Todd Watkins

Todd A. Watkins is the Executive Director of the University’s Martindale Center for the Study of Private Enterprise and director of Lehigh''s Microfinance Program. Prior to his graduate studies, he worked in Optical Design and Optical Manufacturing Engineering for the Eastman Kodak.

Author of more than 50 related publications, his research and teaching focus on the intersection of innovation, entrepreneurship, public policy and economics. He is co-editor of the volume, Moving Beyond Storytelling: Emerging Research in Microfinance (Emerald, 2009) and has published in the journal, Science, and well as Research Policy, Issues in Science and Technology, Technology Review, Defence and Peace Economics, Small Business Economics, Industrial Relations and other journals and books. His teaching areas encompass managerial economics, technology entrepreneurship, new product development and microfinance innovation.

Professor Watkins was the founding executive director of the Baker Institute for Entrepreneurship, Creativity and Innovation. He also co-founded Lehigh’s Community Research and Policy Service (Lehigh CORPS) and was one of the founders of Lehigh’s Integrated Product Development Program, national winner of the ASME Curriculum Innovation Award. Watkins is a four-time winner of the Outstanding Instructor award from the National Technology University for his teaching via distance learning, and he also received Lehigh’s MBA teaching award. He’s been a research consultant to the U.S. Department of Commerce''s NIST Advanced Technology Program, the U.S. Congressional Office of Technology Assessment, and a member of The National Academies’ Committee on Innovation Models for Aerospace Technologies, advising NASA on improving their innovation processes. He is a founding member of the Faculty Advisory Council for ACCION International’s Center for Financial Inclusion, which seeks to promote innovation and growth of commercial microfinance worldwide.

Educaion

University of Rochester, B.S.

Harvard University, M.P.P., Ph.D.

Research Interests

Technology and industrial policies

Economics and management of innovation

Microfinance innovation