Advisor
Tim Zak is an Associate Teaching Professor and the Director of Carnegie Mellon University's Institute for Social Innovation. From January 2007 through May 2010, he was the Executive Director of Heinz College's programs in Australia. He began teaching at CMU in 2002 as an Adjunct Professor of Operations Management and Manufacturing at the Tepper School of Business where he also taught in various executive education programs. In 2005, he also became an adjunct faculty member at the Heinz College where he focused on courses related to social enterprise and innovation.
Tim has spent nearly 25 years leading global organizations and advising executives in the public, private, and not-for-profit sectors. Prior to heading up Heinz College-Australia, he was the founding CEO of the Social Innovation Accelerator, a private operating foundation that provided seed capital and direct support for a select portfolio of earned-income and social innovation ventures.
Prior to launching the Accelerator, Tim was a consultant in the Business Technology Office of McKinsey and Company and a leader in the firm’s e-Operations practice. While at McKinsey, he served global clients in a variety of industries, including Media and Entertainment, Health Care, and High-Tech, and focused primarily on the development of new, technology-based ventures.
Tim has extensive experience in start-up companies with senior management stints at both a business-to-business e-commerce company and a technology research and consulting firm. He was also a Manager in Arthur D. Little’s Information Technology Practice and a Manufacturing Engineering Manager at IBM where he specialized in start-up production processes and the development of factory IT systems.
Tim earned a Bachelor of Science degree with honors in Computer Science and Industrial Management from Carnegie-Mellon University and a Master of Science degree in Engineering Science with concentrations in Manufacturing Systems and Reliability from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He also earned an M.B.A. with distinction from New York University in Finance, Marketing, and International Business.
