Richard K. Lyons
Chief Innovation and Entrepreneurship Officer, UC Berkeley | Professor & Former Dean | William & Janet Cronk Chair in Innovative Leadership | Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA, UNITED STATES
Areas of Expertise (5)
Leadership and Culture
Cryptocurrencies
Microstructure Finance
Exchange Rate Economics
International Finance
About
Rich Lyons is a Professor of Economics and Finance at the Haas School of Business, where he served as dean from 2008 to 2018 and acting dean from 2004 to 2005. In January 2020, he became the first Chief Innovation and Entrepreneurship Officer for the University of California, Berkeley. In his new role, Lyons oversees development of the campus-wide ecosystem for innovation and entrepreneurship, including patenting and technology licensing.
As dean of the Haas School, Lyons led a sweeping culture initiative that drove the school's historic strengths more deeply into admissions and other critical processes with a set of four Defining Leadership Principles: Question the Status Quo, Confidence Without Attitude, Students Always, and Beyond Yourself. He oversaw the development of Connie & Kevin Chou Hall—a new academic building funded entirely by alumni and friends—as well as attracting eight of the 10 largest gifts in school history. Lyons forged stronger ties with other UC Berkeley colleges and departments with a focus on dual degree programs combining business with STEM fields, including the new Management, Entrepreneurship, and Technology program with Berkeley Engineering. In 2018, he was awarded with the Berkeley Citation, given to individuals whose contributions to UC Berkeley go beyond the call of duty and whose achievements exceed the standards of excellence in their fields. Lyons also received Berkeley’s highest teaching honor in 1998.
Lyons' research and teaching are mostly in international finance, though his more recent work explores how business leadership drives innovation and the importance of culture in shaping organizations. From 2006 to 2008, he took a leave from Berkeley to serve as Goldman Sachs' Chief Learning Officer, focusing on leadership development for managing directors. Prior to joining the faculty at UC Berkeley in 1993, he was an assistant professor at Columbia Business School. He received his BS in finance from Berkeley and PhD in economics from MIT.
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Education (2)
MIT: PhD, Economics (International and Macro)
UC Berkeley: BS, Business (Finance Concentration)
Highest distinction
Links (5)
Honors & Awards (10)
Berkeley Citation
Highest campus honor for individuals whose contributions to UC Berkeley go beyond the call of duty 2018
Sterling Schoen Award for Diversity Leadership from the Consortium
2018
National Science Foundation grantee
1994-1997, 1997-2000, 2000-2003
National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship
1984-1987
Earl F. Cheit Award for Excellence in Teaching, MFE Program
2003
Earl F. Cheit Award for Excellence in Teaching, MBA Program
1994, 2000
Earl F. Cheit Award for Excellence in Teaching, Evening MBA Program
1996, 1999
Distinguished Teaching Award
UC Berkeley’s Highest Teaching Award 1998
Highest Honors, UC Berkeley
1982
Phi Beta Kappa
Member
Selected External Service & Affiliations (7)
- Board: Matthews Asia Funds
- Board: Syntax Funds
- Board: Ashesi University Foundation, Ghana
- Research Associate: National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)
- Member: Council on Foreign Relations
- Consultant: IMF, World Bank, Federal Reserve Bank, European Commission
- Advisory Board, Economic Policy Review (NY Fed.)
Languages (2)
- English
- French
Positions Held (2)
At Haas since 1993
2018 - present, William & Janet Cronk Chair in Innovative Leadership, Haas School of Business 2008 – 2018, Bank of America Dean and Professor of Business, Haas School of Business 2009 – 2016, Kruttschnitt Family Chair in Financial Institutions 2006 – 2008, S. K. and Angela Chan Chair in Global Management 2006 – 2008, Chief Learning Officer, Goldman Sachs 2005 – 2008, Executive Associate Dean, Haas School of Business 2004 – 2005, Acting Dean, Haas School of Business 2004, Sylvan Coleman Professor of Finance 2004, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs 1993 – 2004, Professor (Associate/Assistant/Full), Haas School of Business 1987 – 1993, Professor (Associate/Assistant), Graduate School of Business, Columbia University 1987, Summer Intern, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Washington D.C. 1985, Research Assistant, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Paris 1983 – 1984, Research Analyst, Financial Industries Division, SRI International (formerly Stanford Research Institute)
Visiting Postions
University of Toulouse, Toulouse, France Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden London School of Economics, London, UK Foundation for Advanced Information and Research (FAIR), Tokyo, Japan University of Aix-Marseille, Marseille, France
Media Appearances (18)
How Academia Can Be A Leader In Entrepreneurship: Interview With UC Berkeley’s Chief Innovation & Entrepreneurship Officer Dr. Rich Lyons
Forbes online
2021-11-23
In this interview, Prof. Rich Lyons, UC Berkeley's Chief Innovation and Entrepreneurship Officer, said companies and investors are increasingly partnering with top universities. "One of the transitions we have seen in the last 5-10 years [is that] more venture funds want to dedicate themselves to Berkeley and go deep into its ecosystem,” he said.
