Areas of expertise:
- Change management
- Innovation
- Strategy development
David A. Owens, PhD, PE, serves on the faculty at Vanderbilt University’s Graduate School of Management. Specializing in business strategy, innovation, and product development, he also delivers executive education programs and consulting services to a wide range of clients around the world. His work has been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, London Guardian, and San Jose Mercury News, as well as on NPR’s Marketplace.
His education and consulting work in the area of business strategy, innovation process, and product development has included engagements with NASA, LEGO, Nissan LEAF, The Smithsonian, Bristol-Meyers Squibb, Bridgestone, Orange UK, Alcatel, Tetra Pak, the Tennessee Valley Authority, and Cisco among others. David has also performed product design consulting work for a variety of firms including Daimler Benz, Apple Computer, Coleman Camping, Corning World Kitchen, Steelcase and IDEO Product Development. Most recently, David served as CEO of Griffin Technology Inc., the largest consumer electronics firm in the iPod/MP3 accessory market space, with hundreds of employees, full in-house R&D, worldwide offices and distribution, and annual revenues exceeding $175 million.
David earned his PhD in Management Science and Engineering through a joint fellowship program between the Graduate School of Business and the School of Engineering at Stanford University. He also holds an MS in Engineering Product Design and a BS in Electrical Engineering from Stanford. He became registered as a Professional Electrical Engineer while working at the San Francisco International Airport, after which he worked as a product design engineer and consultant at IDEO Product Development in Palo Alto, California.
Currently, he serves as the faculty director of the Vanderbilt Executive Development Institute where he specializes in program and curriculum development. He also teaches graduate courses in Management, Strategic Innovation, and New Product Design and Development.