Biography

Michael Roach is the J. Thomas and Nancy W. Clark Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship at the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management. Prior to joining Cornell in 2014, he was on the faculty at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Kenan-Flagler Business School. His research examines the career paths of science and engineering doctorates, with a particular emphasis on careers in entrepreneurship and how immigration policies influence career choice. He also investigates the role of industrial scientists in firm innovation, firms’ use of university research as an input to industrial R&D, and firm patenting activities with implications for science and innovation policy. His research has been published in leading management and science journals including Management Science, Research Policy, Science, and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Professor Roach received his PhD in strategy from Duke University and a Bachelor of Business Administration in decision sciences from Georgia State University. He co-founded an educational software company while in high school and pursued an early career as an entrepreneur for eight years before beginning his undergraduate and doctoral studies. He also founded a mobile medical diagnostic application business related to his undergraduate research and remains deeply passionate about all things technology entrepreneurship.

Selected Publications

• Roach, Michael; Skrentny, John. "Why Foreign STEM PhDs are Unlikely to Work for Technology Startups" Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Ed. Delia Furtado. (2019)
• Roach, Michael; Sauermann, Henry. "The Declining Interest in an Academic Career" PLoS ONE. 12.9 (2017): e0184130
• Roach, Michael. "Encouraging Entrepreneurship in University Labs: Research Activities, Research Outputs, and Early Doctorate Careers" PLoS ONE. 12.2 (2017): e0170444
• Sauermann, Henry; Roach, Michael. "Why Pursue the Postdoc Path?" Science. 352.6286 (2016): 663-664
• Roach, Michael; Sauermann, Henry. "Founder or Joiner? The Role of Preferences and Context in Shaping Different Entrepreneurial Interests" Management Science. 61.9 (2015): 2160-2184
• Sauermann, Henry; Roach, Michael. "Not All Scientists Pay to Be Scientists: PhDs' Preferences for Publishing in Industrial Employment" Research Policy. 43.1 (2014): 32-47
• Roach, Michael; Cohen, Wesley. "Lens or Prism? Patent Citations as a Measure of Knowledge Flows from Public Research" Management Science. 59.2 (2013): 504-525
• Sauermann, Henry; Roach, Michael. "Increasing Web Survey Response Rates in Innovation Research: An Experimental Study of Static and Dynamic Contact Design Features" Research Policy. 42.1 (2013): 273-286
• Sauermann, Henry; Roach, Michael. "Science PhD Career Preferences: Levels, Changes, and Advisor Encouragement" PLoS ONE, Ed. Luís Nunes Amaral. 7.5 (2012): e36307
• Roach, Michael; Sauermann, H. "A Taste for Science? PhD Scientists’ Academic Orientation and Self-Selection into Research Careers in Industry" Research Policy. 39.3 (2010): 422-434

Awards and Honors

• Kauffman Junior Faculty Fellowship in Entrepreneurship Research (2014) Kauffman Foundation
• NSF Award (SciSIP): "The Initial Career Transitions of Science & Engineering PhDs" (2014) National Science Foundation (NSF-1262270, $285,238)
• NSF Award (SciSIP): "The Evolving University Research Enterprise" (2013) National Science Foundation (NSF-1158755, $389,698)

Recent Courses

• AEM 4380 - Entrepreneurial Strategy for Technology Ventures
• AEM 6385/NBA 6385 - Entrepreneurial Strategy for Technology Ventures
• AEM 7000 - Individual Study in Applied Economics and Management
• AEM 4970 - Individual Study in Applied Economics and Management
• AEM 4980 - Supervised Teaching Experience
• AEM 6395 - Technology Strategy
• AEM 4390 - Technology Strategy
• AEM 4990 - Undergraduate Research

Academic Degrees

• PhD Duke University, 2007
• BBA Georgia State University, 2000

In the News

• August 06, 2019 Study Finds Foreign Ph.D.s Less Likely to Work for Start-Ups
• May 05, 2016 Where Can A Ph.D. Take You? Back to School, Usually
• June 16, 2016 Start-Ups Need 'Joiners' As Well As Founders