Dr. Robert Ronstadt
Visiting Professor, Business Consultant, Thought Leader & Keynote Speaker
Biography
Dr. Robert Ronstadt is considered a "think & do leader" in the fields of higher education, technology commercialization, regional economic development, and entrepreneurship. On the "think" side, he has written a number of books and articles on higher education, entrepreneurship, and R&D management. On the "do" side, he has created several for-profit and non-profit enterprises.
Dr. Ronstadt holds a doctorate in international business and the management of technology from Harvard University where he worked for six years at the Harvard Business School, mentored by Robert Stobaugh, Raymond Vernon, Richard Rosenbloom.
Prior to Harvard, he spent two years earning a master's degree in international relations from the University of Oregon. His undergraduate training was in history at the University of California at Berkeley.
Over the years, Dr Ronstadt has held senior academic and administrative positions at Boston University, the University of Texas in Austin where he was Director of the renown IC2 Institute and J. Marion West Chair of Constructive Capitalism; at Pepperdine University where he was professor of entrepreneurship; and at Babson College in Wellesley Massachusetts where he was a tenured associate professor and recipient of the Freedom Foundation's Leavey Award for Excellence in Private Enterprise Education for his groundbreaking work in helping to establish the Babson Entrepreneurship Program in the early eighties.
Prior to retiring in 2006, Dr. Ronstadt was Vice President of Boston University, overseeing technology commercialization programs where he had the honor to report directly to the President, the late John Silber. After retiring from academia, Dr. Ronstadt authored two books and several articles on the excessive cost of higher education. In 2017 he began actively mentoring talented high school students with severe financial need, helping them obtain a college education, while graduating with little or no debt.
Teaching at Babson College, where Dr. Ronstadt was a founding faculty member of the Entreprenuership program.
Teaching in the global classroom at IC2 institute, UT Austin, as the J. Marion West Professor of Constructive Capitalism
In 2012, Dr. Ronstadt founded Advantage Kids (formerly Lakes Region Tennis Association) now recognized as an award-winning NJTL (National Junior Tennis & Learning organization) affiliated with the USTA (United States Tennis Association). Over the years, Advantage Kids has helped thousands of children in New Hampshire find success on and off the tennis court. As Dr. Ronstadt is fond of saying, "We want to keep kids on the courts, and out of the courts. Our goal is to combine tennis and education to make children champions in whatever they chose to do."
Today, Dr. Ronstadt is a Legacy Fellow and Vice President of TANDO Institute. TANDO, which stands for a Think And Do tank, is a spin-off of the Fellows Program formerly associated with the IC2 Institute at the University of Texas at Austin. TANDO Institute is composed of over ninety individuals drawn from academia, business, and government.
Among their number they count Nobel Laureates and winners of the Von Neumann Medal and the Kondratieff Medal. A shared objective of TANDO Fellows is to work on solving complex, unstructured problems in critical areas, including higher education.
Dr. Ronstadt and his wife are former Peace Corps Volunteers who met in Peru during the sixties and have been happily married for over fifty years. They currently reside in Laconia, near Lake Winnipesaukee and frequently see their two children and three grandchildren who reside in nearby Massachusetts.
TANDO identifies new scientific and technological advances that hold the most potential for social benefit and accelerates their valorization through commercial, government, and NGO channels.
Past Publications & Ongoing Projects
Dr. Ronstadt has authored numerous books, articles, and other publications throughout his distinguished career. His work spans multiple disciplines including higher education, entrepreneurship, innovation, and regional economic development. Below you'll find a comprehensive collection of his published works and ongoing projects.
BOOKS ON HIGHER EDUCATION
- Surviving The Tuition Travesty: Taking the Financial Sting Out of Paying for a College Education, Lord Publishing, 2007.
- 14 Rules for Becoming a Smart College Shopper, Lord Publishing, 2011
- Your College Budget: Tips for Building Budgets That Save You Money Before, During, and After College Lord Publishing, (2011).
- Art of Case Analysis: A Guide to the Diagnosis of Business Situations. Lord Publishing, 1993. (Considered a classic, "must read" for anyone taking a case discussion course).
