Gary S. Hansen

Professor Gary Hansen received his Ph.D. and MBA from the University of Michigan.  He joined the University of California Santa Barbara as Associate Dean for the College of Engineering to build a new educational and research program in technology management and entrepreneurship within the College of Engineering in 2003.  Today, that Technology Management Program (TMP) educates over 700 undergraduate and 75 graduate students at UC Santa Barbara. Professor Hansen’s research has received both national and international recognition, he received the “Outstanding Research for Strategic Management” award in 1987; named in “Business Week” magazine as one of the leading business scholars in the country; and awarded the Ernst and Young “Entrepreneur of the Year” for creating and leading one of the top technology entrepreneurship programs in the U.S.   Gary’s early professional career began in Washington D.C. first in a White House agency called the “Cost of Living Council” and later serving in the Office of the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce.  After government service, Gary became the Vice President of Marketing of a publicly traded company when he was 28 years old. 

Professor Hansen’s MBA was in the field of corporate finance and accounting and his Ph.D. in corporate strategy.  Professor Hansen was at the University of Washington from 1986 to 2003, and was a visiting Professor at Hitotsubashi University, Japan’s leading business research institute, in Tokyo Japan in 1994-95 and at the University of California Santa Barbara from 2001-present.  His research interests include causes of firm performance; strategic and investment decisions in technology driven companies; the role of entrepreneurial social networks on new venture success and strategy; and the relationship between corporate strategy and innovation success.  Professor Hansen has published in the leading journals in corporate strategy, presented his works broadly, has helped prepare numerous doctoral students for successful careers in scholarly research and reviews for the Strategic Management Journal, the Academy of Management of Journal, the Academy of Management Review, the Journal of Business Venturing, Organizational Science, the Journal of Management Studies, the Journal of Management, and Oxford University Press. 

Professor Hansen’s current teaching interests include technology-based startups and corporate intrapreneurship.  Gary designed and lead the internationally recognized executive management program the Aerospace Industry Seminar (AIMS) for the Boeing Corporation; was a Director for the Washington Research Foundation, gubernatorial appointed member of the Washington Technology Center (Vice Chair).  Founder and leader of the University of Washington’s Program in Entrepreneurship and Innovation (now called the Center for Technology Entrepreneurship, CTE), the Jones Entrepreneurship Research Fund, the Washington Software Alliance’s “Software.com: Business Leadership Program”, the William H. Gates Technology Fellow program, the MIT Venture Lab, and numerous other initiatives to bring the worlds of business, technology development, and education together.

Dr. Hansen has traveled and studied extensively in Asia; developed and lead the Hong Kong Shanghai Bank’s “Strategic Thinking Program”; worked with multinational Japanese and U.S. based firms on strategic alliances and new product/service development.  He resides in Santa Ynez, California.