Jerome S. Engel

Professor Jerome S. Engel is an internationally recognized expert on innovation, entrepreneurship and venture capital, having lectured and advised business and government leaders around the world. He joined the University of California at Berkeley in 1991, after a successful business career, to found the Lester Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, which he currently serves as Senior Fellow and Founding Executive Director Emeritus.
 
As an Adjunct Professor Emeritus at the Haas School of Business, Professor Engel instructs in both the School’s MBA and Executive Education programs. He is a leader in the Lean Innovation movement and founding National Faculty Director of the National Science Foundations’ Innovation Corps (I-Corps), as well as a founding General Partner of two prosperous venture capital funds. His research and publications focus on the nature of innovation processes in entrepreneurial ventures, major corporations, and venture capital in regional ecosystems and global networks, as exemplified by his new book, Clusters of Innovation in the Age of Disruption. Most recently in Europe and elsewhere, he has been an active advisor to leaders of emerging innovation ecosystems including in Barcelona, Munich, Oslo, Brussels, Madrid, Melbourne, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and London. His focus is on building communities where naturally collaborative relationships emerge among major corporations, entrepreneurs and new venture investors. This work engages local universities, government and service organizations in creating and sustaining an entrepreneurial ecosystem that fosters the well-being of the entire community.  
 
Further to Professor Engels’ notable professional achievements, he has been awarded the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance Lifetime Educational Achievement Award, along with the Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers Award for Outstanding Contributions to Advance the Discipline of Entrepreneurship, among others. As an active Angel investor, Professor Engel currently serves on the Boards of Directors and Advisory Boards of several entrepreneurial ventures, venture capital firms, universities and innovation centers around the globe.