George A. Riedel

George A. Riedel is the Henry B. Arthur Fellow and Senior Lecturer in the General Management Unit, where he teaches both TOM and acts as a Section Chair in the RC. He is also a co-founder of the effort to build an Impact Investment Fund at HBS and co-teaches it as an EC Class.  Lastly, he also teaches a range of courses in the Exec Ed program, mostly around Professional Services Firms.  He has also taught Leadership and Corporate Accountability (LCA) for several years, along with Field Foundations.

He has written a number of cases and has convened two large programs for HBS students.

He returned to HBS after 30 years having graduated in 1987 following a 16 year career at McKinsey and Company, both in North America and Asia followed by a 14 year career in various C-suite roles in Technology, including multiple CEO stints. He has served on ten public or private company boards and currently serves as Chairman of the Board at Infinera (INFN) in Sunnyvale, CA., Chairman of the Board of Juvare in Atlanta, GA. as well as the lead indepedent director at Bridgeway Benefits Technology in Baltimore, MD.

After graduating from the University of Virginia in 1980 with a BS (with Distinction) in Mechanical Engineering he spent the next five years working as a Petroleum Engineer for Exxon Co USA in their production department in Houston prior to coming back to HBS.

He lives in Weston, MA with his wife Amy.

Cases and Teaching Materials

• Riedel, George A., Amy Klopfenstein, and Mel Martin. "NOW PT (B): Should We Invest?" Harvard Business School Supplement 323-014, August 2022. View Details
• Riedel, George A., Amy Klopfenstein, and Mel Martin. "NOW PT (A): Should We Invest?" Harvard Business School Case 323-009, August 2022. View Details
• Riedel, George A. "Dick's Sporting Goods: Getting Out of The Gun Business (B)." Harvard Business School Supplement 321-025, January 2021. View Details
• Riedel, George A. "Dick's Sporting Goods: Getting Out Of The Gun Business (A)." Harvard Business School Case 321-024, January 2021. (Revised January 2022.) (Featured in this Working Knowledge Article which was named one of 2022’s Top Ten Most Popular Articles.) View Details
• Riedel, George A. "A Tough Call: SEAL Team Leader in Kandahar (B)." Harvard Business School Supplement 320-009, January 2020. View Details
• Riedel, George A. "Facebook—Can Ethics Scale in the Digital Age? (B)." Harvard Business School Supplement 320-043, November 2019. View Details
• Riedel, George A. "A Tough Call: SEAL Team Leader in Kandahar (A)." Harvard Business School Case 320-001, January 2020. View Details
• Riedel, George A. "Facebook—Can Ethics Scale in the Digital Age?" Harvard Business School Teaching Note 319-064, February 2019. View Details
• Riedel, George A., and Carin-Isabel Knoop. "Facebook—Can Ethics Scale in the Digital Age?" Harvard Business School Case 319-030, August 2018. (Revised September 2022.) View Details
• Hamermesh, Richard G., and George Riedel. "The National Football League and Brain Injuries (B)." Harvard Business School Supplement 818-082, January 2018. View Details

Awards & Honors

Named a Henry B. Arthur Fellow in 2021.