Dan Breznitz

Dan Breznitz is a University Professor and Munk Chair of Innovation Studies at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy with a cross-appointment in the Department of Political Science of the University of Toronto, where he is also the Co-Director of the Innovation Policy Lab and a Senior Fellow of Massey College. In addition, he is a Fellow of CIFAR where he Co-Directs the program on Innovation, Equity and the Future of Prosperity. Professor Breznitz is known worldwide as an expert on rapid-innovation-based industries and their globalization, as well as for his pioneering research on the distributional impact of innovation policies. He has been a member of several boards, and has served as an advisor on science, technology, and innovation policies to multinational corporations, governments, and international organizations. He served as the Clifford Clarke Economist of the Canadian Department of Finance during 2021-22, where he was responsible for new economic thinking on the restructuring of the Canadian economy, including the creation of new agencies such as the Canadian Innovation Corporation. Before moving to U of T, Breznitz spent eight years as a professor in Georgia Institute of Technology and was the cofounder and CEO of a software company in Israel. He is the author of numerous papers, chapters and edited volumes as well as award winning books including Innovation and the State: Political Choice and Strategies for Growth in Israel, Taiwan, and Ireland, (winner of the Don Price best book on Science, Technology and Politics) and The Run of the Red Queen: Government, Innovation, Globalization, and Economic Growth in China (winner of the Susan Strange Best Book in International Affairs). His recently published book, Innovation in Real Places: Strategies for Prosperity in an Unforgiving World, that offers pragmatic advice while debunking dangerous myth on innovation, growth and prosperity, was chosen by the Financial Times as one of the best books of 2021, and won the inaugural Balsillie prize for Public Policy given by the Writers’ Trust of Canada, as well as the Donner Prize for the Best Book on Public Policy.