Richard A. Hunt has been appointed an assistant professor in the Department of Management at Virginia Tech’s Pamplin College of Business.

Hunt is one of nine new faculty members at Pamplin this fall. Their addition reflects the college’s commitment to hiring tenured and tenure-track faculty to further strengthen its teaching, research, and business outreach, particularly in the areas of business intelligence and analytics, innovation through entrepreneurship, and international programs.

Hunt received a Ph.D. in strategy and entrepreneurship from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2013. His dissertation, which won the 2014 Academy of Management NFIB Outstanding Dissertation Award, focused on the entry and survival strategies of entrepreneurial firms.

His other degrees comprise an MBA from Stanford University, a master’s degree from Harvard University, and a bachelor’s degree from Rice University.

Hunt’s research examines the links among entrepreneurship, strategy, and innovation, including new sector formation, market entry, and early-stage operational behavior.

Among his many professional honors are the Best Paper Prize at the Sustainability, Ethics, and Entrepreneurship Conference in 2014; Best Published Article on Innovation and Entrepreneurship, awarded by Emerald Group Publications in 2014; the Ronald B. Shuman Best Ph.D. Paper Award in the management history division of the Academy of Management in 2013; and the Sumantra Ghoshal Research and Practice Award in the academy’s business policy and strategy division in 2012.

Hunt was twice recognized by the University of Colorado for teaching excellence.

His teaching interests are in entrepreneurship, innovation, economic history, and strategic management — at Pamplin, he will teach the department’s capstone course on this subject.

Before starting his academic career, Hunt worked in industry for nearly 20 years, including stints as an executive in the pharmaceutical and high-tech sectors. He also started, grew, and sold a successful business that provided customized environmental services throughout the western United States.

 

 

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