Education
- PhD Management, University of Connecticut
- MS Hotel Administration, Cornell University and Groupe Essec (IMHI)
- BSBA, Bryant University
- Certificate in Hotel Management, Swiss International Training Center
Selected Publications
- Eddleston, K.A., Sieger, P., Chirico, F., & Baù, M. 2026. The King Is Dead – Long Live Who? A Family And Firm Embeddedness Perspective On Succession After The CEO-Owner's Sudden Death. Journal of Management Studies, 63(3), 1192-1228.
- Bechthold, L., Huber, L.R., & Eddleston, K.A. 2026. Debiasing entrepreneurial careers: A field experiment on female role model effects on entrepreneurial self-efficacy and early-stage career choices. Journal of Business Venturing, 41(3), 106582.
- Villani, E., Linder, C., De Massis, A., & Eddleston, K. A. 2024. Employee incentives and family firm innovation: A configurational approach. Journal of Management, 50(5): 1797-1835.
- De Massis, A., Eddleston, K.A. & Rovelli, P. 2021. Entrepreneurial by design: How organizational design affects family and nonfamily firms' opportunity exploitation. Journal of Management Studies, 58(1), 27-62.
- Yu, X., Stanley, L., Li, Y., Eddleston, K.A. & Kellermanns, F.W. 2020. The invisible hand of evolutionary psychology: The importance of kinship in first generation family firms. Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice, 44(1): 134-157.
- Hahn, D., Minola, T. & Eddleston, K.A. 2019. How do scientists contribute to the performance of innovative startups? An imprinting perspective on open innovation. Journal of Management Studies, 56(5): 895-928.
- Eddleston, K.A., Sarathy, R. & Banalieva, E.R. 2019. When a high-quality niche strategy is not enough to spur family firm internationalization: The role of external and internal contexts. Journal of International Business Studies, 50: 783–808.
- Banalieva, E., Eddleston, K.A. & Zellweger, T. 2015. Family influence, speed of pro-market reforms, and firm performance: An institution-based view of family influence in transition economies. Strategic Management Journal, 36 (9): 1358-1377.
- Kidwell, R.E., Kellermanns, F.W. & Eddleston, K.A. 2012. Harmony, justice, confusion and conflict in family firms: Implications for ethical climate and the “Fredo effect.” Journal of Business Ethics, 106(4): 503-517.
- Eddleston, K.A. & Kellermanns, F.W. 2007. Destructive and productive family relationships: A stewardship theory perspective. Journal of Business Venturing, 22(4): 545-565.
- Eddleston, K.A., Veiga, J.F. & Powell, G.N. 2006. Explaining sex differences in managerial career satisfier preferences: The role of gender self-schema. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91(2): 437-445.
- Martins, L.L., Eddleston, K.A., Veiga, J.F. 2002. Moderators of the relationship between work-family conflict and career satisfaction. Academy of Management Journal, 45(2): 399-409.
Selected Presentations
- Eddleston, K. (2025). Keynote Address: Breaking the Silence: Effective Strategies for Intergenerational Communication. Family Business Alliance & Grand Valley State University Joint Family Business Program. Grand Valley, Michigan.
- Eddleston, K. (2025). Family Business Innovation: Keeping Innovation and Entrepreneurship Alive. Case Western Reserve University Center for Family Business, Cleveland, Ohio.
- Eddleston, K. (2024). Keynote Address: The Emotional Landscape of Family Firms: Navigating Conflict and Kinship. Behavioral Perspectives on Family Firms Conference sponsored by Bocconi University, HEC Paris, University of Southern Denmark, and Copenhagen Business School. Paris, France.
- Eddleston, K. (2024). Family forward: The family office and the new generation of wealth stewards. RSM & Cornell University's Family Innovation Roundtable. Boston, Massachusetts.
- Eddleston, K.A. (2024). Generational conversations: What's said and not said. Workshop for the University of St. Thomas Center for Family Business. Minneapolis, Minnesota.
- Eddleston, K.A. (2023). Good or bad seed?: How to prevent bad seeds from taking root in your family business. Workshop for the Baltic Family Firm Institute – ECGI Conference. Tartu, Estonia.
- Eddleston, K. (2021). The Fredo Effect: How one bad family member can undermine a family firm. Cornell University Smith Family Business Initiative. Ithaca, NY.
- Eddleston, K. (2020). What can strategic management learn from family business research? Strategic Management Society Family Business Extension, London, UK.
Research & Teaching Interests
Kimberly A. Eddleston is the Schulze Distinguished Professor of Entrepreneurship. She has been recognized as one of the world's leading family business and entrepreneurship scholars, as noted by Research.com, ScholarGPS, Small Business Economics, Journal of Family Business Strategy, Stanford University & Elsevier, and the Family Business Research Index. Eddleston's research primarily focuses on family businesses and the careers of women entrepreneurs. She is particularly known for her research exploring how the family can be both a resource and a constraint for the family business, and how family businesses can remain innovative across generations. Her publications have appeared in leading journals, including the Academy of Management Journal, Strategic Management Journal, Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Business Venturing, Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice, Journal of Management Studies, Journal of International Business Studies, and Journal of Management.
Professor Eddleston teaches family business and entrepreneurship across a variety of programs and multiple levels: undergraduate, graduate, Ph.D., and executive. Her undergraduate and Honors course, Examining Family Business Through Film, has been featured in The Atlantic and The Wall Street Journal. She also leads workshops for family business centers and private family businesses. Eddleston has helped many students successfully join their families' businesses and has also assisted them in launching their own enterprises. She has been recognized for teaching excellence on multiple occasions, most recently receiving the Mentor Award from the European Institute for Advanced Studies in Management (EIASM) and Jönköping University.
Industry & Academic Experience
Eddleston is recognized as a leading scholar of entrepreneurship by the Schulze Family Foundation, which awarded her the nationally recognized Schulze Distinguished Professorship. She also serves as an Academic Scholar at Cornell University's Smith Family Business Initiative. Previously, she has served as the Toft Visiting Professor at the Jönköping International Business School, Sweden, and a Research Fellow at the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland.
She has extensive experience working with family businesses in the U.S. and abroad and is routinely invited to serve as a keynote speaker at family business events. Eddleston started her first business at the age of nine and grew up working for many of her family's businesses. She remains an active stakeholder and board member on several of her family's businesses in the construction, business services, and real estate industries.
Before joining Northeastern University, she was the Assistant Director of the Wolff Family Program in Entrepreneurship at the University of Connecticut. Earlier in her career, she worked for several restaurant and hotel companies, including Westin Hotels and the Marriott Corporation.
Services to the Profession
Professor Eddleston serves as a Senior Editor for the Entrepreneurship & Innovation Exchange (eix.org) and Founding Editor of FamilyBusiness.org – two leading platforms dedicated to bridging research and practice. Previously, she served as Associated Editor of the Journal of Business Venturing and the Journal of Family Business Strategy. She also routinely serves as a Guest Editor for Special Issues, including those in the Journal of Management Studies, Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, Long Range Planning, Small Business Economics, Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Journal of Family Business Strategy, and Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice. Due to her significant contributions to the fields of family business and entrepreneurship, she received the Academy of Management's Award for Contribution to Entrepreneurship Practice, and was honored as a Fellow of the Family Firm Institute, and a Justin G. Longenecker Fellow of the U.S. Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship.
Eddleston serves as a board member of the International Family Enterprise Research Association (ifera), and a judge for IMD's Global Family Business Awards. Previously, she served as the Division Chair of the Academy of Management's Careers Division and held multiple positions in the Academy of Management's Entrepreneurship Division. She has been elected twice to serve as President of the Family Business Special Interest Group of the U.S. Association of Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE) and has co-chaired the Strategic Management Society's Family Business Extension Conference.
Other professional service includes: Small Business Management and Family Business Track Chair of USASBE, Family Business Awards Committee Leader at USASBE, Conference Organizer of the Theories of Family Enterprise Conference, Board of Directors of the Careers Division of the Academy of Management, Program Chair of the ifera conference, and Doctoral and Early Career Consortium Chair of the Family Enterprise Research Conference (FERC), and e-fest national entrepreneurship competition judge.
Awards & Recognition
- Schulze Distinguished Professorship, 2015 – present
- Academic Scholar, Cornell University Smith Family Business Initiative, 2016 – present
- Montoni Research Fellow, 2019 – 2025
- Recognized as a Top Family Business Scholar Worldwide (#6) by the Family Business Research Index, 2026.
- Mentor Award, European Institute for Advanced Studies in Management (EIASM) and Jönköping University, 2025.
- James J. Chrisman Contribution to Theory Award, Theories of Family Enterprise, 2025.
- Fellow, Justin G. Longenecker Fellow of the U.S. Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE), 2025.
- Academy of Management Award for Contribution to Entrepreneurship Practice, 2024.
- Recognized as a Top 25 Family Enterprise Academic, Family Capital, 2024.
- Fellow, Family Firm Institute, 2023.
- Family-Owned Business Institute Scholar Award, 2015 – 2017
- Research Fellow, Center for Family Business, University of St. Gallen, 2010 – 2017
- Recognized by Stanford University as one of the world's top 2% most cited researchers
