George Serafeim is the Charles M. Williams Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. He co-leads a Lab, within Harvard's Digital, Data, Design Institute, that focuses on organizational transformation through major shifts, including those brought about by climate-related concerns, and how to maintain competitive performance while seizing new growth opportunities. He teaches in the Executive Education General Management Program on Financial Statement Analysis, Management Controls, and Corporate Governance, and in the MBA program the courses “Risks, Opportunities, and Investments in an Era of Climate Change” (ROICC) in the Elective Curriculum, and "Purpose of the Firm" in the Required Curriculum. In addition, Professor Serafeim teaches in Harvard Business School’s custom executive education programs for senior executives. He sits on the faculty steering commitee of Harvard University's Salata Institute.
Previously, he taught the course “Reimagining Capitalism” in the Elective Curriculum, which received the Ideas Worth Teaching Award from the Aspen Institute and the Grand Page Prize, the course "Financial Reporting and Control" in the Required Curriculum, and created the Impact-Weighted Accounts Project that produced methodologies, large datasets, and dozens of projects globally on impact accounting and valuation. He has presented his research in over 60 countries around the world and ranks among the most popular authors on the Social Science Research Network. His book "Purpose and Profit: How Business Can Lift Up the World" explores the challenges and opportunities in building and sustaining high performance purpose-driven organizations that have a measurable positive impact on society.
Professor Serafeim’s widely cited research spans the fields of accounting, finance, management, and strategy, and has been published in prestigious academic and practitioner journals. His research currently focuses on organizational and business model transformation in the context of technological, regulatory, and market developments due to climate change. Over the years his research has focused on measuring, analyzing, driving, and communicating corporate performance. He has received multiple recognitions, including the Greenhill Award for outstanding contributions to the HBS community, the Pericles Leadership Award in recognition of services to the Hellenic Republic, the Kim B. Clark Fellowship on Responsible Leadership from University of Oxford, the Dr. Richard A. Crowell Memorial Prize, the JIBS Decade Award, and twice the Graham and Dodd Scroll Award.
Professor Serafeim has held several positions of leadership that allow him to bring, alongside research insights, a wealth of relevant experience to the classroom. He serves on the board of directors of Liberty Mutual, a Fortune 100 company, on the board of the International Foundation for Valuing Impacts (IFVI), and on the advisory boards of leading investment firms, Summa Equity, Apax, and Neuberger Berman. He is an academic partner at State Street Associates, leading research on physical and technological climate-related risks and opportunities. He has been an investor and advisor to several start-ups over the years.
Previously, he co-founded an advisory services firm, served on the board of directors of a leading operations consulting firm, and on the board of directors of a publicly listed investment company. He has played an active role in shaping corporate governance standards as a member of the steering committee of the Athens Exchange Group, overseeing both stock and bond exchanges, and as Chairman of Greece’s Corporate Governance Council, issuing a new corporate governance code to enhance governance practices, investor protection, and business performance. He has contributed in advancing corporate governance globally, having served on the inaugural Standards Council of SASB, which created standards for investor relevant information adopted by thousands of leading companies around the world, and on the Taskforce Working Group on Impact Transparency, Integrity and Reporting established by the UK's Presidency of the G7. He served on a panel, established by the state of New York, to advise one of the largest pension funds on a strategic framework to identify, assess and manage investment risks and opportunities from the energy transition.
Professor Serafeim earned his doctorate in business administration at Harvard Business School, where his doctoral dissertation was recognized with the Wyss Award for excellence in research. He received a master's degree in accounting and finance from the London School of Economics and Political Science, where he was awarded the Emeritus Professors’ Prize for best academic performance. He grew up in Athens, Greece.
