Joel West and Jay Chok Appointed to KGI Faculty
Keck Graduate Institute welcomes the faculty appointments of Joel West, PhD, and Jay Chok, PhD.
West has been named professor of innovation and entrepreneurship. His responsibilities include teaching classes in those subject areas, championing the business of bioscience focus track within the Master of Bioscience degree program, and supervising Team Masters Projects.
West comes to KGI from San Jose State University, where he was a professor in the College of Business and Lucas Graduate School of Business.
He holds a PhD in management from the University of California, Irvine and an SB in interdisciplinary sciences from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Prior to becoming an academic, West had an extensive career as an engineer, manager and entrepreneur in the software industry.
An internationally known researcher on innovation management, West is particularly known for his work on open innovation, as co-editor of Open Innovation: Researching a New Paradigm, and as co-founder (with Henry Chesbrough) of the Open Innovation Community. His other research areas include renewable energy, entrepreneurship, intellectual property, open source software, international business, and strategies for IT vendor firms.
West says he is impressed with the "human scale" of KGI. "I am looking forward to getting to know every student, working with every faculty member, and making a difference," he says.
Jay Chok joins KGI as assistant professor of strategy and entrepreneurship. He will be teaching bioscience strategy during the spring 2012 semester, in addition to pursuing his research on life science strategy and entrepreneurship. His current project examines how academic scientists who advise industry and government affect the financing of innovation. Chok will also collaborate with Professor Animesh Ray, PhD, on a National Science Foundation research proposal.
Chok received his PhD in business from the University of Southern California and his Master of Business and Bachelor of Accountancy from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. His research interests include business-government relationships, conflict of interests in entrepreneurial ventures in science-based industries, firm strategies in regulated markets, and social networks.
"KGI's mission fits with my research and teaching interests very well," says Chok, adding that he is impressed with the caliber and motivation of KGI's students.
"We are very pleased to welcome these two outstanding new faculty members to KGI to provide complementary support for our educational themes in strategy, innovation, and entrepreneurship," says James D. Sterling, vice president for academic affairs and dean of faculty. "We expect their expertise to be valuable in both the classroom and in KGI's own translational, applied research programs as we seek commercialization of KGI inventions."