Dr Jacquelyn Pless

Profile

Jacquelyn Pless is the Fred Kayne (1960) Career Development Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship and an Assistant Professor in the Technological Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Strategic Management Group at the MIT Sloan School of Management.

Her research interests are in innovation economics, energy and environmental economics, strategic management, and climate finance. Her work explores how firms and policymakers can foster innovation for social progress — innovation that protects people and the planet — with a particular focus on energy and environmental innovation. One of her current obsessions is understanding how firms respond to externality interdependencies and the implications for the direction of innovation, policy, and strategy.

Jacquelyn teaches courses on innovation strategy and entrepreneurship, including a class on climate and energy ventures, and she was recently named a “Best 40-Under-40 Business School Professor” by Poets & Quants. In 2022, she was selected to be a Distinguished Fellow on Stakeholder Capitalism and ESG Investing by the Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise.

Jacquelyn is also an Honorary Research Associate with the University of Oxford, a Research Affiliate of CESifo, and an Invited Researcher with J-PAL’s Science for Progress Initiative. Before joining MIT, she held various positions in the private and public sectors working on energy policy issues as well as helping high-growth technology companies design and manage their reorganizations.

She holds MS and PhD degrees in Mineral and Energy Economics from the Colorado School of Mines and a BA in Economics and Political Science from the University of Vermont, Honors College.