BOOKS ON INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
- Research and Development Abroad by U.S. Multinationals, Praeger Special Studies in International Economics and Development). 1977.
- Entrepreneurship: Text, Cases, and Notes, Lord Publishing, 1984.
- Entrepreneurial Finance: Taking Control of Your Financial Decision Making, Lord Publishing (1988).
- Venture Feasibility Planning Guide: Your First Step Before Writing a Business Plan (With Jeffrey Shuman), Lord Publishing 1989.
- Introduction to Business (with Lawrence Stybel), Lord Publishing 1983.
MONOGRAPHS, SOFTWARE & WEBSITES
- Entrepreneurial Careers: A Study of the Career Pathways Pursued by Babson Entrepreneurs. Submitted to Babson College's Board of Research. May 1982.
- Entrepreneurship Bibliography, Lord Publishing, 1985.
- Program Budgeting In The Peace Corps, University of Oregon. 1969
- Ronstadt's Financials: Planning and Budgeting Software. Lord Publishing, 1987.
WEBSITES OF INTEREST
The TANDO Institute
Dr. Ronstadt is a Fellow of TANDO, a Think And Do Tank, composed of 90 Fellows located around the world that includes Nobel Laurettes and other thought and action leaders from business, governement, and academia.
Advantage Kids
Founded by Dr. Ronstadt in 2012, Advantage Kids provides free tennis instruction to kids in New Hampshire, Maine, and Massachusetts. In 2024, over 1000 kids learned valuable life lessons through the medium of tennis. As part of this work, Dr. Ronstadt has also provided college selection and admissions guidance for New Hampshire students of promise.
"The one thing that is truly unfair is an unfulfilled life that could have been saved through education."
- Dr. Ronstadt
Academic Writing
Many of my writings, particularly those on entrepreneurship careers, my concept of the Corridor Principle, plus the concept of the Near Failure Syndrome, can be found when you search for Robert Ronstadt at http://www.academia.edu
Articles on Higher Education, Geopolitics, and More
ARTICLES ON HIGHER EDUCATION AND GEOPOLITICS
- The Future of Universities, 2024. Available from TANDO Institute, Found under "Position Papers" at tando.org
- Avoiding World War III, 2002. Recently republished in 2024 at tando.org or from the author.
- How Global Geopolitics Impacts Higher Education at Home and Abroad. 2025, forthcoming to be published in a book on Geopolitics, edited by Fredrick Young Phillips
ARTICLES ON PAYING FOR COLLEGE
- When It Comes To Paying For College, DEBT Is a Four Letter Word.
- Saving BIG Money on College Tuition.
- Why Financial Aid Is Broken…And Can't Be Fixed.
- Advice for Helicopter Parents: Keep Hovering! or Be a "Helicopter Parent" … and Don't Be Hoodwinked by College Faculty and Administrators.
- Making Community College Work for You! Part One: What You and Your Family Must Do.
- Making Community College Work for You! Part Two: What Your Community College Must Do.
- The Precarious Task of Selecting the Right College.
ARTICLES ON ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND INNOVATION
- Does Career Path Really Matter, Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Research, 1982
- Entrepreneurial Careers, Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Research, 1981, ed. Karl H. Vesper, Wellesley MA: Babson Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, pp 591-600.
- The Decision Not to Become an Entrepreneur, Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Research, 1983.
- Ex-Entrepreneurs and the Decision to End an Entrepreneurial Career. Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Research, 1984.
- Training Potential Entrepreneurs. In Entrepreneurship: What It Is and How to Teach It. Kao and Stevenson, eds. Harvard Business School, 1985
CASE STUDIES AND INDUSTRY NOTES
- The World Elevator Industry.
- The World Oil Industry
- The Corridor Principle. Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, Winter, 1988.
- On Hurricanes and Ownership Skills: An Owner's Diary. Unpublished paper, July 1989.
- Every Entrepreneur's Nightmare: The Decision To Become an Ex-Entrepreneur and Work for Someone Else, Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Research, 1985.
