Will Zhao is an Assistant Professor of Organization and Human Behavior at the Stratford School of Interaction Design and Business, University of Waterloo. Dr. Zhao earned his PhD from the French Grande Ecole EMLYON Business School and pursued his postdoctoral research at Stanford University as a SCANCOR scholar. Before joining UW Stratford, he received tenure as an Associate Professor at an AACSB-accredited Canadian business school, where he won several teaching and research awards at both faculty and university levels.
Dr. Zhao is a passionate advocate for Human-Centered Innovation Research (HCIR), aiming to bridge cutting-edge innovations with profound humanistic values. His research spans social science, engineering, and interdisciplinary fields, with publications in impactful journals such as Research in the Sociology of Organizations and IEEE Transactions on Cybernetics, and presentations at premier conferences like the Academy of Management Meeting.
With UWaterloo Approved Doctoral Dissertation Supervisor (ADDS) status, Dr. Zhao welcomes inquiries from prospective graduate students and postdoctoral researchers interested in exploring Innovation, particularly at the intersection of Organization, Applied AI, Emerging Technologies, Health, Education, or Arts-Integration. Click for more information on Dr. Zhao's research.
Courses Taught:
- GBDA 402: Capstone (Business)
- MDEI 612: Working in Teams (Organizational Behavior course, also part of MDEI Intensive 1)
- MDEI 625: Business Innovation and Impact
Academic Mentorship/Coordination:
- GBDA Capstone
- Design Jam
- Map the Systems Competition