Teresa Amabile is a Baker Foundation Professor at Harvard Business School. Originally educated and employed as a chemist, Teresa received her PhD in business administration from Stanford University in 1976. She has been on the faculty at Harvard Business School since 1977, where she teaches courses on creativity and innovation to MBA students and executives.
Background and Education
Teresa Amabile was born in 1950 in New York City. She received her B.A. in Chemistry from Wesleyan University in 1972 and her PhD in Business Administration from Stanford University in 1976.
Early Career Challenges
After completing her PhD, Teresa Amabile joined the faculty of Harvard Business School, where she has been teaching ever since. Her early career was marked by a series of challenges, including the need to establish herself as a credible voice in business administration and the need to find ways to apply her skills as a chemist to the study of business. However, she persevered and eventually established herself as one of the leading experts on creativity and innovation in the business world.
Breaking Through to Success
In 1983, Teresa Amabile published two groundbreaking articles on creativity: “The Social Psychology of Creativity” and “Motivational Synergy: Toward New Conceptualizations of Intrinsic Motivation.” These articles helped establish her as an expert on creativity, and she has published groundbreaking research on the subject ever since. In 1988, she published The Progress Principle, which is widely considered one of the most important books ever written on creativity in business.
Amabile’s success can be attributed to several key qualities, including her intelligence, determination, and ability to think outside the box. As a chemist, she brings a unique perspective to business study, allowing her to make groundbreaking contributions to the field. In addition, her years of experience teaching at Harvard Business School have given her a deep understanding of the creative process and how it can be applied to businesses of all types.
Contributions, Accomplishments, and Awards
Teresa Amabile has made numerous contributions to the field of business administration, including authoring or co-authoring 12 books and more than 100 articles. She also received the Distinguished Educator Award from the Academy of Management and the Lifetime Achievement Award from both The Creativity Research Journal and The International Society for Research on Emotion (ISRE).
Her peers widely respect Amabile for her groundbreaking research on creativity and innovation. Her work has been featured in major publications such as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Forbes, Fast Company, Inc., Harvard Business Review, and Psychology Today. In addition, she has consulted for many major organizations, including Google, Apple, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble, Kraft Foods, Mattel Toys, and many others.
Amabile’s long-term goal is to continue researching creativity and innovation to help businesses unlock their full potential. In addition, she hopes to continue writing books and articles on the subject to share her knowledge with as many people as possible.