Biography
Fiona is the Associate Dean of Innovation and Inclusion at the MIT School of Management and William Porter (1967) Professor of Entrepreneurship. She is the co-director of MIT’s Innovation Initiative and Faculty Director of the MIT Legatum Center for Entrepreneurship and Development. Fiona is an associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research.
She received her BA ’89 and MA ‘90 from the University of Oxford in Chemistry. She subsequently moved to the United States and earned an AM ’92 and PhD ’96 from Harvard University in applied sciences. Fiona serves on the British Prime Minister’s Council on Science and Technology and was awarded a CBE (Commander of the British Empire) for her services to innovation and entrepreneurship in the United Kingdom. She is also a Member of the Ministry of Defence Innovation Advisory Panel and the European Innovation Council Joint Expert Group.
Murray is an international policy expert on the transformation of investments in science and technology into deep-tech start-up ventures that solve significant global challenges and create national advantage – from defence and security to health, food and water security.
Her work includes understanding new funding approaches for innovations that arise from scientific research, and educating the next generation of technical leaders to build effective ventures. She is particularly focused on how regions can build more inclusive innovation ecosystems that allow for diverse innovators to focus on their most significant challenges and to build on their most substantial advantages.
Fiona brings her deep appreciation of science and technology to an understanding of the global innovation economy and to the ways in which the next generation of global innovators and the policymakers who support them can be effectively educated.