Robert Wolcott, PhD, is Co-Founder and Chairman of The World Innovation Network (TWIN), an Adjunct Professor of Innovation at both the Booth School of Business at University of Chicago and the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, and a Board Member with Clareo.
Wolcott won Teacher of the Year from Kellogg's EMBA program in 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2017. He serves on advisory boards for the Open Innovation Lab of Norway; H-Farm, the leading technology ecosystem in Italy; and global non-profit Cure Blindness (Himalayan Cataract Project).
He is a regular contributor for Forbes on the impact of technology on business, society and humanity. His book with Dr. Michael Lippitz, Grow From Within: Mastering Corporate Entrepreneurship and Innovation (McGraw-Hill, 2010) shares a decade of research and has been published in Chinese and Japanese. Wolcott's work has appeared in MIT Sloan Management Review, Harvard Business Review, Forbes, strategy+business, The Wall Street Journal, Advertising Age, Business Week, The Financial Times (European Edition), The New York Times and numerous overseas publications. He is a frequent speaker at events worldwide.
Wolcott is an active angel investor in enterprises such as crowdfunding leader Indiegogo, student loan innovator Lumni, legal documentation platform Page Vault, transaction security technology firm Magic Cube, healthcare analytics providers SA Ignite and ClearCare Online (acquired by Battery Ventures), international art show, EXPO Chicago, and a blockchain-based startup in stealth mode.
Dr. Wolcott holds a BA in European and Chinese History, as well as an MS and PhD in Industrial Engineering & Management Sciences from Northwestern University.
Expertise
- Corporate Entrepreneurship
- Entrepreneurship
- Globalization & Innovation
- Culture of Innovation
- The Mission of Business
Featured Speaking Engagements
- Introduction and Closing Remarks on "Building Prosperity through Innovation," KIN ASEAN, Dec. 2012, Jakarta, Indonesia.
- New Models for Corporate Entrepreneurship, Retail Executive Summit, June 2012, San Diego, CA
- GE’s CMO Summit, May 2012, Crotonville, NY
- Innovation Across the Global Marketplace, Israel Dealmaker’s Summit, February 2012, Tel Aviv, Israel
- Innovation in Indonesia, KIN ASEAN, Dec, 2011, Jakarta, Indonesia
- Innovate or Die, Oslo Innovation Week keynote, October 2010, Oslo, Norway
Books
- Grow From Within: Mastering Corporate Entrepreneurship and Innovation. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010.
- "The Diffusion of Innovations through Microfranchising." In Microfranchising, Robert C. Wolcott. 35–49, 2011.