Profile picture of Andrew Nelson

Andrew Nelson

Professor of Management | Randall C. Papé Chair in Entrepreneurship and Innovation

Affiliations: Management, Center for Sustainable Business Practices, Lundquist Center for Entrepreneurship, Oregon MBA, Oregon Executive MBA
Phone: 541-346-1569
Office: Anstett 393C

About

Biography:

Andrew Nelson is a professor in the Department of Management at the Lundquist College of Business and the Randall C. Papé Chair in Entrepreneurship and Innovation. Nelson's research explores technology, entrepreneurship, and occupations and has been featured in leading journals including Administrative Science Quarterly, Academy of Management Journal, and Organization Science, as well as in national media outlets including The Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and NPR.

Nelson received his PhD in management science and engineering from Stanford University, where he subsequently served on the faculty. He also holds an MS with distinction from Oxford University and a BA with honors and distinction from Stanford University.

As an award-winning instructor, Nelson leads undergraduate, MBA, PhD, and executive education courses in entrepreneurship and organization theory. In collaboration with colleagues from Stanford University and the University of California at Davis, he also is the author of Technology Ventures: From Idea to Enterprise, published by McGraw-Hill, which is now in its fifth edition and used in entrepreneurship courses worldwide.

Degree History:
  • PhD, Stanford University, 2007
  • MS, Oxford University, 2000
  • BA, Stanford University, 1998
Previous Positions:
  • Visiting Scholar, Stanford University, 2022–2023
  • Visiting Scholar, Stanford University, 2012
  • Lecturer, Stanford University, 2007–2008
Professional Leadership:
  • Senior Editor, Organization Science, 2023–present
  • Associate Editor, Academy of Management Journal, 2019–2022
  • Editorial Board Member, Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, Innovation: Organization and Management, Academy of Management Journal
  • Advisory Board Member, Stanford Technology Ventures Program
  • Member, University Venture Development, University of Oregon, 2015–present
  • Advisory Board, Vice President for Research and Innovation, University of Oregon, 2012–present
Honors and Awards:
  • Oregon Executive MBA Outstanding Faculty, University of Oregon, 2022
  • Oregon Executive MBA Outstanding Faculty, University of Oregon, 2020
  • Oregon Executive MBA Outstanding Faculty, University of Oregon, 2019
  • Oregon Executive MBA Outstanding Faculty, University of Oregon, 2018
  • Thomas C. Stewart Distinguished Professor, University of Oregon, 2018
  • Oregon Executive MBA Outstanding Faculty, University of Oregon, 2017
  • Oregon Executive MBA Outstanding Faculty, University of Oregon, 2016
  • Harry R. Jacobs, Jr. Professional Service Award, University of Oregon, 2016
  • Outstanding Reviewer Award, Academy of Management Journal editorial board, 2016
  • Oregon Executive MBA Outstanding Faculty, University of Oregon, 2015
  • Best Paper Award, Sustainability, Ethics and Entrepreneurship Conference, 2015
  • Best Paper Award, Center for Positive Organizational Scholarship, 2015
  • Goulet Outstanding Research Award, University of Oregon, 2014
  • Ascendant Scholar, Western Academy of Management, 2014
  • Undergraduate Teaching Award, Business Advisory Council, 2013
  • "Rising Star" runner-up, Industry Studies Association, 2013
  • Bramsen Faculty Fellow in Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Sustainability, 2012–2013
  • James E. Reinmuth MBA Teaching Excellence Award, University of Oregon, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013
  • Kauffman Foundation Junior Faculty Fellow in Entrepreneurship, 2009–2011
  • Best Paper Award, UC Davis Qualitative Research Conference, 2010
  • Undergraduate Teaching Award, Business Advisory Council, 2009
  • Best Dissertation Award, INFORMS Technology Management Section, 2008
  • PhD Fellowship, Stanford University School of Engineering, 2001

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Areas of Expertise

  • Entrepreneurship
  • Innovation
  • Interorganizational networks
  • Occupations and technology
  • Research commercialization

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Current Projects

  • Nelson, Andrew, and Tongyu Wu. "Dungeons and Dragons (And Programmers, Too!): Gamification among High-Tech Workers."
  • Nelson, Andrew. "'Even Better than the Real Thing'?: Electronic Organs and the Paradox of Imitative Technology Products."

