10th Effectuation Conference - 

Effectual Impact: The Entrepreneurial Role in Connecting Society

Keynote Speaker Biographies

William B. Gartner holds the Bertarelli Foundation Distinguished Professorship of Family Entrepreneurship at Babson College and is the Director of Research at the Bertarelli Institute for Family Entrepreneurship. His research focuses on topics that revolve around entrepreneurial behavior at the individual and family levels.  Recognized as a pioneer in entrepreneurship scholarship, he has received the 2005 Swedish Entrepreneurship Foundation International Award, the 2013 Academy of Management Foundational Paper Award, the 2016 Dedication to Entrepreneurship Award, and the 2022 Justin G. Longnecker Fellow Award by USASBE. Before Babson, he held positions at the University of Virginia, Georgetown University, the University of Southern California, San Francisco State University, Clemson University, California Lutheran University, and the Copenhagen Business School.   

CV Link: https://facultyprofilefiles.babson.edu/MirroredFiles/wgartner/pci/GARTNER%20CV%201%20JANUARY%202025-1.pdf

Professor Saras D. Sarasvathy is a member of the Strategy, Entrepreneurship and Ethics area. In addition to MBA and doctoral courses in entrepreneurship at Darden, she teaches in doctoral programs in Europe, Asia, Latin America and Africa.  

Sarasvathy came into academia after cofounding and running five ventures spanning three countries. Currently, she serves on the board of Lending Tree (Nasdaq TREE), Upekkha,  a SaaS accelerator in Bangalore, India, as well as on advisory boards for academic institutions in Europe and Asia. 

In 2022, the Swedish Entrepreneurship Forum (Entreprenörskapsforum) and the Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN) awarded Sarasvathy the highest recognition for research in the field of entrepreneurship: 2022 Global Award for Entrepreneurship Research.  

Other recognitions for her contributions to teaching and practice include: 
1. Fortune Small Business magazine’s top 18 entrepreneurship professors  
2. Legacy Impact Award from the Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers  
3. Schumpeter EU SME Honored Lecture

In addition to Babson College in the US, universities around the world (India, China, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Greece) have also recognized Sarasvathy’s contributions to entrepreneurship research and education by awarding her three professorships and four honorary doctorates. 

A leading scholar on the cognitive basis for high-performance entrepreneurship, Sarasvathy has served on the editorial boards of top management and entrepreneurship journals. Her scholarly work has won several awards from the American Marketing Association and the Academy of Management in 2017. Her book Effectuation: Elements of Entrepreneurial Expertise was nominated for the 2009 Terry Book Award by the Academy of Management. 

The research program based on effectuation involves over a hundred scholars from around the world whose published and working papers can be found at www.effectuation.org. Sarasvathy has also developed several cases and other instructional materials to teach effectuation. The best-seller textbook she co-authored, Effectual Entrepreneurship won the Gold Medal in the 2012 Axiom Business Book Awards. 

In addition to a master's degree in industrial administration, Sarasvathy received her Ph.D. in information systems from Carnegie Mellon University. Her thesis on entrepreneurial expertise was supervised by Herbert Simon, 1978 Nobel Laureate in Economics. Here are links to her SSRN Author Page, her TEDx talk, a video interview with Big Think, a webinar from the World Bank and one from the Academy of Management. 

CV Link: https://www.darden.virginia.edu/sites/default/files/inline-files/Sarasvathy%2002_2024%20Full%20cv.pdf

Veerle Spronck is a researcher working at the intersection of arts, science, and technology. She is associate professor [associate lector] of Valuable Entrepreneurship in and through the Arts at the University of the Arts Utrecht, where she explores the societal value(s) and impact of arts and design. In practice, this involves conducting and coordinating transdisciplinary artistic research projects on pressing societal issues such as digital citizenship, the role of ecology in design, and the nature of ‘good’ care.

With an interdisciplinary background in art history, science & technology studies, and artistic research, Spronck adapts her methods to the specific field or theme she engages with. Her work often goes beyond written outputs—sometimes taking the form of an exhibition, drawing, or étude, depending on what best fits the research.

Alongside her research, Spronck teaches in the HKU BA Design for Change and Innovation one day a week, where she co-created and coordinates the Minor Creative Research for Change. She is also one of the makers of the podcast Kunstmatig, which explores the intersections of art and technology through topics ranging from BioArt to glitch knitting.

Stuart Read is a early figure in the scholarship of effectuation and entrepreneurial action. From his industry beginnings in high-tech start-ups, through his academic career at IMD and Willamette University, to his ongoing writing in retirement, his work underscores how entrepreneurs act: using what they have, inviting partners, shaping opportunities together. His textbook is widely used, and his research brings theoretical insights into the “how” of entrepreneurship. His enduring interest in co-creation positions him at the frontier of thinking about entrepreneurship as a collective, emergent process, rather than a lone pursuit.

Nick Dew is a Professor of Strategic Management at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA. His teaching and research focuses on entrepreneurship, strategy and innovation in defense and homeland security. He has a Ph.D. and MBA from the University of Virginia and experience working in the international energy industry. He is the author of over 50 research papers and an award-winning entrepreneurship textbook. His teaching and research has been funded by various DoD agencies and recognized in multiple teaching and research awards. He currently serves as the Academic Associate responsible for NPS’ innovative one-year Professional MBA program and the LEAD leadership program with the U.S. Naval Academy.

Rob Wiltbank has led Galois for more than a decade. Over those 10 years, the company has quadrupled while launching eight companies focused on product application of the technologies built through Galois’s R&D efforts. In addition, he has taught a venture investing class at Willamette University for 15 years that was selected as one of the top 10 entrepreneurship courses in the U.S. by Inc Magazine.

‍ Prior to joining Galois, Rob was a Professor of Strategy at Willamette University, researching angel investing and entrepreneurial expertise. He received the Hans Severeins Award, a national award from the United States angel investment community, for his service to the field of angel investing, and published the definitive research to date on financial returns in angel investing.

He is co-author of two books, Effective Entrepreneurship and The Catalyst, as well as many academic articles. The Catalyst was selected by BusinessWeek as a top 10 leadership book in the year of its release, and focuses on entrepreneurship in organizations. Effective Entrepreneurship is currently used to teach entrepreneurship in universities around the world, and has been translated into 10 languages. He completed his PhD in strategic management at the University of Washington, and undergraduate work in finance and accounting at Oregon State University.