Sean Carr

Sean D. Carr, Ph.D. Executive Director and CEO Global Innovation Exchange (GIX) University of Washington

Sean Carr is executive director and CEO of the University of Washington’s Global Innovation Exchange (GIX), an engineering-and-business institute for global technology leaders. Developed in partnership with Microsoft, GIX offers graduate programs, executive education, and global learning experiences designed to accelerate the careers, creativity, and impact of responsible global innovators.

At the University of Washington, Sean holds a faculty appointment at the Foster School of Business as an affiliate associate professor of strategy and entrepreneurial leadership; he currently teaches the capstone course at GIX, Fundamentals of Technology Strategy. His research interests explore technology strategy in the digital age; entrepreneurial mindsets; the dynamics of technological change and transformation; and systemic responses to complexity and crisis. His most recent book, co-authored with Robert F. Bruner, is The Panic of 1907: Heralding a New Era of Finance, Capitalism and Democracy, 2nd ed. (Wiley: 2023).

Sean has taught numerous executive programs with a wide range of global corporate clients, addressing topics such as leadership for organic growth and mindsets for entrepreneurial thinking. He has also led roundtables for senior executives, pushing state-of-the-art thinking and best practices in corporate innovation. His work has been cited by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, Newsweek, NPR, and CNBC. Prior to his academic career, Sean spent nearly ten years as a journalist and producer for ABC News and CNN.

Sean earned both a PhD in entrepreneurial management and an MBA from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business; an MS from Columbia University; and a BA from Northwestern University.

Email: sdcarr@uw.edu