{"id":19054,"date":"2025-10-31T11:16:25","date_gmt":"2025-10-31T15:16:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/?p=19054"},"modified":"2026-03-04T11:18:50","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T16:18:50","slug":"serve-protect-lead-philadelphia-police-lieutenant-earns-doctorate-in-education-at-wilmington-university","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/2025\/10\/31\/serve-protect-lead-philadelphia-police-lieutenant-earns-doctorate-in-education-at-wilmington-university\/","title":{"rendered":"Serve, Protect, Lead: Philadelphia Police Lieutenant Earns Doctorate in Education at Wilmington University\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.kadence-column19054_c77981-86 > .kt-inside-inner-col{padding-right:var(--global-kb-spacing-lg, 3rem);padding-bottom:var(--global-kb-spacing-lg, 3rem);padding-left:var(--global-kb-spacing-lg, 3rem);}.kadence-column19054_c77981-86 > .kt-inside-inner-col,.kadence-column19054_c77981-86 > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{border-top-left-radius:0px;border-top-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-left-radius:0px;}.kadence-column19054_c77981-86 > .kt-inside-inner-col{column-gap:var(--global-kb-gap-sm, 1rem);}.kadence-column19054_c77981-86 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;}.kadence-column19054_c77981-86 > .kt-inside-inner-col > .aligncenter{width:100%;}.kadence-column19054_c77981-86 > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{opacity:0.3;}.kadence-column19054_c77981-86{position:relative;}@media all and (max-width: 1024px){.kadence-column19054_c77981-86 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;}}@media all and (max-width: 991px){.kadence-column19054_c77981-86 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;}}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-column kadence-column19054_c77981-86\"><div class=\"kt-inside-inner-col\">\n<p>As an enlisted Marine, <strong>Dr. Alexander Branch<\/strong> learned how to take orders. As an Army Reserve captain, he learned how to give orders, and as a Wilmington University doctoral student, he learned how to be a better listener.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wilmu.edu\/education\/organizational-learning-doctorate.aspx#intro\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Ed.D. in Organizational Leadership, Learning and Innovation<\/a> (OLI) program \u201chelped me appreciate diversity of thought,\u201d says Dr. Branch, a police lieutenant. \u201cIt made me want to know why. It made me be more inquisitive, which made me a better leader.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Law Enforcement Education\u00a0<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Dr. Branch joined the Philadelphia Police Department in 2007 and now commands a squad in the Central Detective Division.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe OLI doctoral program affords people like Dr. Branch the opportunity to grow as leaders through a number of different experiences which focus on linking theory and research to practice, including our dissertation in practice, the leadership development portfolio and consulting project,\u201d says <strong>Dr. Anthony Buffone<\/strong>, program chair. Plus, the program\u2019s cohort model fosters connections with \u201ca diverse group of organizational practitioners representing all sectors from across the country and world.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dr. Branch, who also earned an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wilmu.edu\/behavioralscience\/mhs.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">M.S. in Homeland Security<\/a> from WilmU, values the University\u2019s online options and dedicated faculty.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Accredited Academics in a Caring Community\u00a0<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThrough my doctoral journey and my master\u2019s, all of the professors and instructors made themselves available to the students. Getting help was easy,\u201d Dr. Branch says. \u201cThey were all outstanding.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dr. Buffone returns the compliment, calling it \u201ca pleasure\u201d to work with him and \u201can honor\u201d to be his advisor.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAl\u2019s natural curiosity was a great asset during his studies as well as his ability to delve deeper through observations and asking questions, which were honed through his years in law enforcement and the military,\u201d says Dr. Buffone. \u201cAs someone who raised their children in Philadelphia and spends time in the city, it is comforting to know that Dr. Branch is working to keep us safe.