MIT Sloan Prof. Edward Roberts receives the GCEC Legacy Award

Founder of the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship recognized for a lifetime of pioneering entrepreneurship

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Nov. 2, 2020 – The MIT Sloan School of Management recently announced that Prof. Edward B. Roberts received the Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers (GCEC) Legacy Award. Roberts is the David Sarnoff Professor of Management of Technology and founder and chair of the MIT Entrepreneurship Center, which is now called the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship.

“We could not be more pleased to present the GCEC Legacy Award to Prof. Roberts. This is only the eighth time an individual has received this honor in the 24-year history of the GCEC,” says Brad Burke, executive director of the GCEC. “Prof. Roberts has made an incredible lasting and broad impact on the field, affecting not only his students and alumni, but influencing entrepreneurship education as a whole. He has made outstanding achievements on the highest stage, as both an intellectual and practical leader.”

The GCEC is a group of 250 leading university entrepreneurship programs who work together to share best practices, develop programs and initiatives, and collaborate and assist each other in advancing, strengthening, and celebrating the role of universities in educating the entrepreneurs of tomorrow. The GCEC Legacy Award is announced at the conclusion of the annual GCEC conference that has become the premier gathering of the world's leading minds in university-based entrepreneurship.

“Prof. Roberts is a true giant in this field and his life exemplifies the values, practices, and achievements recognized by this award,” says MIT Sloan Prof. Bill Aulet, managing director of the Martin Trust Center. “As an academic researcher, educator, mentor, practitioner, and administrator, he has taken entrepreneurship to entirely new levels with his creative leadership. He has also created a talent tree that is second to none. His former students are now at top universities around the world and leaders in venture capital and entrepreneurship.”

During the past 60 years, Roberts has become internationally known for his research, teaching, and active involvement in many aspects of technology management, including technology strategy, corporate venturing, product innovation management, and especially technology-based entrepreneurship. He has authored over 160 articles and 12 books, including the two “bookends” on high-tech business creation and growth: Entrepreneurs in High-Technology: Lessons from MIT and Beyond, the first book on entrepreneurship based entirely on extensive research studies of hundreds of entrepreneurs and their firms; and Celebrating Entrepreneurs: How MIT Nurtured Pioneering Entrepreneurs Who Built Great Companies, which describes the history of MIT’s transformation into an entrepreneurial juggernaut.

Roberts is also known for his role in the creation of transformational entrepreneurship organizations such as the MIT Entrepreneurship Center, the MIT Enterprise Forum, the MIT Venture Mentoring Services, and the MassChallenge. He was a founding member of the MIT System Dynamics Group, founder and past chair of MIT Sloan's Management of Technological Innovation and Entrepreneurship Group, and co-founder and past chair of the MIT Management of Technology Program. Most recently he co-created and directs the MIT Sloan Entrepreneurship & Innovation MBA Track, which annually enrolls about 35 percent of the entering MBA students.

Roberts is actively involved as a co-founder, board member and angel investor in many high-tech start-ups. He co-founded and was CEO of Pugh-Roberts Associates, an international management consulting firm, now a division of PA Consulting Group. He co-founded and is a director of Medical Information Technology, Inc., a leading producer of healthcare information systems, and he co-founded and served as a director of Sohu.com, Inc., China’s first Internet firm.

In addition, he co-founded and served as a general partner of the Zero Stage Capital Equity Funds and was co-founder and director of numerous emerging technology companies, including Advanced Magnetics (now AMAG Pharmaceuticals), Daktari Diagnostics, Interactive SuperComputing (sold to Microsoft), Inverness Medical (now a part of Johnson & Johnson), Pegasystems, PR Restaurants, and Visible Measures.

Roberts holds four degrees from MIT, including a Bachelor of Science (SB), Master of Science (SM) in Electrical Engineering, Master of Science (SM) in Management, and PhD in Economics.

“Prof. Roberts entered MIT in 1953 at age 17, and he is still at MIT at age 84 making a significant impact in this field. His work is a legacy and gift to so many others, which makes him an ideal recipient of the GCEC Legacy Award,” says Aulet.

About the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship

The Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship’s mission is to advance knowledge and educate students in innovation-driven entrepreneurship in a manner that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21^st century. The focus of the Center is MIT students, to who it provides proven frameworks, courses, co-curricular programs, state-of-the-art facilities, advisory services, and processes to create a rigorous, practical, customized, and integrated educational experience. The Center also serves as a leader in advancing the field globally in cooperation with other institutions.

About the MIT Sloan School of Management

The MIT Sloan School of Management is where smart, independent leaders come together to solve problems, create new organizations, and improve the world. Learn more at mitsloan.mit.edu.