Professor & Prudential Chair in Business
Jeffrey A. Robinson, Ph.D. is an award-winning business school professor, international speaker and entrepreneur. Since 2008, he has been a leading faculty member at Rutgers Business School, where he is a professor of management and entrepreneurship and the Academic Director of The Center for Urban Entrepreneurship & Economic Development and research fellow of the Rutgers Advanced Institute for the Study of Entrepreneurship and Development.
Through his research, business leadership and community activities he makes direct impacts corporate workplaces, entrepreneurs and economic development policy in the state of New Jersey and beyond.
Emerging from his pioneering research, the New Jersey Social Entrepreneurship Institute and the CUEED Pipeline to Inclusive Innovation are national and international models for economic development and social problem solving using entrepreneurial approaches. He leads research on four National Science Foundation funded research projects related to inclusive innovation including the GEM Inclusion in Innovation Initiative (GEM i4).
Dr. Robinson is the author of many articles and books on the topics of management, entrepreneurship and workforce diversity. He is the co-author along with Dr. Randal Pinkett of Black Faces in White Places: 10 Game-Changing Strategies to Achieve Success and Find Greatness (published by Harper Collins Leadership). In 2022, he and Dr. Pinkett will release Black Faces in High Places: 10 Strategic Actions for Black Professionals to Reach the Top and Stay There (also to be published by Harper Collins Leadership). As a result of his work, Dr. Robinson is a sought-after speaker and trainer in many Fortune 1000 Corporations, foundations and leading social sector organizations including Comcast, KIPP Schools, Legrand North America, Novartis, The National Urban League and the National Association for Multi-Ethnicity in Communications (NAMIC). Dr. Robinson is a media commentator recently appearing on PBS, NJN News, National Public Radio, Marketplace on Public Radio International, NJ Biz, The Washington Post and The New York Times.
Dr. Robinson has completed five degrees in the areas of engineering, urban studies and business. At Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, he completed a Bachelor of Arts in Urban Studies at Rutgers College and a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering at Rutgers School of Engineering. He has a Master of Science in Civil Engineering Management from Georgia Institute of Technology as a GEM Fellow and an M. Phil. and a Ph.D. in Management and Organizations from Columbia University's Graduate School of Business.
Professor Jeffrey A. Robinson teaches Foundations of Entrepreneurship, where students learn how to skillfully combine capital, opportunities, innovation and networks to disrupt industries, create wealth, and use innovation to solve consumer and social problems. In addition to the traditional topics of opportunity recognition, business planning, and entrepreneurial finance, he also explores the topics of corporate venturing, social entrepreneurship and the relationship between entrepreneurship and economic development. This course will appeal to individuals who have a strong desire to become entrepreneurs, work in startups, or invest in early stage companies. This course will also be immensely valuable to those who will work in venture capital, where they are dealing with new or relatively new ventures.
Ph.D., Columbia University; Management
M.Phil., Columbia University; Management
M.S., Georgia Institute of Technology; Civil Engineering Management
Evans, M.N. Robinson, J. A. and Williamson, I.O. 2022. “The Link between HRM Practices and Social Purpose Outcomes in Indigenous Enterprises.” In press, Journal of Social Entrepreneurship.
Vickerie-Dearman, L., McCullers, K, Robinson, J. 2021.“Poverty Alleviation Through Entrepreneurship In The United States: A Framework For Policy And Practice”. Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship.
Inouye, T., Joshi, A., Hemmatian, I., Robinson, J. 2020. "Counteracting Globalization's Skeptics: How Diasporas Influence the Internationalization Preferences of Minority Entrepreneurs' Firms." Global Strategy Journal
Joshi, Amol, Inoyue, Todd, & Robinson, Jeffrey A. 2018. "How does agency workforce diversity influence Federal R&D funding of minority and women technology entrepreneurs? An analysis of the SBIR and STTR programs, 2001–2011." Small Business Economics,
Germak, A. and Robinson, J.A. 2014. “Exploring Motivation of Nascent Social Entrepreneurs to Engage in Social Innovation”, Journal of Social Entrepreneurship,
Hayes, R. N. and Robinson, J.A. 2012. "An Economic Sociology of African Entrepreneurial Activity". International Journal of Entrepreneurship
Robinson, J.A. and Hayes, R. N. 2012. “Opportunity Recognition in Inner City Markets: An Exploratory Study” Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship,
Hayes, R. N. and Robinson, J. A. 2011, “Institutional Logics and Entrepreneurial Action in the Black Church: A research note” Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship.
