George Gendron

As the founder and Director of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program at Clark University, George Gendron is responsible for inspiring and fostering the entrepreneurial spirit of numerous Clark students.

Gendron served as the Editor-in-Chief of Inc. Magazine for two decades, growing the renowned publication into the premier magazine for all small to mid-sized growing companies. Under his direction, Inc. accomplished a great deal. Among his greatest achievements was the creation of the Inc. 500, the first list of America's fastest-growing private companies.

The Inc. 500 became a brand in its own right, and was responsible for identifying many of the world's leading entrepreneurial organizations while they were virtually unknown. Microsoft, Oracle, Patagonia, Timberland, Domino's, Intuit, and Charles Schwab were all companies that were named on the Inc. 500.

In 1997, Gendron formed a joint venture with Michael Porter of the Harvard Business School to publish the Inner City 100, a ranking of the fastest-growing companies in America's inner cities. This list has gone on to play a major role in focusing public attention on the role of entrepreneurship in creating jobs and wealth in America's most economically distressed areas.

Gendron has also co-authored and narrated Inc.'s best-selling video, "How to Really Start Your Own Business", which went on to win the American Film Institute Award for outstanding business and economic programming. Gendron is a well-known speaker before groups of business leaders in the U.S., Europe, and Asia, and has lectured at many of the country's leading universities. He is also a frequent commentator on entrepreneurship on television and radio and in print. Appearances include 20/20, 48 Hours, CNBC, CNN, and National Public Radio. He has also been quoted extensively in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and other major publications.

Gendron has appeared on the TJFR list of "The 100 Most Influential Business Journalists in America" every year since the list was created, and was named one of the ten most influential magazine journalists in the technology arena in 2001 and 2002.

Gendron began his career in publishing as an arts-and-entertainment editor for Clay Felker's New York Magazine. At the age of 26, he took over as editor-in-chief of Boston Magazine, where he transformed a failing magazine into one of the top city magazines in the country.

Publications under Gendron's leadership have been nominated three times for a National Magazine Award (the Pulitzer Prize for magazines) and won numerous magazine awards for editorial excellence as well as outstanding graphic design.

Gendron is currently at work on a book titled "The Art of the New", designed to demystify entrepreneurship and innovation. The book will synthesize Gendron's 20 years of documenting the rise of many of the world's leading entrepreneurial organizations, and explore the process of transforming an idea into something tangible in business, the arts, education, and government.

For the past 20 years Gendron has been extremely active in the philanthropic arena, serving on the national boards of City Year, Initiatives for a Competitive Inner City, Community Wealth Ventures, the Literary Venture Fund, and many others. He is also an investor in and advisor to numerous start-ups.