Rate My Professor David Johnson

Dr David Johnson is an Associate Professor in Entrepreneurship at Durham University Business School. He holds a PhD in Management (Entrepreneurship) and an MSc by Research (Entrepreneurship) from the University of Edinburgh Business School, an MBA from the Adam Smith Business School at the University of Glasgow, an MSc from the University of Edinburgh, and a BSc from the University of Leeds. He also possesses a Postgraduate Certificate in Learning, Teaching, and Assessment Practice and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Prior to Durham, Johnson was an Assistant Professor in Entrepreneurship at the Adam Smith Business School, University of Glasgow, and Academic Lead to the College of Medical, Veterinary, and Life Sciences. Earlier, he worked over a decade in the pharmaceutical sector in sales and business development for global companies and as Commercial Director for a start-up biopharmaceutical strategy consultancy and health data analytics firm.

Johnson's research focuses on academic entrepreneurship and technology transfer, business models in high-technology sectors, life science commercialisation, linguistic approaches to entrepreneurship, science-based business, and university-centred entrepreneurial ecosystems. His publications appear in leading journals including Academy of Management Perspectives, Technovation, R&D Management, International Small Business Journal, Industrial and Corporate Change, and Journal of Technology Transfer. Notable works include “Please, hurry up! Leveraging narratives to speed up the mobilization of resources for entrepreneurial ventures” (2025, Academy of Management Perspectives), “From laboratory to clinic: science commercialization within university-centered entrepreneurial ecosystems” (2023, R&D Management), “Entrepreneurial dynamism and the built environment in the evolution of university entrepreneurial ecosystems” (2019, Industrial and Corporate Change), and “Coping with uncertainty: entrepreneurial sensemaking in regenerative medicine venturing” (2017, Journal of Technology Transfer). He has secured over £500,000 in research funding, including £390,824 for science commercialisation studies and £38,934 for a cardiology device project. Johnson serves as Associate Chair for the Smart & Scale initiative, a £9 million programme aiding SME innovation in North-East England, and is a Fellow of the Wolfson Research Institute for Health and Wellbeing. He was Full-Time MBA Director and Co-Director of the Durham Enterprise Centre, holds visiting fellowships at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, and is Director and Trustee of the Research and Development Management Association. He has served on the Editorial Review Board of Academy of Management Perspectives and held board roles at Borders College and the Veterinary Management Group.