Fairchild, G. B. and Robinson, J.A. 2008. “Unlearned Lessons from Letter From a Birmingham Jail: The Work Begun, The Progress Made, and The Task Ahead.” Business and Society
Robinson, J.A., 2008. “Urban Entrepreneurship: Patterns and Policy” Western New England Law Review
Robinson, J.A., Robinson, S., and Blockson, L., 2007. “Exploring Stratification and Entrepreneurship: African American Women Entrepreneurs Redefine Success in Growth Ventures” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science
Ingram, P., Robinson, J., and Busch, M. 2005. “The Intergovernmental Network of World Trade: IGO Connectedness, Governance and Embeddedness in World Trade” American Journal of Sociology
Pinkett, R. D. and Robinson, J. A. 2022. Black Faces in High Places: 10 Strategic Actions for Black Professionals to Reach the Top and Stay There.
Pinkett, R. D. and Robinson, J. A. 2010 Black Faces in White Places:10 Game-Changing Strategies to Achieve Success and Find Greatness.
Hockerts, K., Mair, J., Robinson, J., co-editors. 2010, Values and Opportunities in Social Entrepreneurship.
Robinson, J., Mair, J., Hockerts, K. co-editors. 2009, International Perspectives on Social Entrepreneurship.
Mair, J., Robinson, J., Hockerts, K. co-editors. 2006, Social Entrepreneurship
Robinson, J.A., Joshi, A., Vickerie-Dearman, L., and Inouye, T. (2019). “Urban innovation: at the nexus of urban policy and entrepreneurship” in Handbook of Inclusive Innovation: The Role of Organizations, Markets and Communities in Social Innovation, eds. George, G., Baker, T., Tracey, P, Joshi, H
Simms, S.V. and Robinson, J.A. (2009) “Activist or Entrepreneur: An Identity-based Theory of Social Entrepreneurship” in Robinson, J., Mair, J., Hockerts, K. co-editors., International Perspectives on Social Entrepreneurship.
Robinson, J.A. (2006) “Navigating Social and Institutional Barriers to Markets: How Social Entrepreneurs Identify and Evaluate Opportunities” in Mair, J., Robinson, J., Hockerts, K. eds., Social Entrepreneurship.
Name: Edouard, Linda
Graduation Date: 2023/January
Name: Crews, Marcus
Graduation Date: 2022/Jan
Name: Bass, Shoshana
Graduation Date: 2019/May
Name: Kong, Xiangyi
Graduation Date: 2019/Jan
Name: Chen, Huangen
Graduation Date: 2018/May
Thesis Title: Social Entrepreneurship and Social Innovation: Institutional Environment, Identity Configuration, and Resourcefulness
Name: Ma, Jiangshui
Graduation Date: 2018/May
Thesis Title: Why Silicon Valley? An “Entrepreneurial Ecosystem” Perspective on Regional Venture Creation and New Venture Fundraising, Evidence from China
Name: Vickerie, Lutisha
Graduation Date: 2018/May
Thesis Title: Immigrant Entrepreneurship, Institutional Logics, and Informality: A Study of Entrepreneurs and Urban Entrepreneurship Policy in Newark, New Jersey
Professor Robinson is a recipient of the Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship John Jack Award presented at the USASBE (United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship) Annual Conference as well as a sought after speaker and trainer in many Fortune 100 Corporations, foundations and leading social sector organizations including Wells Fargo, PSEG, KIPP Schools, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and Comcast.
Dr. Robinson has appeared on PBS, Caucus: New Jersey, and NJTV. He is often quoted by journalists from the Associated Press, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times.