Douglas Lynch

Doug is a professor at the University of Southern California’s Rossier School of Education and has been a leading thinker in both education entrepreneurship and corporate learning for over thirty years.

At USC Doug teaches executives economics and innovation and is managing director of the country’s most diverse and successful education technology focused incubator. Prior to joining USC, Doug was Vice Dean at the University of Pennsylvania where he launched a master’s degree at Penn in medical education for physicians and the PennCLO program. At New York University, he was an early adopter of e-learning and, in the mid-90’s, testified before Congress and the UN on the subject. He created “Corporate Learning Services,” an advisory program on developing corporate universities for large organizations such as American Express and JetBlue Airways. He was selected by the SEC to design WorldCom’s ethics training after the crises and was brought in by FDNY after 9/11 to redesign their training.

Active in educational entrepreneurship, Doug created the Penn GSE-Milken Education Business Plan Competition and a partnership between the University of Pennsylvania and Teach for America to support the corps members serving in Philadelphia. He also helped start Genesis Academy, at Arizona State University, one of the first charter schools in the country.

A frequent speaker at conferences around the world, Doug has published a number of works on both education innovation and work-based learning and has sat on presidential and gubernatorial boards. He was chair of ASTD’s public policy forum, the board of visitors for the Central Intelligence Agency, Delaware’s gubernatorial innovation advisory committee, and chaired the US delegation to the International Standards Organization. Doug has won several awards including the APX award for best program, an HR Executive Top 10 award and a U.S. Presidential award in innovation from the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Doug holds a PH.D., and an M.PHIL. in Economics from Columbia University. Doug also did doctoral work in evaluation at Arizona State University, where he received his B.A. in Economics. In addition, Doug has an M.B.A. in International Finance from New York University. He grew up overseas as an embassy brat going to school in Argentina, Italy, and Germany.