- Exit, Stage Left: Why Entrepreneurs End Their Entrepreneurial Careers Before Retirement, Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, Fall 1986.
- The Educated Entrepreneurs: A New Era of Entrepreneurial Education is Beginning.
- Success Principles for the Facilitation of Entrepreneurial Wealth Creation, with William Paulin, Pepperdine University, November 1996.
- Entrepreneurship Facilitation For High Technology Businesses: Forging a New Theory. With William Paulin, Pepperdine November 1996.
- Education & Entrepreneurship: What Immigrant Entrepreneurs Can Teach Us About Educating Entrepreneurs, Pepperdine University, Presented to Society for Educators and Scholars, March 1998.
- Should I Start My Own Business? IC2 Institute, University of Texas at Austin, 1999.
- The Growth of Commercialization-Accelerating Organizations and Practices: A Schumpeterian Perspective. With Sten Thore and Anthony Furino. Presented at the 9th Conference of the Joseph A. Schumpeter International Society, Gainesville, Florida, March 2002.
- The Corridor Principle and the Near Failure Syndrome: Two Generic Concepts with Practical Value for Entrepreneurs, Industry and Higher Education, v21 n4 p247-252 Aug 2007
- The Early Story: A Brief History of The Creation of Entrepreneurship at Babson College and The Discovery of Innovation's Missing Imperative. (with Jeffrey Shuman and Karl Vesper) Industry & Higher Education, Sage Publications, 2020.
ARTICLES ON FINANCE, SOFTWARE, AND TENNIS
Finance & Software
- Would You "Bet the Ranch" On Your Spreadsheet Projections? Lord Publishing, The Bridge, 1990.
- Raising Money in the 1990's: Ronstadt's Rules for Angel Financing, Lord Publishing, The Bridge, 1990.
- More On Raising Money In The 1990's: Ronstadt's Rules For Effective Vendor Financing. Lord Publishing, Spring/Summer, 1990.
Tennis
- The First Rafa, published by Tennis Magazine
- Pancho Segura, published by Tennis Magazine
- Dennis Ralston: Beyond Emeritus, published by Tennis Magazine
Mentors
The Cambridge Dictionary defines a mentor as one who helps and gives advice to a younger or less experienced person, especially in a job or at school. What follows is an official citation that summarizes the life of each person, followed by a personal remembrance. One can't help but feel indebted to them, even when the path was hard. I cherish having known them, and wanted to use this space to celebrate their lives.
Throughout my academic and professional journey, I've been fortunate to learn from some truly remarkable individuals. These mentors shaped not only my career but also my approach to leadership, research, and education. Their wisdom continues to influence my work today.
Raymond Vernon
September 1, 1913 – August 26, 1999
Raymond Vernon (September 1, 1913 – August 26, 1999) was an American economist. He was a member of the group that developed the Marshall Plan after World War II and later played a role in the development of the International Monetary Fund and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. He was the Clarence Dillon Professor of International Affairs at Harvard Kennedy School, becoming emeritus on his retirement. His formulation of the Product life-cycle theory of US exports, first published in 1966, in turn influenced the behavior of companies. He also held a professorship at the Harvard Business School where he completed a major work, Soveriengty At Bay. After his death, Daniel Yergin, a friend and colleague, referred to him as "the father of globalization". {Source: Wikipedia]
My Remembrance of Ray Vernon
Intellectual giant aside, Ray Vernon was one of the kindest and most considerate human beings I have ever known. I had many interactions with him at Harvard, in seminars, office meetings, and as the lead questioner on my Special Field Exam. But it was one gesture, a few years later, that showed his character and lifelong concern for those he mentored.
Our paths crossed at a conference where he was a keynote speaker. After giving his talk to a standing room audience, he was leaving the room when somehow he caught sight of me at the back of the room. He stopped and turned abruptly, making his way to me through the packed crowd who no doubt was wondering where he was going. After a warm embrace, he asked how I was doing, how the family was getting along, how others we knew were faring. Then he left, as I did, along our separate paths.
