Dr. Charlotte Ren is Professor of Practice in Strategy and Innovation at the School of Arts and Sciences, University of Pennsylvania. She’s also Senior Fellow at Wharton’s Mack Institute for Innovation Management. Dr. Ren earned a PhD in management and an MA in economics from UCLA, a bachelor’s degree in international politics and a minor degree in law from Peking University (China).
Dr. Ren’s research interests focus on competitive strategy, innovation, and entrepreneurship. Her research is published in the top academic journals in the field of management such as Management Science, Journal of Management, and Strategic Management Journal. Her paper “The Rise and Fall of Entrepreneurial Opportunities inside Organizations: A Process Model for Corporate Entrepreneurship” received the Inaugural IDEA Award from the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management (AOM) in 2008. She also received numerous teaching awards including the 2017 Innovation in Entrepreneurship Pedagogy Award from the AOM’s Entrepreneurship Division. She is currently serving as a Representative-at-Large for two leading academic communities of management scholars, the AOM (Entrepreneurship Division) and the Strategic Management Society (Competitive Strategy Interest Group).
Dr. Ren has taught courses at the undergraduate, MBA, and PhD levels on strategy, entrepreneurship, innovation management, and cross-sector collaboration. A social entrepreneur herself, she designed, launched and served as the faculty director (2013-2016) of Penn Restorative Entrepreneurship Program, an innovative initiative geared towards helping formerly incarcerated individuals to become socially responsible entrepreneurs. More information about Dr. Ren’s research and teaching can be found on her professional website.
