Rhonda Reger, a professor of strategic management and entrepreneurship has been appointed director of research for the Anderson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. She will be responsible for fostering and generating external funding to support entrepreneurship research.
The Anderson Center is based in the UT College of Business Administration.
“We know that high-growth ventures are the engines of economic growth, and new job creation and most high-growth ventures are technology-based,” Reger said. “Areas prosper wherever technology ventures succeed, so entrepreneurship research tends to focus on that sector.”
But she is quick to note that research in other areas, such as social entrepreneurship, which examines how socially minded individuals can improve their world, also are in need of funding. Reger is well-experienced in this arena; she created a similar position at the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Maryland.
“We look forward to her leading similar efforts at UT,” said Steve Mangum, dean of the College of Business Administration.
In addition to her research on strategies to foster high-growth and technology entrepreneurship, Reger is studying how the country music ecosystem in Nashville creates new celebrity performers.
“While the ‘technology’ of being a successful country music performer is different from the technology of being a successful technology company, their processes and the support systems are remarkably similar,” she said.
Reger’s work has appeared in numerous top-tier journals. She serves on the editorial review boards of four management journals and holds leadership positions in international societies of management professors.
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CONTACT:
Cindy Raines (865-974-4359, craines1@utk.edu)