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Dr. David Obstfeld
joins The Mihaylo College of Business and Economics as Associate Professor of Management.
Prior to California State University, Fullerton, he was on the faculty of New York University’s Stern School of
Business and the University of California, Irvine’s Merage School of Business.
Professor Obstfeld’s research examines how the knowledge-intensive,
network-based social processes that result in organizational change and innovation unfold at the local and firm levels.
Currently, his interests focus on how the interaction of social network-based brokerage activity, knowledge articulation,
creative projects, and collective action influence entrepreneurship, innovation, and firm strategy. He is completing the
data collection for a major National Science Foundation grant on brokerage, social networks, and knowledge-based
innovation in partnership with Joe Labianca, Steve Borgatti, and Travis Grosser from the University of Kentucky,
Gatton College of Business and Economics.
Professor’s Obstfeld has published in such journals as Administrative
Science Quarterly and Organization Science. His most recent publication, “Creative Projects: A Less Routine Approach
Toward Getting New Things Done” is forthcoming at Organization Science. His 2005 Administrative Science Quarterly paper,
“Social Networks, the Tertius Iungens Orientation, and Involvement in Innovation,” won the 2007 W. Richard Scott Award
from the American Sociological Association’s Organizations, Occupations and Work (OOW) division for outstanding
contribution to the discipline in an article published within the last three years.
Professor Obstfeld teaches courses in entrepreneurship and strategy. He received his A.B. from the University of Chicago and his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business. Prior to embarking on an academic career, he served as Director of Training and Development at The Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae).

