Frank T. Rothaermel

Frank T. Rothaermel is a professor in the Scheller College of Business at the Georgia Institute of Technology and an Alfred P. Sloan Industry Studies Fellow.^[1] He holds the Russell and Nancy McDonough Chair of Business and received a National Science Foundation CAREER Award^[2] which "is a Foundation-wide activity that offers the National Science Foundation's most prestigious awards in support of the early career-development activities of those teacher-scholars who most effectively integrate research and education within the context of the mission of their organization."^[3] Frank authored the textbook "Strategic Management. Concepts & Cases" published by McGraw-Hill.^[4]

Frank held visiting professorships at the 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 Academy of Management and the Strategic Management Society.

Early life and education

Frank is a native of Butzbach, Germany and a naturalized U.S. citizen.

He graduated from the Weidig Gymnasium before studying economics at the University of Duisburg-Essen. During this time, he spent an academic year in England at Sheffield Hallam University as Erasmus Scholar. In 1993, Frank completed his economic studies as Diplom-Volkswirt (M. Sc. equivalent). He wrote his master's thesis about the International Monetary Fund, providing a public policy comparison of macroeconomic stabilization programs in Latin America vs. Eastern Europe, especially Poland.^[5]

In 1995, Frank obtained an MBA at the Marriott School of Management at the Brigham Young University. In 1999, Frank obtained a Ph.D. in Strategic Management with a minor in Economics from the Foster School of Business at the University of Washington. His doctoral advisor was Charles W. L. Hill.^[6] Frank's doctoral thesis is entitled "Creative Destruction or Creative Cooperation?: An Empirical Investigation of Technological Discontinuities and Their Effect on the Nature of Competition and Firm Performance.^[7] A paper from his dissertation received the prestigious Academy of Management Newman award.^[8]

Career

After completing his Ph.D., Frank stayed for one more year at the Foster School of Business^[9] at the University of Washington to engage in research and to teach in the Executive MBA programs. Between 2000-2003, Frank was a tenure-track assistant professor at the Eli Broad College of Business at Michigan State University. In 2003, he joined the Georgia Institute of Technology. In 2006, Frank was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure, and in 2010, he was promoted to Full Professor. In 2013, Frank was appointed The Russell and Nancy McDonough Chair of Business.

Frank served as area coordinator for the Strategy & Innovation group at the Scheller College of Business.^[10] He also served as coordinator of the doctoral program in Strategy and Entrepreneurship at Georgia Tech, as well as on a number college-wide (Promotion & Tenure) and Institute-wide (Strategic Plan Advisory) committees.

Frank has a wide range of executive education experience, including teaching in programs at GE Management Development Institute (Crotonville, NY), Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgetown University, ICN Graduate Business School (France), Politecnico di Milano (Italy), St. Gallen University (Switzerland), and the University of Washington.

Publications

Frank has published over 30 articles in leading academic journals such as the Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Organization Science, Strategic Management Journal, 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 was listed among the top-100 scholars based on impact over more than decade in both economics and business.

Some of his academic articles are highly cited,^[11] including his 2004 SMJ study (with David Deeds) on Exploration and Exploitation Alliances, which shows how small biotech firms orchestrate a system of open innovation through reaching upstream in alliances with universities and downstream through alliances with pharmaceutical companies. His 2007 Industrial & Corporate Change article (with Shanti Agung and Lin Jiang) on University Entrepreneurship is also highly cited. Google Scholar lists more than 13,000 citations to Frank's research, with an h-index of 32. Frank's publications on Google Scholar can be accessed here

Frank currently serves (or served) on the editorial boards of the Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Organization Science, Strategic Management Journal, and Strategic Organization. Frank regularly translates his research findings for wider audiences in articles in the MIT Sloan Management Review, the Wall Street Journal, and elsewhere. Frank is also the author of a leading textbook—Strategic Management(1e 2012; 2e 2014; 3e 2016; 4e 2018; with translations in: Mandarin, Korean, and Greek) — and numerous best-selling cases studies published by McGraw-Hill and Harvard Business School Publishing.^[12] When launched, Frank's new textbook won the McGraw-Hill 1st ed Award of Year in Business & Economics.

Honors and awards

Frank has won numerous teaching and research awards, including the Academy of Management Newman Award (for a best paper based on a dissertation),^[13] the Strategic Management Society Conference Best Paper Prize, the DRUID Conference Best Paper Award, the Israel Strategy Conference Best Paper Prize, and is the inaugural recipient of the Byars Faculty Excellence Award. He also received Sloan Industry Studies Best Paper Award for his 2007 Organization Science Paper.^[14] Frank received numerous teaching awards for excellence in the classroom including the GT-wide Georgia Power Professor of Excellence award and the University of Washington Distinguished Teaching Award.

Businessweek named Frank one of Georgia Tech's Prominent Faculty in their national survey of business schools. The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation views Frank as one of the world's 75 thought leaders in entrepreneurship and innovation.

References