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Sarah Wolfolds

Sarah Wolfolds

  • Assistant Professor
  • Academic Director of the Grand Challenges Program

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Faculty Area

Interdisciplinary Theme

Faculty Expertise

  • Strategy
  • Management and Organizations

Contact

Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management

607.255.6497

sew276@cornell.edu

Cornell Directory Entry

Website

Biography

Sarah Wolfolds is the Andrew Paul Sesquicentennial Faculty Fellow and assistant professor in the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management. Before joining Cornell in 2016, she received her doctorate in strategy from Harvard Business School and a bachelor's degree in economics and mathematics from Swarthmore College. Wolfolds has spent time working at both the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank and the Federal Reserve Board of Governors prior to attending graduate school.

Wolfolds' research examines the interaction between for-profit and nonprofit organizations in industries where they coexist. While nonprofits may want to differentiate themselves when faced with additional nonprofit competition, it is unclear whether they would want to differentiate themselves or converge towards for-profit competitors. Her research addresses this issue by considering the different financing models, human resource systems, and objectives of nonprofit organizations, as compared to for-profits, in the mixed industry of microfinance. Her recent research also examines issues surrounding financial exclusion in the United States.

Wolfolds was awarded a grant by the Strategic Research Foundation to further pursue her dissertation research.

Selected Publications

Awards and Honors

  • Finalist for the Wiley Blackwell Award for Outstanding Dissertation Research in Business Policy and Strategy (2017)
  • Finalist for the Best Dissertation Award, Public and Nonprofit Division of the Academy of Management (2017)
  • Small Grant Award (2017 - 2018) Cornell Institute for Social Sciences
  • Strategic Research Foundation Dissertation Scholar (2015 - 2016) Harvard University

Recent Courses

  • AEM 5310 - Global Strategy
  • AEM 4000 - Grand Challenges Project
  • AEM 3000 - Working Together: Project Development and High-Performing Teams

Academic Degrees

  • DBA Harvard Business School, Harvard University, 2016
  • BA Swarthmore College, 2009