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Publications

Journal Articles:

Nelson, Andrew. "Moving Entrepreneurship Education Beyond Enterprise Creation." Journal of Management Inquiry, forthcoming.

June 2023

Nelson, Andrew, Callen Anthony, and Mary Tripsas. "'If I Could Turn Back Time': Occupational Dynamics, Technology Trajectories and the Reemergence of the Analog Music Synthesizer." Administrative Science Quarterly 68, no. 2: 551-599. https://doi.org/10.1177/00018392231163178.

June 2023

Clayton, Paige, Lauren Lanahan, and Andrew Nelson. "Dissecting Diffusion: Tracing the Plurality of Factors That Shape Knowledge Diffusion." Research Policy 51, no. 1. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2021.104389.

January 2022

Howard-Grenville, Jennifer, Andrew Nelson, Heather Vough, and Tammar B. Zilber. "From the Editors: Achieving Fit and Avoiding Misfit in Qualitative Research." Academy of Management Journal 64, no. 5: 1313-1323. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2021.4005.

October 2021

Tilleman, Suzanne, Michael Russo, and Andrew Nelson. "Institutional Logics and Regional Cluster Emergence: Evidence from The Wind and Solar Energy Industries." Organization Science 31, no. 3: 649-670. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2019.1320.

May 2020

Hayter, Christopher S., Andrew J. Nelson, Stephanie Zayed, and Alan C. O'Connor. "Conceptualizing Academic Entrepreneurship Ecosystems: A Review, Analysis and Extension of the Literature." The Journal of Technology Transfer 43, no. 4: 1039-1082. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10961-018-9657-5.

August 2018

Waisberg, Isaac, and Andrew Nelson. "When the General Meets the Particular: The Practices and Challenges of Interorganizational Knowledge Reuse." Organization Science 29, no. 3: 432-448. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2017.1196.

May 2018

Howard-Grenville, Jennifer, Andrew J. Nelson, Andrew G. Earle, Julie A. Haack, and Douglas M. Young. "'If Chemists Don't Do It, Who's Going to?': Peer-Driven Occupational Change and the Emergence of Green Chemistry." Administrative Science Quarterly 62, no. 3: 524-560. https://doi.org/10.1177/0001839217690530.

September 2017

Anthony, Callen, Andrew J. Nelson, and Mary Tripsas. "'Who Are You?...I Really Wanna Know': Product Meaning and Competitive Positioning in the Nascent Synthesizer Industry." Strategy Science 1, no. 3: 163-183. https://doi.org/10.1287/stsc.2016.0015.

September 2016

Nelson, Andrew J. "How to Share 'A Really Good Secret': Managing Sharing/Secrecy Tensions around Scientific Knowledge Disclosure." Organization Science 27, no. 2: 265-285. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2015.1040.

March 2016

Grodal, Stine, Andrew J. Nelson, and Rosanne M. Siino. "Help-Seeking and Help-Giving as an Organizational Routine: Continual Engagement in Innovative Work." Academy of Management Journal 58, no 1: 136-168. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2012.0552.

February 2015

Nelson, Andrew, and Erik Monsen. "Teaching Technology Commercialization: Introduction to The Special Section." Journal of Technology Transfer 39, no. 5: 774-779. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10961-014-9341-3.

October 2014

Nelson, Andrew J. "From the Ivory Tower to the Startup Garage: Organizational Context and Commercialization Processes." Research Policy 43, no. 7: 1144-1156. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2014.04.011.

September 2014

Nelson, Andrew, Andrew Earle, Jennifer Howard-Grenville, Julie Haack, and Doug Young. "Do Innovation Measures Actually Measure Innovation? Obliteration, Symbolic Adoption and Other Finicky Challenges in Measuring Innovation Diffusion." Research Policy 43, no. 6: 927-940. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2014.01.010.

July 2014

Nelson, Andrew J., and Jennifer Irwin. "'Defining What We Do—All Over Again': Occupational Identity, Technological Change, and the Librarian-Internet Search Relationship." Academy of Management Journal 57, no. 3: 892-928. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2012.0201.

