Kyle Lewis, chair of UC Santa Barbara’s Technology Management Department, has been appointed the Christian A. Felipe Chair in Technology Management. Felipe established the chair in 2014 with a $1 million endowment that also helped launch the university’s first professional master’s degree program — the Master of Technology Management (MTM). At the time of his donation, Felipe described the endowment as “a great opportunity to create future entrepreneurs and technology leaders,” and to recruit and retain top-notch faculty.

“It is an honor and privilege to be appointed to the Christian A. Felipe Chair in Technology Management,” said Lewis, whose previous recognitions include the Jay Wright Forrester Award from the System Dynamics Society and being named among the Top 50 Women in Business by the Pacific Coast Business Times. “Mr. Felipe’s generosity has helped our department build an ecosystem in the Santa Barbara community for entrepreneurs, especially in the technology industry. We will continue to pursue that mission through leading-edge research and innovative teaching.”

Led by dedicated, award-winning faculty members who work in collaboration with industry partners, mentors, and lecturer, the Technology Management Department provides a unique business education that includes insights into both the theory and practice of forming and managing technology-driven enterprises. Nearly two thousand undergraduate and graduate students participate annually in one or more of the academic programs offered by Technology Management: a PhD track in Technology Management, a Master of Technology Management, and UC-recognized undergraduate and graduate-level Certificates in Technology Management.

“Kyle Lewis has been a driving force behind the development, growth, and success of the Technology Management program,” said Tresa Pollock, interim dean of UCSB’s College of Engineering and the Alcoa Distinguished Professor of Materials. “We congratulate her on this appointment, which is a well-deserved acknowledgement and recognition of her dedication as a chair, researcher, mentor, teacher, and colleague.” 

Lewis studies how organizations leverage individual and collective knowledge. She examines the performance of teams, especially those engaged in knowledge work such as professional services, new-product development, science and engineering, and project-based tasks. Lewis has published articles in numerous top scholarly journals, served as a division chair in the Academy of Management, senior editor for Organization Science, and associate editor for Management Science. Prior to joining UCSB in 2014, Lewis was a professor of management and faculty director of the Master of Science in Technology Commercialization (MSTC) in the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin.