Walter W. Powell
Walter W. (Woody) Powell is Jacks Family Professor of Education, and Professor of Sociology, Organizational Behavior, Management Science and Engineering, and Communication at Stanford University. He studies organizational behavior and his research interests focus on the processes through which ideas and practices are transferred across organizations, and the role of networks in facilitating or hindering innovation. His most recent books include The Emergence of Organizations and Markets, with John F. Padgett (Princeton University Press) and The Nonprofit Sector, co-edited with Patricia Bromley (Stanford University Press).
He was a founding co-director of the Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society (PACS) in 2006. At PACS, he heads the Civic Life of Cities Lab, which studies civil society organizations in the SF Bay Area, Seattle, Shenzhen, Sydney, Taipei, and Vienna. Powell was the 2018 -19 recipient of the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Graduate Teaching in the School of Humanities and Sciences. From 1999 – 2010, he was director of SCANCOR at Stanford, and he continues his involvement through supervising the postdoctoral fellows and running the annual PhD workshop in Europe.
He is a foreign member of the Swedish Royal Academy of Science and The British Academy.