June 2014

Mody, Cyrus C. M., and Andrew J. Nelson. "'A Towering Virtue of Necessity': Interdisciplinarity and the Rise of Computer Music at Vietnam-Era Stanford." Osiris 28, no. 1: 254-277. https://doi.org/10.1086/671380.

January 2013

Nelson, Andrew, A. Earle, and Jennifer Howard-Grenville. "Obliteration, Symbolic Adoption, and Other Finicky Challenges in Tracking Innovation Diffusion." Academy of Management Proceedings 2012, no. 1 https://doi.org/10.5465/AMBPP.2012.296.

July 2012

Nelson, Andrew J. "Putting University Research in Context: Assessing Alternative Measures of Production and Diffusion at Stanford." Research Policy 41, no. 4: 678-691. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2011.11.004.

May 2012

Nelson, Andrew J. "Measuring Knowledge Spillovers: What Patents, Publications and Licenses Reveal About Knowledge Diffusion." Research Policy 38, no. 6: 994-1005. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2009.01.023.

July 2009

Nelson, Andrew J. "Cacophony or Harmony: Multivocal Logics and Technology Licensing by the Stanford University Department of Music." Industrial and Corporate Change 14, no. 1: 93-118. https://doi.org/10.1093/icc/dth045.

February 2005
Books:

Byers, Thomas, Richard Dorf, and Andrew Nelson. Technology Ventures: From Idea to Enterprise. New York: McGraw-Hill.

February 2018

Nelson, Andrew. The Sound of Innovation: Stanford and the Computer Music Revolution. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

March 2015
Book Chapters:

Nelson, Andrew J. "'Standing on [Transparent] Shoulders': Applying Open Source Approaches to Qualitative Management." In The Routledge Companion to Qualitative Research in Organization Studies, edited by Raza Mir and Sanjay Jain. New York: Routledge.

September 2017

Nelson, Andrew J. "Managing Collaborations at the University-Industry Interface: An Exploration of the Diffusion of PCR and rDNA." In Qualitative Organizational Research: Best Papers from the Davis Conference on Qualitative Research, Volume 3, edited by Beth A. Bechky and Kimberly D. Elsbach, 53-90. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.

April 2016

Nelson, Andrew J., and Stefano Cazzago. "Culture and Innovation." In The Concise Guide to Entrepreneurship, Technology, and Innovation, edited by David B. Audretsch, Christopher S. Hayter, and Albert N. Link, 20-27. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar.

June 2015

Nelson, Andrew J., and Thomas Byers. "Challenges in University Technology Transfer and the Promising Role of Entrepreneurship Education." In The Chicago Handbook of University Technology Transfer and Academic Entrepreneurship, edited by Albert Link, Donald S. Siegel, and Mike Wright. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

March 2015

Byers, Tom, and Andrew J. Nelson. "Organizational Modularity and Intra-University Relationships between Entrepreneurship Education and Technology Transfer." In University Entrepreneurship and Technology Transfer: Process, Design, and Intellectual Property, edited by Gary Libecap, 275-311. Stamford, CT: Elsevier Science/JAI Press.

January 2005
Book Reviews:

Bailey, Michael, and Andrew J. Nelson. "Robert Stephenson: The Eminent Engineer. (Review)." Technology and Culture 45, no. 3: 650-651. https://doi.org/10.1353/tech.2004.0145

July 2004

In the News

Shan Rammah, MBA '23, never expected to launch his own airport development firm before he graduated.
In a piece for the American Sociological Association's Footnotes magazine, UO professor Andrew Nelson takes a look at technology's role in job creation.
The UO promoted 95 faculty members in 2021, including 53 tenure-track and 42 career faculty members from across the university’s schools and colleges.
Management professor Lauren Lanahan and PhD student Nathan Warren were awarded funding from the Lundquist Center for Entrepreneurship to support their research.
The Oregon Executive MBA's signature innovation boot camp returned for its second year.
Students and professionals are invited to participate in this year’s event, which features a lineup drawn from the region's top entrepreneurs and business leaders.
Twelve UO students make up the first cohort of the Provost’s Innovation Student Fellowship program, priming the university to expand its entrepreneurial ecosystem.
The 2020 UO Startup Week was a virtual showcase of entrepreneurship and innovation on campus and within the greater Eugene community.