Associate Professor, Columbia Business School
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Rita Gunther McGrath joined the faculty of Columbia Business School in 1993. Prior to life in academia, she was an IT director, worked in the political arena and founded two startups. Her Ph.D. is from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

McGrath's research focuses on innovation, entrepreneurship and growth strategies. She publishes widely in leading academic journals such as the Strategic Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Academy of Management Journal and Management Science. McGrath has received many "Best Paper" awards, among which are The Strategic Management Society's McKinsey "Best Paper" award, 2001; the Maurice Holland award from the Industrial Research Institute for the best paper published in Research Technology Management (2000). She is a Director of the Strategic Management Society, the premier professional organization for strategists.

McGrath and MacMillan's book, The Entrepreneurial Mindset: Strategies for Continuously Creating Opportunity in an Age of Uncertainty, was published in 2000 by the Harvard Business School Press, and continues to be among the 20 best-selling business books to corporations. MarketBusters: 40 Strategic Moves that Drive Exceptional Business Growth, Harvard Business School Press, 2005, is their most recent book.

McGrath is a frequent speaker at corporate events, and has been quoted in articles in The New York Times, CEO Magazine, the Wall Street Journal, Investors Business Daily and the Financial Times of London. She has appeared on television on CNNfn and Bloomberg Media. She has published five co-authored articles in the Harvard Business Review: Discovery Driven Planning (1995), Discover Your Products' Hidden Potential (1996) Discovering New Points of Differentiation (1997) Global Gamesmanship (2003) and MarketBusting (2005).

At Columbia, McGrath teaches MBA and Executive MBA courses in strategy and the innovation process. She teaches regularly in Columbia's top-rated Executive Education programs, and is the Faculty Director for Leading Strategic Growth and Change, Executing Breakthrough Strategy and Creating Breakthrough Strategy. McGrath is an active consultant and instructor in corporate executive education programs. Recent engagements have been with 3M, Air Products, DuPont, the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, Intel Ireland, the Kone Corporation of Finland, Michelin, Microsoft, Nokia and Swiss Reinsurance.

Academic Director, Sol C. Snider Entrepreneurial Research Programs, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
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MacMillan is also the Fred Sullivan Professor in the Management Department. Formerly, MacMillan was Director of the Entrepreneurship Center at New York University, a teacher at Columbia, Northwestern Universities and the University of South Africa. In 1999, he was awarded the Swedish Foundation for Small Business Research Prize for his contribution to research in entrepreneurship.

Prior to joining the academic world, MacMillan was a chemical engineer and gained experience in gold and uranium mining, chemical and explosives manufacturing, oil refining, soap and food production, and the South African Atomic Energy Board. He has extensive consulting experience, having worked with such companies as DuPont, General Electric, GTE, IBM, Citibank, Metropolitan Life, Chubb & Son, American Re-Insurance, Texas Instruments, KPMG, among others.

MacMillan's articles have appeared in the Harvard Business Review, Sloan Management Review, Journal of Business Venturing, Administrative Science Quarterly, Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Academy of Management Executive, Management Science, and Strategic Management Journal, among others.