July 17, 2026
University of Toronto professor elected as a fellow of The British Academy
Toronto – Professor Emerita Anita McGahan of the University of Toronto is one of ninety-two global scholars who have been elected as a fellow of The British Academy in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the humanities and social sciences. She joins a community of over 1,800 scholars who have received the honour. The British Academy is the UK’s national academy for the humanities and social sciences. Her appointment in the section of Management and Business Studies was announced today in London, UK.
McGahan, FBA, is University Professor and George E. Connell Chair in Organizations and Society, Emerita, at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management. She holds cross-appointments with the University’s Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, and the Dalla Lana School of Public Health. Prof. McGahan is the Chair of the Governing Board of Massey College at the University of Toronto, and a faculty member and Senior Fellow at the Burnes Center for Social Change at Northeastern University, where she leads the Pi2 initiative on private innovation in the public interest. Some of the major themes in Prof. McGahan’s work are social justice, humanistic governance, fairness, global health, and institutional innovation. Her current research emphasizes entrepreneurship in the public interest through new theories that elevate understanding of stakeholder potential and needs.
Prof. McGahan’s credits include five books and over 200 articles, case studies, notes and other published material on competitive advantage, industry evolution, and innovation in the public interest. From 2014 to 2019, she was a faculty member of the MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Opening Governance, and from 2022 to 2023, she was a Senior Institute Associate at Harvard’s Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness. She has served as Director of the Rotman School’s PhD Program and as the Associate Dean of Research. In 2010, she was awarded the Academy of Management BPS Division’s Irwin Distinguished Educator Award. In 2012, the Academy conferred on Prof. McGahan its Career Distinguished Educator Award for her championship of reform in the core curriculum of Business Schools, and in 2021, the Academy presented her with its Career Distinguished Service Award for leadership in the Academy and other organizations. In 2018, Prof. McGahan was awarded both the Inaugural Educational Impact Award and, with Michael E. Porter, the Dan and Mary Lou Schendel Best Paper Prize from the Strategic Management Society. In 2023, she received the William D. Guth Distinguished Service Award in Strategic Management from the Academy of Management and the Sumantra Ghoshal Award for Rigour and Relevance in the Study of Management at the London Business School. In 2012 she was elected a Fellow of the Strategic Management Society, and in 2015 she was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Management. At Massey College, she was the 2025 recipient of the Clarkson Laureateship for public service.
The British Academy is the UK’s national academy for the humanities and social sciences. We mobilise these disciplines to understand the world and shape a brighter future. We invest in researchers and projects across the UK and overseas, engage the public with fresh thinking and debates, and bring together scholars, government, business and civil society to influence policy for the benefit of everyone. For more information, visit www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk .
Bringing together high-impact faculty research and thought leadership on one searchable platform, the Rotman Insights Hub offers articles, podcasts, opinions, books and videos representing the latest in management thinking and providing insights into the key issues facing business and society. Visit www.rotman.utoronto.ca/insightshub .
The Rotman School of Management is part of the University of Toronto, a global centre of research and teaching excellence at the heart of Canada’s commercial capital. Rotman is a catalyst for transformative learning, insights and public engagement, bringing together diverse views and initiatives around a defining purpose: to create value for business and society. For more information, visit www.rotman.utoronto.ca
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For more information:
Ken McGuffin
Manager, Media Relations
Rotman School of Management
University of Toronto
E-mail: mcguffin@rotman.utoronto.ca