But his gift stayed with me: I departed feeling ten feet tall, and whenever I get down on myself, I think of that day. A simple gesture from a person greatly admired that made all the difference.
George Kozmetsky
George Kozmetsky is in a unique class of exceptional leaders whose success is reflected in the success of those they have influenced. He has mentored countless numbers of students and entrepreneurs over the decades, including Michael Dell, who said about Kozmetsky, "It was a stroke of great fortune to have Dr. Kozmetsky on our team. There's no question that his guidance was instrumental in our early success and his affiliation gave us a measure of credibility that a new and unproven company could otherwise never have achieved." The McCombs School of Business and The University of Texas at Austin today mourn the loss of a great man who left an indelible mark on the institution. He will be forever remembered for his incredible vision, leadership and citizenship.
My Remembrance of GK
When I first met George, I would have never guessed from his lifestyle that he was arguably one of the most influential and powerful individuals in the state of Texas during the last quarter of the twentieth century. George lived modestly given his wealth and stature. No MacCastles, butlers, or chauffeurs for George. He was more interested in working hard, finding opportunities, solving problems, and getting things done… and getting others to help.
Which means he was a leader. In fact, George taught me more about leadership than anyone else. He was fearless when it came time to express his vision. Nor was he timid about leading from the front, even when people who listened and followed him had a difficult time understanding what he was saying. George was a lateral thinker and, much like another mentor of mine, Ray Vernon, you had to patiently wait and listen hard while they circumnavigated a litany of thoughts before arriving at was often pure intellectual gold.
Years later when thinking about George, I found myself asking where his leadership came from? I couldn't put my finger on its source. Certainly not when he arrived in Texas to assume a Deanship. His ability to lead was already there. I did have one clue, however, from a conversation we had about his service during World War II. It was the only conversation we ever had about the War. Like most from "the greatest generation," George didn't talk about his service overseas. But I believe unknown to most, he had an outstanding war record, serving as an officer in the Medical Corps where he earned a silver star, a bronze star, and a purple heart. My guess is those experiences forged the leadership skills that served him the rest of his life. Thank goodness, he survived.
Robert B. Stobaugh
October 15, 1927 – August 14, 2017
Robert Blair Stobaugh (15 October 1927 – 14 August 2017) was an American educator noted for his research into energy economics and corporate governance. He earned a degree in chemical engineering from Louisiana State University,[a] and went to work as an engineer at companies such as Esso, Caltex and Monsanto Chemical Company. After leaving Monsanto, he earned a doctorate degree in business administration from Harvard University. He spent 29 years as a professor at the Harvard Business School (HBS). He served as director of the HBS Energy Project from 1972 to 1983. According to Harvard Business School, Stobaugh focused his research interests in three areas: corporate governance, energy and international business. The school credited him with writing or coauthoring fifteen books and over one hundred other publications during his 30-year career with the school. Arguably, his most notable publication was Energy Future: the Report of the Energy Project, which he co-authored with Daniel Yergin in 1979.
My Remembrance of Bob Stobaugh
At HBS, the doctoral program was an apprenticeship system. Only a few students were admitted each year because developing them into university teachers and researchers took time. It was a labor-intensive undertaking. And only a few, less than 50% who were admitted, would get the degree. There were many obstacles along the way, and to avoid derailment, each doctoral candidate was apprenticed to a professor. Robert Stobaugh was my supervisor, and I was his apprentice for the next six years.
He was to become during those years my mentor. But never my friend. And looking back, that was a good thing. Bob took his duty seriously. His job was to make sure I had the research skills to make valid contributions to human knowledge. That set the bar pretty high, but it was still only part of his job. Tough I didn't realize it at the time, the rest of his job was to toughen me up. To do so, he pushed me hard, to the breaking point, especially with the dissertation. When others were willing to "sign off," Bob said no. Still not good enough. Work harder. Fail better. Pick yourself up and get it done.
In the end, it all paid off. The dissertation won a prestigious award and later became the first book written on the foreign R&D investments made abroad by U.S. Multinationals. It helped launch my career. I'll always owe a debt to Bob Stobaugh, but it is I must confess a bittersweet one.
