Robert Harris

Education
PhD, Economics, UC Berkeley
MA, Michigan State University
BA, Social Science
Positions Held
At Haas since 1977
External Service and Assignments
On the editorial board of the California Management Review
Current Research and Interests
- Industry policy, antitrust, and regulation - Competitive strategy, mergers, and acquisitions - Telecommunications and transportation industries
Comparative industry policies in Europe, Japan, and the US - Assessment of telecommunications regulation by the states and its effects on competition in and competitiveness of US telecommunications industries - Comparison of R&D policies in Europe, Japan, and the US, with analysis of relative performance in emerging technologies

Education: B.A., Davidson College; Ph.D., Princeton University

C. Stewart Sheppard Professor Robert Harris has served as the University of Virginia, Darden School of Business's dean and prior to that, as chief learning officer and vice president of United Technologies Corporation.

His research has focused on corporate finance, private equity, financial markets, mergers and acquisitions. Harris has been widely published in leading academic and practitioner journals in finance and economics. He has been a visiting scholar at London Business School, Oxford University (England) and the University of Otago (New Zealand) and a recipient of research and teaching awards. In addition to teaching undergraduate, graduate and executive audiences, he has authored financial textbooks, computer tutorials and dozens of business cases and teaching notes. Harris has been an active consultant and adviser to corporations, government agencies and has held a range of offices in professional societies.

Before joining the Darden faculty, Harris was on the faculties of the University of North Carolina's Kenan-Flagler School and the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School.

Robert Harris teaches the Masters Certificate in Municipal Leadership at the Schulich Executive Education Centre, Schulich School of Business, York University. Robert’s areas of expertise encompass change leadership and communications, conflict management, negotiating and influencing skills, enhancing personal and team effectiveness, HR & Leadership best practices, and career management strategies.

Robert has a distinctive ability to integrate workplace challenges into his presentations, which provide audiences with practical solutions that can be applied in their work and personal lives. Robert’s corporate experience includes management roles in the high technology, health-care and beverage industries. He started his career in the public sector and prior to forming his own company in 1999, was a partner in a Canada-wide consulting firm.