Professor Paola Criscuolo takes over as Head of the Department of Management & Entrepreneurship 

Professor Paola Criscuolo has been appointed to succeed Professor Maurizio Zollo as Head of the Department of Management & Entrepreneurship

Paola Criscuolo, Professor of Innovation Management at Imperial College Business School, will head up the Department of Management & Entrepreneurship from April. 

Having joined the Business School as a research fellow in 2004, Professor Criscuolo was promoted to professor in 2019. She also holds several positions with prominent academic journals: she is an associate editor of Research Policy, a member of the Editorial Review Board of the Academy of Management Journal and sits on the Editorial Advisory Board of Industry and Innovation. 

Throughout her time here, she [Professor Criscuolo] has been at the forefront of cutting-edge research

Professor Criscuolo’s research interests include the transfer of knowledge across both individuals and firms, open innovation and the strategic use of patents. Her publication "Evaluating Novelty: The Role of Panels in the Selection of R&D Projects" won the Jürgen Hauschildt Award for the best research publication in innovation management from the German Academic Association of Business Research, as well as the EBS Business School Best Paper Award in Innovation Management. 

She teaches innovation management both at undergraduate and MSc level, and quantitative research methods to PhD students. 

“Throughout her time here, she has been at the forefront of cutting-edge research with important practical significance, as reflected in the impact case studies she has co-led,” said Francisco Veloso, Dean of the Business School. 

“She is also a very successful educator and a highly engaged and supportive member of our community, involved in a variety of committees and service roles. I look forward to working with her in this new role.” 

Before joining Imperial, Professor Criscuolo was a Marie Curie Fellow at the Science & Technology Policy Research Unit at the University of Sussex. She holds a PhD in the Economics of Technological Change from the Maastricht Economic Research Institute on Innovation and Technology, an MSc in Economics from the University of Warwick and a BA in Economics cum laude from the University of Siena.

Professor Zollo will continue in his role as Director of the Leonardo Centre on Business for Society.