Tom Byers

At Stanford University since 1995, Professor Tom Byers focuses on education regarding high-growth entrepreneurship and technology innovation. He is the first holder of the Entrepreneurship Professorship endowed chair in the School of Engineering, and is also a Bass University Fellow in Undergraduate Education. He has been a faculty director since the inception of the Stanford Technology Ventures Program (STVP), which serves as the entrepreneurship center for the engineering school. STVP includes the Mayfield Fellows work/study program for undergraduates and the Entrepreneurship Corner (eCorner) collection of thought leader videos. He was the director and lead principal investigator of the Epicenter, which was funded by the National Science Foundation to stimulate entrepreneurship education at all US engineering and science colleges. He is the co-author of a textbook called Technology Ventures: From Idea to Enterprise that is published by McGraw-Hill.

He is a past recipient of the prestigious Gordon Prize by the National Academy of Engineering in the USA and Stanford University's Gores Award, which is its highest honor for excellence in teaching. He is a member of the board of trustees at Menlo College. He has been a member of advisory boards at Harvard Business School, UC Berkeley, World Economic Forum, and Conservation International. Tom was executive vice president and general manager of Symantec Corporation during its formation, and started his career at Accenture. Tom holds a BS in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research and an MBA from UC Berkeley. He also earned a PhD in Business Administration (Management Science) at UC Berkeley.

Academic Appointments

• Professor (Teaching), Management Science and Engineering
• Director, Hacking for Defense, Precourt Institute for Energy

Administrative Appointments

• Faculty Director, Stanford Technology Ventures Program (STVP) (1995 - 2017)
• PI, Office of Naval Research's Hacking for Defense Project (2017 - 2021)
• Director and lead PI, NSF's National Center for Engineering Pathways to Innovation (Epicenter) (2011 - 2017)

Honors & Awards

• Department Undergraduate Teaching Award, Management Science and Engineering, Stanford University (2015)
• Engineering Entrepreneurship Pioneer Award, American Society of Engineering Educators (ASEE) (2015)
• Entrepreneurship Professorship in the School of Engineering (endowed chair), Stanford University (2013-present)
• Gordon Prize, National Academy of Engineering (NAE) (2009)
• Olympus Innovation Award, VentureWell (2007)
• Entrepreneurship Educator of the Year Award, United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE) (2005)
• Gores Award, Stanford University (2005)
• Kauffman Award, American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE) (2005)
• Bass University Fellow in Undergraduate Education, Stanford University (2002-present)
• Tau Beta Pi Award, School of Engineering, Stanford University (2002)
• Innovation in Pedagogy Award, Entrepreneurship Division, Academy of Management (1998)

Program Affiliations

Science, Technology and Society

Professional Education

• BS, UC Berkeley, Industrial Engineering and Operations Research
• MBA, Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley, Business Administration
• PhD, Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley, Business Administration (Management Science)