Dr. David Pistrui
Coleman Foundation Chair in Entrepreneurship
pistrui@iit.edu
312.567.3948
Dr. David Pistrui has held a number of scholarly appointments in the United States and Europe: founding Managing Director of the Wharton Enterprising Families Initiative (Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania), the Raymond Chair in Family Business (Alfred University, New York), and founding Director of the Center for Family Business and Entrepreneurial Leadership (Alfred University). Most recently, he was selected to be a Senior Fellow for the Austrian Economics Center, based in Vienna.
With over twenty-five years of business experience, Dr. Pistrui serves as an educator, advisor and consultant to family and closely held businesses, global corporations, and not-for-profit organizations. He is currently the Managing Director of Acumen Dynamics, LLC, a strategy-based education training and research firm that helps organizations align vision and strategy with execution and performance.
Dr. Pistrui holds a Ph.D. in Business Administration (Cum Laude) in Entrepreneurship, Strategy and Management from Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona (Spain) and a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Bucharest (Romania). He earned a M.A. in Liberal Studies from DePaul University and a B.S. in Business Administration in Marketing and Economics from Western Michigan University.
Selected Publications, 2008-09
- “Islam, Entrepreneurship and Business Values in the Middle East,” International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management, Interscience Publishers, Geneve, Switzerland, forthcoming, 2010
- “Entrepreneurial Expansion Plans: An Empirical Investigation of Infrastructure Predictors,” New England Journal of Entrepreneurship, Sacred Heart University, Fairfield, CT, forthcoming, 2009
- “New Venture Financing: An Empirical Investigation of Chinese Entrepreneurs,” Cambridge University Press, New York, forthcoming, 2009
- “Understanding the Impact of Islam and Muslim Entrepreneurship in the Middle East,” The 8th Wuhan International Conference on E-Business and Innovation Management Proceedings, China University of Geo-Sciences, Wuhan, Peoples Republic of China, May 30-31, 2009
- “Building an Entrepreneurial Engineering Ecosystem for Future Generations: The Kern Entrepreneurship Education Network,” American Society of Engineering Educators 2008 Annual Conference Proceedings, Pittsburg, PA, June 22-25, 2008
Selected Workshops, Seminars, and Presentations, 2008-09
- "New Approaches to Science, Technology, and Innovation: The IIT Eco-System," Austrian Institute of Technology, Vienna, Austria, 7/2009
- “Techniques to Improve Cash Flow: The Big Picture in Bite-Sized Pieces,” Comarch, Chicago, IL, 6/2009
- “Mindset, Design Thinking, and Innovation in American Manufacturing,” China Leaders for Manufacturing Program, Antai College of Economics and Management, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China, 6/2009
- “Opportunity, Innovation, and Design Thinking: Putting Theory into Practice,” Zhi Zhu Science and Technology Park, Shanghai, China, 6/2009
- “The Obama Factor: Opportunities, Challenges, and the Potential Impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan on Business Development,” The Embassy of the United States of America and American Chamber of Commerce, Vienna, Austria, 5/2009
- “Management and Expansion in Turbulent Times: Lessons from the Frontiers of Innovation,” European Finance Forum, Vienna, Austria, 2/2009
- “Creating Faculty Champions of Entrepreneurship Outside the B-School and at Community Colleges,” United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship Annual Conference, Anaheim, CA, 1/2009
- “Technology Commercialization at Universities: Are We Thinking about This the Right Way?” United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship Annual Conference, Anaheim, CA, 1/2009
- “Emerging Trends and Best Practices for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses” Comarch Initiative, Chicago, IL, 11/2008
- “Corporate Governance Management and Business Ethics Essentials,” Bahrain Institute of Banking and Finance, Manama, Bahrain, 10/2008
- “Family Business Constitutions,” Bahrain Family Business Association, Manama, Bahrain, 10/2008
- “Manufacturing, Innovation, and Design Thinking: Theories, Applications, and Practices in America,” China Leaders for Manufacturing Program, Antai College of Economics and Management, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China, 6/2008
- “Innovation and Design Thinking: Theories, Applications and Practices,” Zhi Zhu Science and Technology Park, Shanghai, China, 6/2008