About Dr. Doug Guthrie

Prof. Dr. Doug Guthrie has built a distinguished career around three core areas of expertise: organizational development—with a focus on leadership, organizational culture, and corporate social responsibility; the economic reforms in China; and strategic economic development for cities within the U.S. economy.

He currently serves as Professor of Global Leadership and Executive Director of China Initiatives at the Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University. In addition, he is CEO of On Global Leadership(https://ongloballeadership.com/), a virtual think tank dedicated to research, writing, advising, and coaching in the areas of global business strategy (with a particular focus on China), leadership development, and cultivating strong, healthy organizational cultures.

From 2014 to 2019, he held the role of Senior Director at Apple and served as a Faculty Member at Apple University based in China. Prior to his work at Apple, he was Dean of the George Washington University School of Business, Vice President for University China Operations, and Professor of International Business (2010–2014). From 1997 to 2010, he was a faculty member at NYU’s Stern School of Business, where he was Professor of Management and Director of Custom Executive Education. He also held a joint appointment in NYU’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences as Professor of Sociology.

Over the course of his academic career, he has held visiting professorships at leading institutions including Kellogg, Harvard, INSEAD, Stanford, Columbia, and Emory. He has also served in a variety of leadership roles: Director of the Business Institutions Initiative at the Social Science Research Council (1999–2003), Director of NYU’s Office of Global Initiatives (2000–2003), Academic Director of the Berlin School of Creative Leadership (2008–2011), and Chair of the Advisory Coalition for the District of Columbia’s Strategic Economic Planning (2011–2014).

He earned an A.B. in East Asian Languages (with a concentration in Chinese literature) from the University of Chicago, and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Organizational Sociology from the University of California, Berkeley. Fluent in Mandarin Chinese, he studied in Taipei during his undergraduate years and conducted doctoral research in Shanghai.

He has authored and edited numerous books, scholarly and popular articles, and policy reports on Chinese economic reform, leadership, corporate social responsibility, and strategic economic development in American cities.

He currently divides his time between Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Phoenix, Arizona, where he continues to teach, write, and advise organizations on navigating the complexities of China, leadership innovation, and economic development strategy.