Julian Lange

 Dr. Julian E. Lange is the Governor Craig R. Benson Emeritus Professor of Entrepreneurship and Public Policy. For 40 years, Dr. Lange taught thousands of students and had a hand in developing the growing entrepreneurship program at Babson not only through teaching but also through service on critical committees, including several terms on the Appointments Committee and the Curriculum Committee. He received numerous awards during his career, among them the coveted Appel Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Dr. Lange graduated Phi Beta Kappa, Magna Cum Laude from Princeton University and earned an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and an A.M. and Ph.D. in Economics from Harvard University.

He began his teaching career as an economics professor at Harvard College, then served as Assistant Professor of Finance at Harvard Business School before leaving that position to become a pioneer in the emerging software industry.  
As President and CEO of Software Arts, Inc., creator of the first electronic spreadsheet VisiCalc®, he was a trailblazer who not only helped establish the model for future spreadsheets but also put the computer, which had been reserved mainly for government, universities, and corporations, into the hands of millions of private citizens in their homes.

Through his foundational work in the nascent computer industry and as an accomplished entrepreneur, Dr. Lange became a founding trustee of the Massachusetts Software Council and an advisor to business and government for over 40 years. He was founder and principal of Chatham Associates, a management consulting firm that assisted businesses in building competitive advantage. He advised start-up, mid-sized, and Fortune 500 companies, and developed and implemented training programs for companies in computer hardware and software, financial services, and health care industries.

When Babson colleague Craig R. Benson was elected Governor of New Hampshire, he appointed Dr. Lange as his Advisor on Entrepreneurship and Chair of the Governor’s Task Force on Entrepreneurship. In these positions, Dr. Lange created programs to grow the New Hampshire economy by bolstering entrepreneurial activity.

Dr. Lange served as the first Dean’s Visiting Professor of Entrepreneurship at Princeton University’s School for Engineering and Applied Science. He taught in numerous executive education programs and the Price-Babson Symposium, a course which taught entrepreneurship faculty from all over the world innovative methodologies for teaching entrepreneurship.

He was Leader of the GEM U.S. Team and co-author of the GEM U.S. 2017 and 2018/2019 Reports. As the largest data collection of entrepreneurial activity in the world, GEM enjoyed its 20th U.S. Anniversary while he was Leader.  To highlight this milestone, he organized a gala celebration at Babson bringing back GEM co-founder, Professor Bill Bygrave, and other dignitaries.

He served as Chair of the USASBE Public Policy SIG and as a guest editor and he published articles in leading journals. His research focused on high growth entrepreneurship, venture capital, angel investing, public policy, and the challenges and opportunities for entrepreneurial firms presented by the Internet.

Dr. Lange is co-author of the book The Construction Industry: Balance Wheel of the Economy. He is author of “Entrepreneurs and the Internet” in The Portable MBA in Entrepreneurship and co-author of the prize-winning paper “Pricing High Growth Firms: Arbitrage Opportunities in the Inc. 100.”

He has been featured on NPR, in TV interviews, and in the American and international press, including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Money, and USA Today.