Biography

Jack McGourty Ph.D. is an adjunct professor of business teaching applied topics in entrepreneurship and innovation. He is the founder of Venture for All®, a global entrepreneurship program offering world-class learning experiences to students and professionals seeking to innovate and thrive by applying entrepreneurial thinking and contemporary innovation practices.

Before joining the Columbia Business School, Professor McGourty was Vice Dean for Columbia's Engineering School. For over 24 years, he has been an active member of the University's entrepreneurial community. Professor McGourty has taught over 6500 students in the core, and advanced courses ranging from engineering design to managing emerging technologies, established an undergraduate minor in entrepreneurship, and launched the Columbia-Harlem Small Business Development Center in 2009. In addition, he has been an active instructor in the University's High School Academic Program for over eighteen years and, more recently, Executive Education hosted by the Business School. Professor McGourty is the recipient of the Columbia Engineering School's Distinguished Faculty Teaching Award and Columbia Business School's Dean's Award for Teaching Excellence. He was a nominee finalist for the University's Presidential Teacher Award in 2006 and was awarded the IBM Education Innovators Award in 2011. In addition, he is co-author of the Wiley publication, Patterns of Entrepreneurship Management, 6th Edition, published in 2020.

Professor McGourty received his Ph.D. in Applied Psychology from Stevens Institute of Technology, focusing on technology and innovation management. Over the years, his research findings on product realization processes and organizational innovation have been successfully applied by several industrial and government organizations, including 3M, Allied Signal, AT&T, Becton Dickinson, Chrysler, Dow Chemical, Exxon Mobil, General Electric, Honeywell, Intel, Lipton, Lucent Technologies, Merck, Panasonic, and the U.S. Army.

Before coming to Columbia in 1998, Professor McGourty was a senior executive and board member for a large publicly-traded company. During his tenure, he held several senior positions, including vice president of human resources, executive vice president of operations, division president, and company president & chief operating officer. He was also the managing principal of Assessment Alternatives Inc., a consulting firm providing programs and services to companies on innovation best practices.