Regina E. Herzlinger is the Nancy R. McPherson Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School. She was the first woman to be tenured and chaired at Harvard Business School and the first to serve on many established and start up corporate health care/medical technology boards. She initiated the courses in nonprofit and health care at HBS and was the first faculty member to be selected by the students as their best instructor.

All of her health care books have been best sellers in their categories, recognized for their innovative research. Money dubbed her the “Godmother” of consumer-driven health care. Her work was key to introducing consumer-driven health plans and “focused health factories”, such as centers for chronic diseases.  She is regularly named as one of the smartest people in health care by industry journals.  She teaches an HBS MBA course, Innovating in Health Care. Based on that work, she is currently completing a textbook on Innovating in Health Care for the life sciences, health insurance, and health care delivery sectors. 

In 2018, she was awarded the prestigious ACHE Honorary Fellowship which represents the leaders of America’s hospitals and was 1 of the 100 Most Influential People in Healthcare – World Edition by Grupo Midia. In 2014, she launched a Harvard MOOC (Massive Open Online Course), on Innovating in Health Care and in 2013, a continuing series of conferences, “21st-Century Health Care Management Education: Confronting Challenges for Innovation with a Modern Curriculum,” sponsored by a group she formed, GENiE (Global Educators Network for Health Care Innovation Education), which has supported the many schools that have introduced courses/programs on Innovating in Health Care. 

Regi earned her BS degree at MIT and her Doctorate at HBS. She married her MIT classmate, George Herzlinger (MIT, B.S., Ph.D, physics). Their two children both graduated from Harvard. Susan is an Endocrinologist and Alex is an executive with a major medtech firm, after attending HBS and completing two tours of Iraq as a U.S. Infantry Captain.  The Herzlinger’s have four adorable grandchildren.