Biography

Professor Horton has taught the popular elective course Modern Political Economy to thousands of MBA and EMBA students over three decades. A member of the Columbia Business School faculty since 1970, he served two years while on leave from the School as Executive Director of the Temporary Commission on City Finances during the New York City fiscal crisis, and later served 15 years as Director of Research and President of the Citizens Budget Commission. His publications on municipal finance and public and nonprofit management include 14 books, numerous journal articles and policy studies. 

In 1981, he founded the Public and Nonprofit Management Program at the School. In 2000, that program morphed into the Social Enterprise Program and later the Tamer Center for Social Enterprise. Since 2009, he served as Faculty Director of Programs in Social Enterprise in the School's Executive Education division, and has served in numerous governance roles at the School and University, including chair of the Management Division. 

In 2020, he received Columbia University’s Faculty Presidential Award for Outstanding Teaching. Professor Horton received his B.A. from Grinnell College, his J.D. from Harvard Law School, and his Ph.D. in Political Science from Columbia University. He resides in Brooklyn, New York with his wife Jacqueline Dinan.