UC Berkeley ranks as top public university for startup founders, 2nd overall
The Daily Californian online
2021-11-21
PitchBook’s 2021 university rankings placed UC Berkeley as the top public university for startup founders and second among both private and public universities. “It is very exciting to be recognized,” said Berkeley Haas professor and UC Berkeley Chief Innovation and Entrepreneurship Officer Richard Lyons. “The other universities that are near the top of the list are as extraordinary as Berkeley.” Rhonda Shrader, executive director of the Berkeley Haas Entrepreneurship Program, described Berkeley’s startup culture as “scrappy”.
Taking changemaking beyond the classroom
UC Berkeley News online
2021-08-27
Established last year, the Changemaker Initiative at UC Berkeley has educated more than 2,500 incoming students with seven courses, including the initial Berkeley Changemaker course, a six-week class that helps new students identify their passions. Offered through Berkeley Haas and the College of Letters and Science, the class is part of the campus-wide initiative coordinated by Chief Innovation and Entrepreneurship Officer Prof. Rich Lyons, Former Dean of Haas and the William & Janet Cronk Chair in Innovative Leadership.
Understanding the Bitcoin Revolution and Why It's Likely to Change the World
Christian Broadcasting Network online
2021-04-30
Tesla made a splash in February by buying $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin. Prof. Rich Lyons, Chief Innovation and Entrepreneurship Officer at UC Berkeley, said the move shows the inevitable shift of cryptocurrency into the mainstream—and that Tesla aims to accept bitcoin as payment in the future.
Bitcoin prices top $50,000 for the first time
CBS News online
2021-02-16
The surge in bitcoin has continued, with the cost of a single unit of the digital currency topping $50,000 for the first time, up from $10,000 a year ago. While most expect a slow evolution toward widespread usage of cryptocurrency, Prof. Rich Lyons, UC Berkeley's Chief Innovation and Entrepreneurship Officer and the William & Janet Cronk Chair in Innovative Leadership at Haas, said it's inevitable. He predicts digital currencies will become transactional currencies over the next five years.
Tesla buys $1.5B in Bitcoin, will accept as payment soon
Associated Press online
2021-02-09
Tesla's massive buy-in to Bitcoin is just one sign of how the cryptocurrency is gaining traction as a method of payment. “I think the trend is inexorable,” said Prof. Rich Lyons, UC Berkeley's Chief Innovation and Entrepreneurship Officer and the William & Janet Cronk Chair in Innovative Leadership. Lyons said Bitcoin and other digital currencies "will become transactional currencies increasingly over the next five years. It’s not going to happen overnight."
Elon Musk Decries ‘M.B.A.-ization’ of America
The Wall Street Journal online
2020-12-09
Elon Musk says M.B.A.s. are polluting companies’ ability to think creatively and give customers what they really want. Prof. Rich Lyons, UC Berkeley Chief Innovation and Entrepreneurship Officer, calls Musk's premise into question. "Do firms with fewer MBAs on their boards and senior teams have shorter meetings? I’m skeptical," said Lyons, the William & Janet Cronk Chair in Innovative Leadership and former dean. "Might Musk’s rightful emphasis on product be more a function of the science-driven industry he’s in, as opposed to valid generalization?"
Corporate Responsibility and The Two Minds of Milton Friedman
ProMarket online
2020-11-16
Though people tend to quote the first half of Milton Friedman's statement that corporate executives' “responsibility is to conduct the business in accordance with [the owners’] desires, which generally will be to make as much money as possible…," they forget the second half of the quote: "...while conforming to the basic rules of the society, both those embodied in law and those embodied in ethical custom.” Former Haas Dean Rich Lyons, the William & Janet Cronk Chair in Innovative Leadership, and Ernesto Dal Bó, the Phillips Girgich Professor of Business, argue that this respect for "ethical custom" is a constraint on the unrestrained pursuit of profits, and leads to a useful definition of corporate social responsibility.
Nobel Laureate, Berkeley Economist Oliver Williamson Dies at 87
Bloomberg online
2020-05-23
Oscar Williamson, a founder of organizational economics and the Edgar F. Kaiser Professor Emeritus of Business at Berkeley Haas, passed away on May 21. He shared the Nobel Prize for Economic Sciences in 2009 and taught at UC Berkeley until 2004. "Williamson’s work permanently changed how economists view organizations," said Prof. Rich Lyons, the university's Chief Innovation and Entrepreneurship Officer and the William & Janet Cronk Chair in Innovative Leadership.
