Atul Nerkar, Ph.D

Thought Leader

Dr. Atul Nerkar is the Jeffrey A. Allred Scholar and Associate Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship and associate dean of the Executive MBA Evening and Weekend Programs at the Kenan-Flagler Business School of the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill. His research focuses on how technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship affect business and corporate strategy. He studies research productivity in organizations and the evolution of technological capabilities in the context of the pharmaceutical, chemical, and optical disc industries. In particular, he focuses on firms' patent portfolios and the evolutionary process underlying their development.

Dr. Nerkar previously served on the faculty of Columbia University's Graduate School of Business and as a visiting professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. He worked with the Unilever Group of Companies in India before he studied at Wharton. He received his PhD in strategic management from Wharton, where he also received an MA in managerial science and applied economics. He has a bachelor of production engineering from the University of Bombay and an MBA from the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade. He has also taught as a visiting faculty member at the Indian School of Business, Hyderbad, India and at the Graduate School of Business, Seoul National University, South Korea.