Timothy M. Stearns

Timothy M. Stearns Speaker Biography

Internationally Recognized Authority on
Entrepreneurship and Innovation

Professor Timothy M. Stearns is an acclaimed scholar and practitioner of entrepreneurship who is recognized for his innovative methods around the globe. An author and teacher, he has coached over 1000 entrepreneurial start-ups in the past two decades.

Acclaimed Scholar

Timothy M. Stearns is the holder of the Coleman Foundation Chair in Entrepreneurial Studies and Executive Director/Founder of the Lyles Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Fresno State. Professor Stearns received his MBA degree in Management and a doctorate in Management/Sociology from Indiana University. He served as Chair of the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management in 2006 and 2008 and previously was a member of the Management faculty at the University of Wisconsin, Madison and Marquette University.

Publications

Professor Stearns has coauthored a textbook on management and is the author of more than 100 research articles and presentations. He has served on the editorial board of the Academy of Management Journal, and currently serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Business Research and the Journal of Small Business Management. 

International Authority

He has taught and lectured on entrepreneurship and innovation to students and executives in Thailand, Poland, Japan, Kazakhstan, Macau, India, Singapore, Germany, Malaysia, France, Belgium, Sri Lanka, Hong Kong, and the People’s Republic of China.

Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Dr. Stearns is on the Board of the Central Valley Business Incubator, a not-for-profit facility. Professor Stearns is also cofounder of Kids Invent! a company that sells creative hands-on learning around the world. He is a cofounder of the National Network for Technology Entrepreneurship and Commercialization a nonprofit located in Rapid City, South Dakota. Most recently he cofounded the American Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, LLC in partnership with educators in Singapore.

Honors and Accolades

In 2007, Professor Stearns won the prestigious Wang Family Excellence Award given each year to four faculty members selected from the 23 campus-wide California State System. In January 2009, Professor Stearns was elected a Fellow of the U.S. Association of Small Business and Entrepreneurship, one of 51 Fellows who have been inducted since 1986. He also received the university’s 2009 President’s Award of Excellence which annually recognizes a faculty member at Fresno State.