Michael E Porter

Professor Porter is generally recognized as the father of the modern strategy field, and has been identified in rankings and surveys as the world’s most influential thinker on management and competitiveness. He serves as an advisor to countries, corporations, non-profits, and academic circles across the globe. Professor Porter received a B.S.E. with high honors in aerospace and mechanical engineering from Princeton University in 1969, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and Tau Beta Pi. He then received an M.B.A. with high distinction in 1971 from the Harvard Business School, where he was a George F. Baker Scholar, and a Ph.D. in business economics from Harvard University in 1973. Professor Porter developed and chairs the New CEO Workshop, a Harvard Business School program for newly appointed CEOs of the world’s largest and more complex corporations. Held twice each year by invitation only, the workshop focuses on the challenges facing new CEOs in assuming leadership. His Harvard Business Review article with Jay Lorsch and Nitin Nohria, ‘Seven Surprises for New CEOs’ (October 2004), describes some of the learning from this ongoing body of work. Professor Porter currently serves on the board of directors of two public companies, Thermo Fisher Scientific Corporation and Parametric Technology Corporation. Professor Porter serves as senior strategy advisor to the Boston Red Sox, a major league baseball team. He has advised numerous educational and community organizations on strategy. Professor Porter was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and lived and traveled throughout the world as the son of a career Army officer. He was an all-state high school football and baseball player in the state of New Jersey where he attended high school. At Princeton, he played intercollegiate golf and was New England champion. He was named to the 1968 NCAA Golf All-American Team. After graduating from college, Professor Porter served through the rank of captain in the U.S. Army Reserve. He maintains a long-time interest in the esthetics and business of music and art, having worked on the problems of strategy with arts organizations and aspiring musicians. Professor Porter has two daughters and resides in Brookline, Massachusetts.