Peter Rios

Peter Rios, DSL, PhD, is a Clinical Associate Professor in Leadership and Management at New York University’s School of Professional Studies, global leadership strategist, author, speaker, and founder of Peter Rios Consulting and the global Maximize brand. A bilingual scholar-practitioner with more than twenty years of experience, he works at the intersection of leadership, organizational strategy, culture, innovation, and strategic marketing.

Dr. Rios has advised and developed executives, leaders, and organizations across Fortune 500 companies, universities, government agencies, nonprofits, and faith-based institutions throughout the United States, Latin America, the Caribbean, and beyond. His clients and collaborators have included Harvard University, Lilly Endowment Inc., and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. His consulting and executive development work focuses on contextual and global leadership, organizational transformation, strategy execution, innovation, and the strategic positioning of ideas, organizations, and brands.

At NYU, Dr. Rios teaches leadership and business, integrating evidence-based management, experiential learning, emerging technologies such as generative AI, and real-world organizational practice. His work in strategic marketing brings a leadership-centered perspective to positioning, influence, storytelling, consumer insight, brand meaning, and how organizations communicate value in rapidly changing environments. He is currently completing a master’s degree in marketing through Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business.

Dr. Rios has also held faculty appointments at Penn State, Colorado State Global, Indiana Wesleyan University, and the Pacific School of Religion. His executive leadership experience includes roles as Associate Vice President for Academic Innovation and Vice President for Enrollment Management and Marketing. His professional journey also includes service in the United States Marine Corps.

He is the author of Untold Stories: The Latinx Leadership Experience in Higher Education and Maximize!: 12 Keys to Unlocking Your Greatest Potential, along with its Spanish-language edition, ¡Maximiza! His scholarship and public work explore leadership, culture, context, organizational life, human potential, and the ways leaders influence people, institutions, and communities.

Dr. Rios holds a PhD in Intercultural Studies from Fuller Graduate Schools and a Doctor of Strategic Leadership from Regent University’s School of Business and Leadership and completed doctoral studies in organizational change and leadership at the University of Southern California. He also completed Syracuse University’s Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans at the Whitman School of Management.

Across his scholarship, teaching, consulting, speaking, and media platforms, Dr. Rios is committed to one enduring mission: Maximizing Leaders, Transforming Nations.