Faculty Biographies

Jianwen (Jon) Liao

Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship

Office: 4A8-2
E-Mail: liao@iit.edu
Phone: 312.567.3895
Fax: 312.567.3950

Education

• B.S., Industrial Engineering, Northeastern University
• M.A., Economics, People University of China
• Ph.D., Management, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale

Affiliated Programs

Research Interests

• Panel Study of Entrepreneurial Dynamics, including: Venture Formation, Business Planning, and Venture Growth
• Technology Innovation

Biography
Dr. Jianwen Liao is currently an associate professor of entrepreneurship and strategy at the Stuart School of Business, Illinois Institute of Technology. He has held visiting appointment at DePaul University, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), PeKing University, China European International Business School (CEIBS) and Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business (CKGSB). Dr. Liao's research focuses on venture creation process, entrepreneurial growth strategies and management of technological innovation as well. His research has appeared in academic journals such as Small Business Economics, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, Journal of Small Business Management, Family Business Review, Journal of High Tech Management Research, Frontier of Entrepreneurship Research, and Journal of Management Inquiry, among others. For the last few years, he has been closely involved in the Panel Study of Entrepreneurial Dynamics a longitudinal study of nascent entrepreneurs in collaboration with researchers from various universities, foundations and government agencies. More recently, he received two research grants from the US Small Business Administration on the research of business planning by nascent entrepreneurs. Dr. Liao's primary teaching interest mainly includes Entrepreneurship, Business Policy and Strategy and Management of Technological Innovation and Change.

Dr. Liao is a member of Academy of Management (AOM), the United States Association of Small and Medium-Sized Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE) and International Council of Small Business (ICSB). He is an active participant of regional, national and international conferences, presenting research papers, serving as a discussant and chairing sessions as well. Additionally, He has served on the regional advisory board of the United States Small Business Administration (SBA) since 2001.

In addition to his academic pursues, Dr. Liao consults with a number of major corporations as well as startups. More recently, he was the CEO and co-founder of a biotech startup specialized in expressing recombinant human proteins from human cells in large scale targeting at researchers in pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and research organizations.