No, Tether isn’t pumping Bitcoin, new academic study claims
Decrypt online
2020-04-22
Prof. Rich Lyons, UC Berkeley's Chief Innovation and Entrepreneurship Officer and the William & Janet Cronk Chair in Innovative Leadership, is attempting to put one of crypto’s favorite conspiracy theories to rest in new research. The paper looks at the degree to which "aggregate stable coin issuance" drives the price of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, and finds no correlation.
The Berkeley Changemaker™
California online
2020-06-18
“Becoming a Berkeley Changemaker”: The Cal Alumni Association has partnered with UC Berkeley to introduce Cal alumni and student communities to the groundbreaking, interdisciplinary Berkeley Changemaker™ curriculum. Cal Alumni Association board member and Haas faculty member Diane Dwyer ’87 interviewed Rich Lyons, Chief Innovation and Entrepreneurship Officer at UC Berkeley, and current student Noah East ’22 to learn more about this exciting program.
A Month in Review – April 2020
Securities online
2020-04-30
As the world continues to make progress in the fight against COVID-19, the appeal of digital securities continues to grow. This is, in great part, due to a diminishment of VC activity being seen, resulting in an increased interest in alternative means of capital generation.
No, Tether isn’t pumping Bitcoin, new academic study claims
Decrypt online
2020-04-22
Prof. Rich Lyons, UC Berkeley's Chief Innovation and Entrepreneurship Officer and the William & Janet Cronk Chair in Innovative Leadership, is attempting to put one of crypto’s favorite conspiracy theories to rest in new research. The paper looks at the degree to which "aggregate stable coin issuance" drives the price of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, and finds no correlation.
5 Berkeley SkyDeck startups that might change the way we live
UC Berkeley News online
2020-02-10
“We need to make sure that we’re mapping, as higher educational institutions, all this intellectual creativity into as much societal benefit as we can,” Lyons, who is the former dean of the Haas School of Business, said last Tuesday. “Society needs you, as capable as you are, to live with agency, and we’re going to give you the tool kit to do that.”
American business schools are reinventing the MBA
The Economist online
2019-11-02
On a visit to New York in October Marc Benioff, boss of Salesforce, compared Facebook to cigarettes and backed a corporate tax hike to deal with homelessness in San Francisco. If badmouthing a fellow technology giant and cheering the taxman were not heterodox enough for a billionaire entrepreneur, Mr Benioff laid into American management education.
"Richard Lyons, UC Berkeley's first CIEO: "I plan to set up a series of benchmarks"
MBA & Educación Ejecutiva (Spanish) online
2019-09-30
Lyons, who is a professor of economics and finance, served for 11 years as dean of the Haas Berkeley School of Business. As of January 1, 2020, he will assume as Director of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIEO, for its acronym in English).
Chancellor’s Letter: The Year of Implementation
California online
2019-09-11
Chancellor Carol T. Christ said there is hard work to do this school year, but there are many things to celebrate, including Former Dean Rich Lyons' appointment as the campus’s first chief innovation and entrepreneurship officer. He's being tasked with building out UC Berkeley’s rich portfolio of innovation and entrepreneurship activities.
UC Berkeley appoints its first director of innovation and entrepreneurship
AmericaEconomia online
2019-07-18
Former Haas Dean Rich Lyons was appointed by UC Berkeley as its director of Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Lyons will work with campus partners to develop and communicate Berkeley's broad portfolio of innovation and entrepreneurship activities.
Selected Papers & Publications (7)
The Berkeley Haas School of Business: Codifying, Embedding, and Sustaining Culture
BerkeleyHaas Case Series
Richard K. Lyons and Jennifer Chatman
2017
Order Flow and Exchange Rate Dynamics
Journal of Political Economy
Richard K. Lyons with M. Evans
2002
A Good Investment for Excess Reserves
Financial Times
Richard K. Lyons with R. Portes
2000
Profits and Position Control: A Week of FX Dealing
Journal of International Money and Finance
Richard K. Lyons
1998
Is There Private Information in the FX Market? The Tokyo Experiment
Journal of Finance
Richard K. Lyons with T. Ito and M. Melvin
1998
A Simultaneous Trade Model of the Foreign Exchange Hot Potato
Journal of International Economics
Richard K. Lyons
1997
Teaching (3)
International Finance
Undergraduate & Executive MBA
Currency Markets
MBA programs
Financial Market Microstructure
Undergraduate Program
Social