Dr. Bradley R. Staats is the Ellison Distinguished Professor of Operations at the University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School and author of Never Stop Learning: Stay Relevant, Reinvent Yourself, and Thrive. Brad works with companies around the world to develop their learning and analytics strategies. He advises individuals and organizations on how to learn and improve in order to innovate and succeed on an ongoing basis. In addition, he is the Senior Associate Dean of Strategy & Academics at UNC Kenan-Flagler, where prior to that he was Associate Dean of MBA Programs, and he founded and leads UNC’s Center for the Business of Health, a cross-campus, interdisciplinary effort to tackle the most pressing challenges in health care.
 
His teaching and research focus on how to improve individual learning and design organizations that create successful learning environments. He also incorporates analytics in this process so that data can drive decision-making. Brad investigates the understudied role of human behavior in learning and operational improvement. He integrates work in operations management and behavioral science to understand how and under what conditions individuals, teams, and organizations can perform their best. He conducts field-based research in such settings as health care and software services, consulting, call centers, and retail. He also uses archival data and field experiments to provide an interdisciplinary perspective to improve both theory and practice.
 
Brad publishes frequently in and serves on the editorial boards of numerous leading academic journals, and his work has been featured in a variety of media outlets. He has won numerous teaching and research awards, including the Wickham Skinner Early-Career Research Accomplishments Award from the Production and Operations Management Society, the Poets & Quants award as one of the 40 most outstanding business-school professors under 40 in the world, and the Warren Bennis Prize for best article in Harvard Business Review on leadership.
 
From Harvard Business School, Brad received his Doctorate of Business Administration in technology and operations management and Master of Business Administration. He received his Bachelor of Science with honors in electrical engineering and his Bachelor of Arts with high honors in Plan II and Spanish from The University of Texas at Austin, where he was named the Most Outstanding Male Graduate of his graduating class. Prior to his academic career, he worked as a venture capitalist at a leading firm in the southeastern United States. He also worked in investment banking at Goldman Sachs and strategic planning at Dell Corporation.
 
Brad lives in Chapel Hill with his wife and three sons. He can frequently be found on the local baseball fields helping coach each of his kids’ teams.

Awards

2022

  • UNC Kenan-Flagler MBA Program Teaching All-Star

2019

  • Bullard Faculty Research Impact Award

  • UNC Kenan-Flagler MBA Program Teaching All-Star

  • Axiom Business Book Award, Bronze Medal in Career

2018

  • Next Big Idea Book Club, Summer Selection

  • Gerald Barrett Faculty Award, faculty member who has made the greatest contribution to the MBA program through teaching and service

  • UNC Kenan-Flagler MBA Program Teaching All-Star

2017

  • UNC Kenan-Flagler MBA Program Teaching All-Star

2016

  • Warren Bennis Prize for best article in Harvard Business Review on leadership

  • Management Science Meritorious Service Award

  • Strategic Management Society, Best Paper Award in Behavioral Strategy

2015

  • Management Science Meritorious Service Award

2014

  • Named one of the Top 40 Under 40 Business School Professors by Poets & Quants

  • UNC Kenan-Flagler MBA Program Teaching All-Star

  • Academy of Management Organizational Behavior Division’s Outstanding Publication Award

  • Academy of Management Human Resources Division’s Scholarly Achievement Award, Finalist

  • Management Science Meritorious Service Award

2013

  • Wickham Skinner Early-Career Research Accomplishments Award

  • Wickham Skinner Best Paper Published in Production & Operations Management in 2012, 3rd Place Award

  • UNC Kenan-Flagler MBA Program Teaching All-Star

  • Management Science Meritorious Service Award

  • M&SOM Meritorious Service Award

2012

  • Technology & Innovation Management Past Chairs' Emerging Scholar Award, Runner-Up

  • Shingo Research and Professional Publication Award

  • UNC Kenan-Flagler MBA Program Teaching All-Star

  • Management Science Meritorious Service Award

2010

  • Best Dissertation Finalist, Technology & Innovation Management Division of the Academy of Management

  • INFORMS Technology Management Section Dissertation Competition Runner-Up

2009

  • Sloan Industry Studies Dissertation Award Finalist