Thomas Kinnear

Executive Director, Zell Lurie Institute, Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

Thomas Kinnear is a leader in entrepreneurial education and enterprise at U-M, where he has received awards for teaching excellence and service. His teaching and research interests focus on entrepreneurial studies, strategic-marketing planning, marketing and public policy, and market-based management. Previously, Dr. Kinnear was senior associate dean of the U-M Business School and vice president for development and executive officer for the University. In 1997, he was awarded the Eugene Applebaum Professorship of Entrepreneurial Studies. Prior to U-M, he taught at the University of Western Ontario and held visiting appointments at Harvard University, Stanford University, and the European Management Institute (INSEAD) at Fontainebleau, France. In the entrepreneurial community, Dr. Kinnear serves as a co-founder, advisor, angel investor, and board member of start-up companies and is a limited partner in Apjohn Ventures, Arbor Partner Ventures, Arboretum Ventures, EDF Ventures, and RPM Ventures. Dr. Kinnear has worked in marketing management, marketing research, and marketing-education consulting for clients, such as Aetna, the American Electronics Association, AT&T, Alcatel, Chrysler, Domino's Pizza, Eli Lilly, the Federal Trade Commission, General Motors, and General Electric. Currently, he is CEO/board chair of the Venture Michigan Corporation and a director/board chair of the American Marketing Association. Dr. Kinnear has co-authored several books, and his research has been published in numerous scholarly journals. He holds an MBA from Harvard and a Ph.D. from University of Michigan.