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dr. Branch hopes to lead a police department someday and credits his WilmU education with helping him succeed.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhen you attend WilmU, you feel like you\u2019re part of a family. You feel like you\u2019re part of an organization with pride,\u201d he says. \u201cI would wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<style>.kb-row-layout-wrap.wp-block-kadence-rowlayout.kb-row-layout-id19054_cd88b3-a5{margin-top:0em;}.kb-row-layout-id19054_cd88b3-a5 > .kt-row-column-wrap{align-content:center;}:where(.kb-row-layout-id19054_cd88b3-a5 > .kt-row-column-wrap) > .wp-block-kadence-column{justify-content:center;}.kb-row-layout-id19054_cd88b3-a5 > .kt-row-column-wrap{column-gap:var(--global-kb-gap-none, 0rem );row-gap:var(--global-kb-gap-none, 0rem );max-width:var( --global-content-width, 1290px );padding-left:var(--global-content-edge-padding);padding-right:var(--global-content-edge-padding);padding-top:0em;padding-right:0em;padding-bottom:0em;padding-left:0em;grid-template-columns:minmax(0, 1fr) minmax(0, 2fr);}.kb-row-layout-id19054_cd88b3-a5{border-top:1px solid #eeeeee;border-right:1px solid #eeeeee;border-bottom:1px solid #eeeeee;}.kb-row-layout-id19054_cd88b3-a5 > .kt-row-layout-overlay{opacity:0.30;}@media all and (max-width: 1024px){.kb-row-layout-id19054_cd88b3-a5 > .kt-row-column-wrap{grid-template-columns:minmax(0, 1fr) minmax(0, 2fr);}}@media all and (max-width: 1024px){.kb-row-layout-id19054_cd88b3-a5{border-top:1px solid #eeeeee;border-right:1px solid #eeeeee;border-bottom:1px solid #eeeeee;}}@media all and (max-width: 991px){.kb-row-layout-id19054_cd88b3-a5 > .kt-row-column-wrap{grid-template-columns:minmax(0, 1fr);}.kb-row-layout-id19054_cd88b3-a5{border-top:1px solid #eeeeee;border-right:1px solid #eeeeee;border-bottom:1px solid #eeeeee;}}.wu-text-col,.wu-img-col {\tmin-height: 114px;}.wu-text-col &gt; 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 margin-block-end: 1em;}img[src$=\".svg\"] {  max-width: 220px;}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-column kadence-column19054_cc8cbf-fb kb-section-dir-horizontal wu-img-col\"><div class=\"kt-inside-inner-col\"><style>.kb-image19054_6a23a2-3a:not(.kb-image-is-ratio-size) .kb-img, .kb-image19054_6a23a2-3a.kb-image-is-ratio-size{padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:0px;}.kb-image19054_6a23a2-3a .kb-image-has-overlay:after{opacity:0.3;}<\/style>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-kadence-image kb-image19054_6a23a2-3a image-is-svg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"230\" height=\"120\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/wilmu-cta-logo-wu.svg\" alt=\"Wilm U post footer logo\" class=\"kb-img wp-image-17727\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<style>.kadence-column19054_20b480-cf > .kt-inside-inner-col{display:flex;}.kadence-column19054_20b480-cf > .kt-inside-inner-col{padding-right:var(--global-kb-spacing-sm, 1.5rem);padding-left:var(--global-kb-spacing-sm, 1.5rem);}.kadence-column19054_20b480-cf > .kt-inside-inner-col{column-gap:var(--global-kb-gap-sm, 1rem);}.kadence-column19054_20b480-cf > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;align-items:stretch;}.kadence-column19054_20b480-cf > .kt-inside-inner-col > .kb-image-is-ratio-size{align-self:stretch;}.kadence-column19054_20b480-cf > .kt-inside-inner-col > .wp-block-kadence-advancedgallery{align-self:stretch;}.kadence-column19054_20b480-cf > .kt-inside-inner-col > .aligncenter{width:100%;}.kt-row-column-wrap > .kadence-column19054_20b480-cf{align-self:center;}.kt-inner-column-height-full:not(.kt-has-1-columns) > .wp-block-kadence-column.kadence-column19054_20b480-cf{align-self:auto;}.kt-inner-column-height-full:not(.kt-has-1-columns) > .wp-block-kadence-column.kadence-column19054_20b480-cf > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;}.kadence-column19054_20b480-cf > .kt-inside-inner-col{background-color:#eeeeee;}.kadence-column19054_20b480-cf > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{opacity:0.3;}.kadence-column19054_20b480-cf{position:relative;}@media all and (max-width: 1024px){.kt-row-column-wrap > .kadence-column19054_20b480-cf{align-self:center;}}@media all and (max-width: 1024px){.kt-inner-column-height-full:not(.kt-has-1-columns) > .wp-block-kadence-column.kadence-column19054_20b480-cf{align-self:auto;}}@media all and (max-width: 1024px){.kt-inner-column-height-full:not(.kt-has-1-columns) > .wp-block-kadence-column.kadence-column19054_20b480-cf > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;}}@media all and (max-width: 1024px){.kadence-column19054_20b480-cf > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;align-items:stretch;}}@media all and (max-width: 991px){.kt-row-column-wrap > .kadence-column19054_20b480-cf{align-self:center;}.kt-inner-column-height-full:not(.kt-has-1-columns) > .wp-block-kadence-column.kadence-column19054_20b480-cf{align-self:auto;}.kt-inner-column-height-full:not(.kt-has-1-columns) > .wp-block-kadence-column.kadence-column19054_20b480-cf > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;}.kadence-column19054_20b480-cf > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;align-items:stretch;}}.kt-row-column-wrap &gt; 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Learn to lead and inspire with Wilmington University\u2019s <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wilmu.edu\/education\/organizational-learning-doctorate.aspx#intro\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>Ed.D. in Organizational Leadership, Learning and Innovation<\/em><\/a><em>.<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As an enlisted Marine, Dr. Alexander Branch learned how to take orders. As an Army Reserve captain, he learned how to give orders, and as&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":19092,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[145],"tags":[154,187,448,1067,1041,14,15],"class_list":["post-19054","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni-news","tag-alumni-3","tag-college-of-education-and-liberal-arts","tag-doctoral-degrees","tag-doctorate-in-education","tag-education-degrees","tag-wilmington-university","tag-wilmu"],"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":145,"label":"ALUMNI NEWS"}],"post_tag":[{"value":154,"label":"alumni-3"},{"value":187,"label":"College of Education and Liberal Arts"},{"value":448,"label":"doctoral degrees"},{"value":1067,"label":"doctorate in education"},{"value":1041,"label":"education degrees"},{"value":14,"label":"Wilmington University"},{"value":15,"label":"WilmU"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Dr.-Alexandar-Branch-2-1-480x480.jpg",480,480,true],"author_info":{"display_name":"Mckayla Imperatrice","author_link":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/author\/mckayla\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":145,"name":"ALUMNI NEWS","slug":"alumni-news","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":702,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":113,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":145,"category_count":113,"category_description":"","cat_name":"ALUMNI NEWS","category_nicename":"alumni-news","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":[{"term_id":154,"name":"alumni-3","slug":"alumni-3","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":711,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":2,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":187,"name":"College of Education and Liberal Arts","slug":"college-of-education-and-liberal-arts","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":744,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":15,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":448,"name":"doctoral degrees","slug":"doctoral-degrees","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1005,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":2,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":1067,"name":"doctorate in education","slug":"doctorate-in-education","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1624,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":1041,"name":"education degrees","slug":"education-degrees","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1598,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":5,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":14,"name":"Wilmington University","slug":"wilmington-university","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":571,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":357,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":15,"name":"WilmU","slug":"wilmu","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":572,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":291,"filter":"raw"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19054","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19054"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19054\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19071,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19054\/revisions\/19071"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19092"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19054"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19054"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19054"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}