Clayton Christensen
Formal First Name
Clayton
Nick Name
Guru of Disruptive Innovation
Dates
4/6/1952 - 1/23/2020
Clayton Christensen wore many hats during his lifetime: a remarkable academic, author, religious leader, and business consultant. As one of the world’s foremost authorities on growth and innovation, his ideas have been used in nearly all industries and organizations across the globe. Christensen is best known for his theory of disruptive innovation. His work explores how innovative approaches can lead to organizational transformation and create valuable new sources of growth. He is also the best-selling author of nine books and over a hundred articles.
Clayton Christensen Professional Experience / Academic History
Professional Experience
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Professor
Academic History
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MBA, DBA, Innovation
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MPhil, Applied Econometrics, Rhodes Scholar
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BA, Economics, summa cum laude
- Until his early passing in January 2020, Christensen was the Kim B. Clark Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, where he taught one of the most popular elective classes for second-year students, Building and Sustaining a Successful Enterprise.
- Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, he was once a missionary in the Republic of Korea.
- He holds five honorary doctorates and an honorary chaired professorship at the Tsinghua University in Taiwan.
- He was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford and was named a White House Fellow.
- He has served on the Boy Scouts of America for 25 years as a scoutmaster, cubmaster, den leader, troop and pack committee chairman.
Awards:
- He was shortlisted for the Thinkers50 2019 Breakthrough Idea Award, for The Prosperity Paradox.
- He is a five-time recipient of the McKinsey Award, given each year to the two best articles published in the Harvard Business Review.
- In 2010, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Tribeca Films Festival.
- In 2011, in a poll of thousands of consultants, executives, and business school professors, he was hailed the world's most influential business thinkers.