May 12, 2011 — Ming-Jer Chen, a professor at the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business, has been elected as a fellow of the Academy of Management and will be formally inducted Aug. 16 at the academy's annual conference dinner in San Antonio, Texas.

At that time, the 70-year-old academy will play host to over 10,000 of its 19,000 members, and over the course of five days, they will discuss Chen's theme, "West Meets East: Enlightening, Balancing, and Transcending." Chen hopes to use the conference to convince business scholars from around the world that Eastern and Western management techniques can be combined to incorporate the best of each.

With only about 180 members – less than 1 percent of the academy's membership – the fellows group comprises scholars who have made a significant contribution to the science and practice of management. Chen, currently the academy's vice president and program chair, will become its president in 2012.

Chen's academy elections have both global and local implications. When he assumes the presidency next year, he will become the first elected president of the academy who did not have his/her college education in the United States. His election as a fellow makes Chen the first representative of U.Va. in this select circle of the management profession.

"I am most grateful for this honor," Chen said. "Selection as an academy fellow bespeaks the support I have received over the years, and I want to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to Dean Robert Bruner and Darden. I hope this honor will contribute to the enhancement of Darden's branding effort as we continue to distinguish the school in the U.S. and abroad."

Chen is a leading authority in strategic management and is also known for his pioneering work in competitive dynamics and for his expertise in Chinese-Western business strategy and execution. He has published numerous articles in premier management journals and twice received the Glueck Best Paper Award from the Academy of Management's Business Policy and Strategy division, as well as Best Paper Awards in 1996 from Academy of Management Review and in 2008 from the Journal of Management Inquiry. He writes a bi-monthly column for Harvard Business Review (in conventional Chinese) on competitive dynamics, and is a regular contributor to other leading Chinese business magazines.

Before joining Darden, Chen was founding director of the Global Chinese Business Initiative at the Wharton School and a member of the faculty at Columbia Business School. He has held honorary appointments at the Imperial College of Science, Technology & Medicine (London), Chinese University of Hong Kong, National Taiwan University, National Chengchi University (Taipei), Fudan University (Shanghai), and National University of Singapore.

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