Toronto, Canada – Dan Breznitz, a leading scholar of innovation, will join the Munk School of Global Affairs this July as Full Professor and Munk Chair, with a cross-appointment in the Department of Political Science. Professor Breznitz is known worldwide as an expert on rapid-innovation-based industries and their globalization, as well as for his pioneering research on the distributional impact of innovation policies. He has been an advisor on science, technology, and innovation policies to multinational corporations, governments, and international organizations such as the World Bank, the World Economic Forum, TEKES, IFC, Fundación Chile, the United Nations, and the US-Israel Science and Technology Foundation. In 2008 Breznitz was selected as a Sloan Industry Studies Fellow. Before joining Academia he founded and served as a CEO of a small software company.
“We are very excited that Dan is joining us at the Munk School,” said Janice Stein, Director of the Munk School. “His leadership in innovation studies will amplify the strengths of the Munk School in this important field that is globally relevant.”
Professor Breznitz’s first book, Innovation and the State: Political Choice and Strategies for Growth in Israel, Taiwan, and Ireland, won the 2008 Don K. Price for best book on science and technology. His second book (co-authored with Michael Murphree) The Run of the Red Queen: Government, Innovation, Globalization, and Economic Growth in China, was chosen as the 2012 Susan Strange Best Book in International Studies by the BSIA, and was featured in The Economist and the New York Times. Dan Breznitz’s new book, Third Globalization: Can Wealthy Nations Stay Rich? (co-edited with John Zysman), looks at the challenges and opportunities faced by Western economies in the aftermath of the financial crisis and the rapid changes in the global production system.
Breznitz’s work is sponsored by the National Science Foundation, Sloan Foundation, the Kauffman Foundation, the Samuel Neaman Institute for Advance Studies, the Bi-National Science Foundation, the Institute for Information Infrastructure Protection, and the National Bureau of Economic Research. He will become Co-Director of the Innovation Policy Lab at the Munk School and the Director of Academic Research.
About the Munk School for Global Affairs
Against the backdrop of one of the world’s most diverse cities, the Munk School of Global Affairs is convening a vital dialogue about the challenges, organizations, and ideas that are shaping the international landscape. The newly strong powers in Asia, a global platform of innovation, global capital markets, the challenges of security in cyberspace, the security of the Arctic, and new concepts of global justice are all engaged by outstanding faculty and researchers drawn from across the University of Toronto, Canada’s premier research university. With exceptional degree programs and innovative research labs, the School attracts thought-leaders and students from around the world who are deeply engaged in global affairs. It is home to the flagship Master of Global Affairs and over forty research institutes and programs. For more about the Munk School, please visit: https://www.munkschool.utoronto.ca
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For more information, please contact:
Sean Willett
Chief of Communications
Munk School of Global Affairs
416.946.8904
sean.willett@utoronto.ca