Dr. Seymour Siegel
Always a gifted student with a passion for Science, Seymour earned a Bachelor's Degree in Chemistry and Physics from Brooklyn College in 1954. He fondly remembered the time he spent in Dr. Coonfield's office with his fellow Science Majors, including his girlfriend Dorothy
He did his graduate work at Harvard University, earning a Master's Degree in Chemistry in 1956 and a PhD in Chemical Physics in 1958. He married Dorothy, the love of his life, in 1955. His son, Eric, was born in a snowstorm while Dr. Siegel was at Harvard.
When he retired from UCLA, Sy joined the faculty of Pepperdine University, where he taught Technology Management to middle management students. He often led student field trips to Europe and Asia as part of the curriculum, visiting foreign companies to learn about business and technology in innovative ways.
Dr. Siegel had an illustrious and varied career that he enjoyed thoroughly. He had a brilliant, inquisitive mind for all of his 90 years and took great joy in intellectual challenges and new experiences. While no one could overlook his powerful intelligence, all who knew him cherished his kindness, his sense of humor, and the warmth and sparkle of his personality.
Dr. Seymour Siegel passed away on April 26, 2023 at the age of 90, surrounded by his loving family. His reputation as a "tough" professor with the highest standards was always tempered with the respect and affection his students had for him, and with the value they placed on how much he taught them. Dorothy also enjoyed meeting up with the group during these amazing trips, and then travelling alone with Seymour after the students departed.
Richard Rosenbloom
An authority on the management of technology and innovation and an HBS faculty member for 41 years, Richard Rosenbloom (MBA 1956, DBA 1960), the David Sarnoff Professor of Business Administration, Emeritus, passed away in October at the age of 78. His work focused on exploring the strategic uses of technology by corporations and the relationship between technological change and competitive strategy, as well as the social consequences of technological change. The Isidor Straus Professor of Business History, Emeritus, Tom McCraw noted, "Dick was a model for how to live both the life of the mind and the human spirit: the rare combination of a tough, critical intellect and an upbeat temperament."
Source: HBS Obituary
My Remembrance of Dick Rosenbloom
More than anyone else, Dick taught me the need to "get into the field" when conducting research on human beings and their organizations, procedures, and mores. I can remember having a meeting with him after he'd read an early draft of my thesis proposal. He nicely explained that I had spent more than enough time in the stacks of Baker Library. What I needed to do was get off campus and find out what was really going on with R&D investments being made abroad by U.S. Multinationals.
That was just fine with me since my research sites were in Switzerland, Belgium, France, and the U.K. Baker Library stacks versus Europe! I'll take Paris anytime. Thank you Dick Rosenbloom.
John R. Silber
August 15, 1926 – September 27, 2012
John Robert Silber (August 15, 1926 – September 27, 2012) was an American academician and candidate for public office. From 1971 to 1996, he was President of Boston University (BU) and, from 1996 to 2002, Chancellor. From 2002 to 2003, he again served as President (Ad Interim); and, from 2003 until his death, he held the title of President Emeritus.
In 1990, he won the Democratic gubernatorial primary to become one of two major-party candidates for governor of Massachusetts in the general election of 1990. He lost that election to the Republican William Weld, who won by 38,000 votes.
After receiving his PhD from Yale, Silber became professor of philosophy and served as dean of the University of Texas's College of Arts and Sciences (1967–70). He had a liberal reputation in his days at Texas, though at Boston University he was best known as a conservative spokesman in academia.
Source: Wikipedia
My Remembrance of John Silber
John's daughter wrote sometime after his death that "people either loved or hated him." I can't say I loved John Silber, but I sure liked him. I worked daily with John, and you always knew where you stood with him. Generally we got along very nicely and he allowed me to see how he had transformed a lower tiered commuter's school into a world class university. He also spent time grooming me for greater things, some of which never came to pass, while others, less expected, have come to pass. Most of all I remember his sardonic sense of humor. I was blessed to know him.