23 Jan 2014

Prof. Amy Edmondson Receives Honorary Doctorate from Maastricht University

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Amy Edmondson
Photo: Neal Hamberg

Harvard Business School (HBS) professor Amy Edmondson, an expert on leadership and innovation in teams and organizations, has received an honorary doctorate from Maastricht University in the Netherlands.

In presenting the award at a convocation at the university in January, Professor Wim Gijselaers noted that “Professor Edmondson has made an immense contribution to the field of organizational learning by questioning the commonly accepted views on how organizations perform and how people work together.”

Accepting the honor, Edmondson, the Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management at HBS, said “This honor is especially meaningful to me because of my admiration for this university. You have built a vibrant and thoroughly modern university with a thoroughly modern mission to influence scholars and the world, with ideas that are grounded in scholarly research but have implications for making a better world.” In addition, she gave thanks to her former academic advisors at Harvard, the late Prof. Richard Hackman, an innovator in the field of team research, and the late Prof. Chris Argyris, a pioneer in organizational learning.

Edmondson's research examines leadership, learning, and innovation in teams and organizations. Her most recent book, Teaming: How Organizations Learn, Innovate and Compete in the Knowledge Economy, emphasizes managing the activities that enable collaborative work across boundaries rather than designing and managing stable teams.

Professor Edmondson teaches Harvard MBA and Executive Education courses in leadership, team effectiveness, and organizational learning as well as a doctoral course in field research methods. She is also the editor of Organizational Learning and Competitive Advantage and has written more than 25 case studies.

Edmondson received her PhD in organizational behavior, AM in psychology, and AB in engineering and design, all from Harvard University.

Contacts

Cullen Schmitt
617-495-6155
cschmitt+hbs.edu

About Harvard Business School

Founded in 1908 as part of Harvard University, Harvard Business School is located on a 40-acre campus in Boston. Its faculty of more than 250 offers full-time programs leading to the MBA and PhD degrees, as well as more than 175 Executive Education programs, and Harvard Business School Online, the School’s digital learning platform. For more than a century, faculty have drawn on their research, their experience in working with organizations worldwide, and their passion for teaching, to educate leaders who make a difference in the world. The School and its curriculum attract the boldest thinkers and the most collaborative learners who will go on to shape the practice of business and entrepreneurship around the globe.