Thomas S. Robertson

Joshua J. Harris Professor; Professor of Marketing, The Wharton School

Thomas S. Robertson is the Joshua J. Harris Professor of Marketing at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. An expert in marketing strategy and competitive behavior, the diffusion of innovation, and consumer behavior, Dr. Robertson is author, co-author or editor of a dozen books and almost 100 scholarly articles and book chapters. He has won numerous awards for his scholarship and has lectured widely in North and Central America, Europe, Asia, and Australia.

Dr. Robertson recently completed a seven-year term as Dean of the Wharton School. In this role he raised substantial financial resources for the School, while championing global engagement, a strong culture of innovation, and business as a force for good. Under his leadership Wharton implemented a new MBA curriculum, a new initiative in public policy, creation of modular courses which run in eight countries, a physical research and teaching presence in Beijing, a commitment to lifelong learning for Wharton alumni, and the design of a portfolio of online courses reaching over one million participants worldwide.

Prior to his Wharton deanship, Dr. Robertson held posts at Emory University. As Chair of International Strategy, he served as founding Executive Faculty Director of the Institute for Developing Nations, a joint-venture research initiative with The Carter Center and President Jimmy Carter. From 1998 to 2004 he was Dean of Emory’s Goizueta Business School and is widely credited with positioning the school to compete as an international leader in business education.

From 1994 to 1998, he served as Deputy Dean of the London Business School in charge of the School’s entire portfolio of degree and non-degree programs. In addition to his appointments at Wharton, Emory and London Business School, Dr. Robertson has held faculty positions at UCLA’s Anderson School and Harvard Business School.

Dr. Robertson is an active board member in the university and corporate domains. He is a trustee of Singapore Management University, and serves on the Advisory Boards of the Sorbonne, Indian School of Business, Tsinghua University and Guanghua School of Management (Peking University). He is a member of the Boards of Directors of the Carlyle Group and CRA International.

Born in Scotland, Robertson earned his B.A. from Wayne State University. He holds an M.A. in sociology and a Ph.D. in business from Northwestern University. He is married to Diana C. Robertson, the Riady Professor of Legal Studies and Business Ethics at the Wharton School. They have three grown children.