Speaker
Biographies
Murray
Low
Associate Professor
and Executive Director, The
Eugene M. Lang Center for Entrepreneurship, Columbia Business School
Professor Low is
an experienced entrepreneur and a leading authority on entrepreneurship
in independent, corporate and not-for-profit settings. His Ph.D. (1991)
is from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. His previous
degrees (BA Sociology 1976; MBA 1985) are from Simon Fraser University
in British Columbia.
Professor Low was
an early advocate of entrepreneurship education in business schools.
As the founder of the Columbia Entrepreneurship Program he has worked
to make entrepreneurship a viable career option for MBA graduates in
one of four areas: independent start-ups, new ventures in established
companies, private equity and venture capital, and social entrepreneurship.
The Columbia Entrepreneurship
Program is distinct in the level of support it provides to help students
launch companies. A comprehensive set of courses is complemented by
facilitated links to the business community, an incubator and a venture
capital fund. A National Social Venture
Competition was recently launched in partnership with the Haas School
at Berkeley and the Goldman Sachs Foundation.
Starting businesses
in several industries lead Professor Low to study how the entrepreneurial
process differs by context. He has published widely, in journals such
as Journal of Business Venturing, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice,
The Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Research, Journal of Management, Academy
of Management Best Papers and Simulation and Gaming. His current research
interests include entrepreneurship and private equity in emerging markets,
and the fit between strategy and entrepreneurship in established companies.
Professor Low teaches
executive seminars in the areas of entrepreneurship and strategic management
and consults to both small and large companies, and not-for-profits.
Recent larger corporate clients include Glaxo Smith-Kline, Sony, Roche,
AT&T, Thomas Publishing, Shell Oil, Con Edison, and Brooklyn Union
Gas, CGNU, GKN, Brambles and Ericsson. He is an advisor to many start-ups
and is on the Board of Directors of I-Many, Inc., a NASDAQ listed contract
management software company (IMNY). He makes frequent presentations
to industry groups and is a regular commentator in the media.