Benjamin M. Cole, Ph.D. William J. Loschert Endowed Chair of Technology Entrepreneurship Fellow, British Blockchain Association Professor, Strategy & Statistics Area Gabelli School of Business, Fordham University | Email: bmcole@fordham.edu

About Me I hold the William J. Loschert Endowed Chair in Technology Entrepreneurship, am a Professor (and former Area Chair) of Strategy & Statistics at Fordham University’s Gabelli School of Business, and recently began serving as a Faculty Advisor to the Dean on Innovation. I am an inducted Fellow of the British Blockchain Association and have been featured in Fortune (for work in blockchain and crypto ecosystems), Fast Company (for insights on crypto exchanges), TechCrunch (for insights on crypto), U.S. News and World Report (for insights on culture and teaching innovation), and CBS Evening News with Katie Couric. I was named to Poets & Quants’ “Top 50 Undergraduate Business Professor” list in 2018 and “The Favorite Business Professors of the Class of 2022” list in 2023. Additionally, starting in 2022, I was asked to serve as a member of the CNBC Disruptor 50 Advisory Council, which helps CNBC construct its ranking methodology to identify the most game-changing private companies in the world. Finally, I am the Managing Director of the Family Stewardship Council at Fordham Gabelli, which was founded to provide a safe space for members of Family Firms, Funds or Offices (FFFOs), or those considering establishing one or more, to engage in honest conversations regarding the unique challenges of such firms.

Biography Dr. Cole’s research broadly centers around two themes—technological innovation and doing business differently—and is published (or forthcoming) in several FT50 journals, including Administrative Science Quarterly, the Academy of Management Journal, Strategic Management Journal and the Journal of Business Ethics. Dr. Cole serves on the Editorial Review Board of the Academy of Management Journal, the flagship empirical journal of the Academy of Management, where he has been recognized twice for Exemplary Performance as Best Reviewer (in 2020 and 2016). He was the recipient of the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Research at the Gabelli School of Business three times (2023, 2020 and 2015), and also has been recognized for his scholarly activity by three different divisions of the Academy of Management. In 2013, Dr. Cole was selected as a finalist by the International Management (IM) Division for two international research awards—the Gustavson Best Qualitative Paper Award and the Douglas Nigh Award for the Best Interdisciplinary Paper authored by Junior Scholar(s). In 2009, 2007, 2006, 2005 and 2004, he was awarded the Outstanding Review Award from the Business Policy and Strategy (BPS) Division (now called the Strategic Management (STR) Division); and in 2007 and 2006, he received the Above and Beyond the Call of Duty Award from the Organization and Management Theory (OMT) Division. He received the OMT Research Committee Service Award in 2021 for his five years of service to the division. Also of note, in 2006, he was one of eight finalists globally in the INFORMS / Organization Science Dissertation Proposal Competition. Dr. Cole also has been recognized for his contributions to the Gabelli School. At the graduate level, he has received the Dean’s Award for Impact twice (2022 and 2018) for his work in advancing two of the school’s strategic differentiators: Jesuit values and social innovation. In 2021, he was selected by the Gabelli School’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Board for its inaugural Achievement in Belonging: Faculty Curriculum & Teaching Award for “creating a curriculum that enables students to navigate today’s global and multicultural realities.” Dr. Cole was chosen by the Classes of 2023, 2019 and 2015 for the Gladys and Henry Crown Award for Faculty Excellence and by the Class of 2015 for the Stanley Fuchs Award; the former is “given to the full-time faculty member whose exceptional performance and devotion to the school’s ideals and goals warrant extraordinary recognition”; the latter is “given to a full-time faculty member who has made a significant impact on students through his or her dedication and commitment to the student body.” He was selected by the Class of 2023 to deliver the inaugural “Last Lecture.” At the undergraduate level, Dr. Cole was selected three times by the graduating class for the Dean’s Award for Teaching Excellence (Class of 2016, Class of 2013 and Class of 2009) and once for the Faculty Cura Personalis Award (Class of 2022), the latter “recognizes a faculty member who embodies the Jesuit value of caring for others by going the extra mile to help students develop not only professionally, but also as whole people.” Prior to Fordham, he taught at the Stern School of Business at New York University and at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan. At the latter institution, he was recognized as one of the Top 15 Instructors for BBA-level instruction. Dr. Cole served for three years (2015-2018) as Director of the Full-time Cohort MBA and Professional MBA programs at the Gabelli School. For the Full-time program, he innovated in the curricular and co-curricular space, including introducing Gabelli Launch, a month-long onboarding program for the MBA1s that included a community impact challenge in Latin America. These efforts were recognized not only by the students, but also in the Gabelli School’s placement in various rankings. The full-time program gained 47 points in the U.S. News & World Report ranking (2015: #110 | 2018: #63), 37 points in the Poets & Quants ranking (2015: #99 | 2017: #62), 12 points in the Bloomberg BusinessWeek ranking (2015: #72 | 2017: #60), re-entry into the Forbes ranking (2015: unranked | 2018: #70), and a debut in The Economist ranking (2017: #92) and in the Corporate Knights Better World MBA Ranking (2018: #11). For the Professional MBA program, Dr. Cole successfully steered the program through a substantial curriculum change that includes flex-core and fixed-core components and two bookend modules (a Value & Values module for incoming students and the two-day Gabelli Capstone Experience). During Dr. Cole’s time as Director, the PMBA Program saw a 40 point gain in the U.S. News & World Report ranking (2015: #91 | 2018: #51).

Dr. Cole has served on numerous high impact committees at Fordham University, including the Provost Office’s Visioning Committee for the Center for Teaching and Learning, and the Gabelli School Dean Search Committee. Within the Gabelli School, he has served on the Executive Committee, the Research Committee, and Program Revision Committees for all three of the Gabelli School’s MBA Programs. Dr. Cole formerly served as the associate director of the Global Healthcare Innovation Management Center, where he headed up initiatives on regulatory and business innovation, and has advised the consulting clubs and the Fordham Fintech Network at both the graduate and undergraduate schools. As part of his work with Fordham’s Global Healthcare Innovation Management Center, Dr. Cole published regulatory response letters, original Op-Eds and was involved with The Business of Life Sciences program, sponsored by Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Fordham University. Dr. Cole has worked in an advisory capacity with several multinational corporations, including Tokyo-Mitsubishi Bank and JTB Travel USA, as well as several blockchain startups, including Rensa Games and Cellarius.

Before entering academia, Dr. Cole lived in Japan for nine years, where he worked as both a translator for a Japanese textbook company and as a corporate representative for Japan’s largest automaker, Toyota Motor Corporation. During that time, he had interactions with representatives of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), and was involved in preparing materials used in the 1995 Japan-U.S. trade negotiations. He was a key player in introducing the Toyota Hybrid System and the Fuel Cell Hybrid System technologies to the global media and financial community, and acted as simultaneous interpreter for Executive Vice President Akihiro Wada in charge of global technology. He also communicated firm decision-making on foreign direct investment in China, India, Poland, and the U.S., as well as coordinated projects between Japan, Belgium, Malaysia and the U.S. In short, Dr. Cole has personal experience with many of the topics that managers face in this globalized environment. As a bilingual and a former expatriate, Dr. Cole is keenly interested in cross-cultural hurdles to effective management.

Dr. Cole earned his B.A. in Japanese Language & Culture from Occidental College, and his M.B.A. (with Distinction) and Ph.D. in Strategy from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.