Frank T. Rothaermel

Research

Strategy

Innovation

Entrepreneurship

Education

PhD, University of Washington

Biography

Frank T. Rothaermel (Ph.D.) is a Professor of Strategy & Innovation, holds the Russell and Nancy McDonough Chair in the Scheller College of Business at the Georgia Institute of Technology (GT), and is an Alfred P. Sloan Industry Studies Fellow. He is the recipient of a National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER award, which “offers the National Science Foundation’s most prestigious awards in support of … those teacher-scholars who most effectively integrate research and education” (NSF CAREER Award description). Bloomberg Businessweek named Frank one of Georgia Tech’s Prominent Faculty, while Poets & Quants selected Frank as one of the “Favorite Business School Professors Teaching MBAs.” The Kauffman Foundation views Frank as one of the world’s 75 thought leaders in entrepreneurship and innovation.

Frank’s research interests lie in the areas of strategy, innovation, and entrepreneurship; he has published over 35 articles in leading academic journals such as the Strategic Management Journal, Organization Science, Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, and elsewhere. Based on having published papers in the top 1% based on citations, Thomson Reuters identified Frank as one of the “world’s most influential scientific minds.” He is listed among the top-100 scholars based on impact over more than a decade in both economics and business. Frank’s body of work has been cited over 17,000 times in Google Scholar

Frank has received several recognitions for his research, including the Sloan Industry Studies Best Paper Award, the Academy of Management Newman Award, the Strategic Management Society Conference Best Paper Prize, the DRUID Conference Best Paper Award, the Israel Strategy Conference Best Paper Prize, and he is the inaugural recipient of the Byars Faculty Excellence Award. Frank currently serves (or has served) on the editorial boards of the Strategic Management Journal, Organization Science, Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, and Strategic Organization. Frank regularly translates his research findings for wider audiences in articles in the MIT Sloan Management Review, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and elsewhere.

Frank is also the author of a leading textbook—Strategic Management (1e 2012; 2e 2014; 3e 2016; 4e 2018; 5e 2020; translations: Greek, Korean, Mandarin, and Spanish). When launched, Frank’s new textbook won the McGraw-Hill 1st ed Award of the Year in Business and Economics. The 4th ed won the McGraw-Hill Product of the Year Award in Business and Economics. Frank also authored several "most popular" case studies distributed by Harvard Business Publishing (HBP).

Frank has a wide range of executive education experience, including teaching in programs at GE Management Development Institute (Crotonville, New York), Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgetown University, ICN Business School (France), Politecnico di Milano (Italy), St. Gallen University (Switzerland), and the University of Washington. He received numerous teaching awards for excellence in the classroom including the GT-wide Georgia Power Professor of Excellence award. To inform his research Frank has conducted extensive fieldwork and executive training with a wide range of companies such as Amgen, Daimler, Eli Lilly, Equifax, GE Energy, GE Healthcare, Hyundai Heavy Industries (South Korea), Kimberly-Clark, Microsoft, McKesson, NCR, Turner (TBS), UPS, among others.

Frank held visiting professorships at EBS University of Business and Law (Germany), Singapore Management University (Tommie Goh Professorship), and the University of St. Gallen (Switzerland). He is a member of the American Economic Association, Academy of Management, and the Strategic Management Society.

Frank holds a Ph.D. degree in strategic management from the University of Washington; an MBA from the Marriott School of Management at Brigham Young University; and is Diplom-Volkswirt (M.Sc. equivalent) in economics from the University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany.