Fellowships

This page contains information about the fellowships we offer, profiles of recent fellows, and a list of all past fellowship recipients.

The Thomas K. McCraw Fellowship in U.S. Business History

This award honors the work and contributions of Thomas K. McCraw (1940-2012), who was Isidor Straus Professor of Business History at Harvard Business School. The fellowship enables established scholars from around the world whose primary interest is the business and economic history of the United States to spend time in residence at Harvard Business School. The main activities of the Thomas K. McCraw Fellow will be to conduct research in the archives of Baker Library or in other Boston-area libraries, present their work at a seminar, and interact with HBS faculty.

The Thomas K. McCraw Fellow will receive a stipend of $7,000 to cover travel and living expenses. Fellows are expected to be in residence for a minimum of two months during the fall semester. Recipients of the fellowship will receive work space, an e-mail account, a phone, a computer, an ID card, and access to the University’s libraries and to the HBS Intranet for the duration of the appointment. Applicants should submit a cover letter, a CV, and a two- to three-page research proposal online no later than December 1, 2026. Letters of reference can be submitted online through Interfolio or by email to bhi@hbs.edu with the applicant’s name in the subject line.

As an academic corporate lawyer with a historically-oriented scholarly agenda, my time at HBS provided the ideal opportunity to enrich my research by talking with the numerous faculty members interested in history, and by drawing upon Baker Library’s wonderful resources.

Brian Cheffins, University of Cambridge, 2014 McCraw Fellow
Brian Cheffins; University of Cambridge, 2014 McCraw Fellow

Harvard Business School is a special place to develop new ideas and exchange them with extraordinary scholars. Doing research at the Baker Library was for me a source of continuous discovery and surprise. Its archival collections offer unique insights into the history of business.

Giovanni Favero; UniversitĂ  Ca' Foscari Venezia, 2018 McCraw Fellow
Apply for the McCraw Fellowship

Alfred D. Chandler Jr. International Visiting Scholar in Business History

The Alfred D. Chandler Jr. International Visiting Scholar in Business History Program invites established scholars in business history based outside the United States to spend a period of time in residence at Harvard Business School. The Chandler International Visiting Scholar is expected to interact with faculty and researchers, present work at research seminars, and conduct business history research.

Recipients will be given a $7,000 stipend (payable at the end of their visit), office space, an e-mail account, phone, computer, ID card, and access to the University’s libraries and the HBS Intranet. The program requires a two-month minimum length of stay. Scholars may stay up to a maximum of six months. It is expected that the recipient will be actively engaged in the intellectual life of the business history group. Fellowship recipients must be in residence during the fall semester. They will be expected to participate in the Business History Seminar, which meets from late September through November, and other fall activities. Applicants should indicate when during the calendar year they would like to be on campus. Applicants should submit a cover letter, a CV, and a two- to three-page research proposal online, no later than December 1, 2026. The applicant should also arrange for two letters of reference, sent directly by the recommender, to be submitted online through Interfolio or by email to bhi@hbs.edu with the applicant’s name in the subject line.

Apply to be a Chandler International Visiting Scholar

The Alfred D. Chandler Jr. Travel Fellowships

The purpose of this fellowship is to facilitate library and archival research in business or economic history. Individual grants range from $1,000 to $5,000. Three categories of applicants will be eligible for grants: 1) Harvard University graduate students in history, economics, or business administration, whose research requires travel to distant archives or repositories; 2) graduate students or nontenured faculty in those fields from other universities, in the U.S. and abroad, whose research requires travel to Baker Library and other local archives; and 3) Harvard College undergraduates writing senior theses in these fields whose research requires travel away from Cambridge.

To apply, send a CV, a summary of past academic research (1-2 pages), and a detailed description of the research you wish to undertake (2-3 pages). Applicants must indicate the amount of money requested (up to $5,000). Please also arrange to have one letter of reference sent via email directly from the recommender. The deadline for receipt of applications is December 1, 2026. All materials should be submitted by email to bhi@hbs.edu.

The travel fellowship allowed me to conduct research at Baker Library. The Lehman Bros. collection, which holds the original partnership agreements for Kuhn, Loeb & Co., is a rare and important resource.

Susie J. Pak, St. John’s University, 2007 Alfred D. Chandler Jr. Travel Fellow
Susie J. Pak; St. John’s University, 2007 Alfred D. Chandler Jr. Travel Fellow

Postdoctoral Fellowship

The History at HBS Project at Harvard Business School identifies and supports outstanding scholars whose work responds to the growing interest in the study of Business from a historical perspective.

One History at HBS Postdoctoral Fellow will be appointed for the academic year 2026-2027 and will be provided time, guidance, office space, and access to Harvard University facilities. Fellows should be prepared to devote their time to productive scholarship and must undertake sustained projects of new research or other original work. They will be expected to be in residence and participate in the vibrant community of business and economic historians at Harvard Business School and in the Harvard community more broadly. These duties will include supporting the annual Business History Seminar series, and might include assisting the Business History Review and other activities of the School’s Business History Initiative.

Fellowship Dates

This appointment is set to begin July 1, 2027 and run through June 30, 2028.

Application Deadline

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis but should be submitted by December 1st, 2026 to ensure full consideration.

Qualifications

A Ph.D. (or comparable professional school degree) in business and economic history, and cognate fields including political economy, economics, management and history completed within the past 5 years is required.

Note: If you have obtained your Ph.D. in the past 12 months you must be able to provide a certificate of completion from the degree-granting institution OR a letter from the institution’s Registrar stating all requirements for the degree have been successfully completed and should verify the date the degree has been conferred. No exceptions.

Apply for a Postdoctoral Fellowship

Visiting Scholars & Fellowship Recipients

2026

Visiting Scholars & Fellowship Recipients

  • Sun Hyun Park Headshot

    Sun Hyun Park

    Alfred D. Chandler International Visiting Fellow in Business History, 2026

    Sun teaches strategy and international business at Seoul National University Business School, where he is a founding member of the Center for Korean Business. His research centers on the strategic leadership of top executives and on organization theory. While at HBS, he plans to extend this work to the emergence and development of managerial capitalism in Korea from 1970 to 2000, examined in comparison with other emerging economies. He is also interested in kinship, economic, and political networks, as well as the cultural mechanisms that shape them. His work has appeared in Administrative Science Quarterly, Organization Science, Strategic Management Journal, and Harvard Business Review.

  • Anders Bright Headshot

    Anders Bright

    Business History Postdoctoral Fellow, 2026

    Anders studies the economic and cultural history of capitalism, with a particular focus on access to economic opportunity in early America. He received his Ph.D. in history from the University of Pennsylvania in 2025. His current book project, Luck's Republic: Lotteries, Class, and the Emergence of American Financial Capitalism (1760–1860), traces the United States' transition to financial capitalism through the lens of an important but largely forgotten institution: the lottery. His work has appeared in the scholarly journals Early American Studies and Labor: Studies in Working-Class History, as well as in the Washington Post.

  • Elena San Román Headshot

    Elena San Román

    Thomas K. McCraw Fellow in U.S. Business History, 2026

    Elena is a professor of History at Universidad Complutense de Madrid. Her current research examines the relationship between Harvard Business School and IESE Business School in Spain from 1959 to 1975, and its role in modernizing management education under Francisco Franco. She is especially interested in the HBS–IESE Committee, founded in 1963 and still active today. Her most recent publications have appeared in Business History, Revista de Historia Económica, and Revista de Historia Industrial.

Impact.

Past Fellows & Visiting Scholars reflect on their experience.

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