20 Apr 2018

Professor Rebecca Henderson Elected to American Academy of Arts & Sciences

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Rebecca Henderson

BOSTON—Rebecca M. Henderson, Harvard’s John and Natty McArthur University Professor, based at Harvard Business School, has been elected to membership in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Founded in 1780 by John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and George Washington, among other notables, the Academy has long been one of the most prestigious honorary societies in the United States, celebrating exceptional scholars, leaders, artists, and innovators in this country and abroad and engaging them in sharing knowledge and addressing the many challenges facing the world. Among current members are more than 250 Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winners.

In addition to Henderson, the 212 other new members of the Academy’s Class of 2018 include author Ta-Nehisi Coates, actor Tom Hanks, Netflix CEO W. Reed Hastings Jr., Lockheed Martin CEO Marillyn A. Hewson, former President Barack H. Obama, and US Supreme Court Justice Sonia M. Sotomayor.

“Membership in the Academy is not only an honor but also an opportunity and responsibility,” said Jonathan Fanton, president of the Academy. “Members can be inspired and engaged by connecting with one another and through Academy projects dedicated to the common good. The intellect, creativity, and commitment of the 2018 Class will enrich the work of the Academy and the world in which we live.”

The new Class will be formally inducted at a ceremony next fall in Cambridge, Mass.

With a joint appointment in Harvard Business School’s General Management and Strategy Units (Departments), Henderson explores how organizations respond to large-scale technological shifts, most recently in regard to energy and the environment. On sabbatical this year, she has previously taught the second-year elective course Reimagining Capitalism in the School’s MBA Program.

Henderson’s extensive research has been published in a number of scholarly journals, including Administrative Science Quarterly, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Strategic Management Journal, Management Science, Research Policy, The RAND Journal of Economics, and Organization Science.

Her most recent book is Leading Sustainable Change: An Organizational Perspective (Oxford University Press), co-edited with HBS professors Ranjay Gulati and Michael Tushman.

Henderson received a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from MIT and a PhD in business economics from Harvard University.

Other Harvard Business School faculty members previously elected to the Academy include Professors Jay Lorsch and Arthur Segel, Senior Lecturer Robert F. Higgins, and Professors Emeriti H. Kent Bowen, James I. Cash Jr., Michael C. Jensen, William Poorvu, John W. Pratt, and the late Howard Raiffa.

Contacts

Jim Aisner
jaisner+hbs.edu
617-495-6157

About Harvard Business School

Founded in 1908 as part of Harvard University, Harvard Business School is located on a 40-acre campus in Boston. Its faculty of more than 250 offers full-time programs leading to the MBA and PhD degrees, as well as more than 175 Executive Education programs, and Harvard Business School Online, the School’s digital learning platform. For more than a century, faculty have drawn on their research, their experience in working with organizations worldwide, and their passion for teaching, to educate leaders who make a difference in the world. The School and its curriculum attract the boldest thinkers and the most collaborative learners who will go on to shape the practice of business and entrepreneurship around the globe.