a Telly Award, and the Best of Festival Award at the 2022 Los Angeles Television, Script and Film Festival. Watch Coastal Crisis here. 

Two separate governors appointed Mike to the 11-member State of California Commission on Judicial Performance: Gov. Jerry Brown appointed him to the commission in 2015 and reappointed him in 2017, and Gov. Gavin Newsom reappointed Mike for a final four-year term in 2021. Mike’s commission colleagues voted him chairperson in 2023. The commission investigates judicial misconduct and incapacity complaints and disciplines state judges. Mike is also a member of the Providence Mission Hospital governing board.

The Orange County Register named Mike to its 125 Most Influential People in Orange County list for three consecutive years, 2021-2023.

Sage Publications released Mike’s first book, Contemporary Leadership and Intercultural Competence, in 2009. This edited volume examines cultural comprehension’s application to organizations and intercultural competence measurement. The Association of American Colleges & Universities cited the book in establishing national learning standards. Mike also wrote a local history book in 2010.

Mike has written numerous journal articles, book chapters, and commentaries and has been a guest op-ed contributor for newspapers such as the Orange County Register, San Diego Union-Tribune, San Jose Mercury News, Voice of OC, and Los Angeles Daily News. He has presented his research at national and international conferences and has served as an expert commentator on several television and radio programs. He also codirects Wilkinson College’s Orange County Annual Survey.

Mike earned a doctorate degree in education from Pepperdine University and a master’s degree in communications and a bachelor’s degree in communications and sociology from California State University, Fullerton. He is a former U.S. military reservist.

Mike’s wife, Dr. Margaret Moodian (’03), is a tutorial faculty member for adult learners and serves on the Journey School governing board. They live in Rancho Mission Viejo with their young son and pets. In his free time, Mike enjoys being a taekwondo dad, coaching youth sports, and serving as a San Juan Capistrano Little League board member and division commissioner.