In Memoriam: Former Professor Alejandro S. Amezcua

Alejandro S. Amezcua G’05 (MAX), ’10 Ph.D. (MAX)

Alejandro S. Amezcua G’05 (MAX), ’10 Ph.D. (MAX) worked at the Whitman School from 2010 to 2020. He joined as a post-doctoral researcher and later served as an assistant professor of entrepreneurship until he left to join the IÉSEG School of Management in France. His work on the effectiveness of incubators to support new venture development, published in Academy of Management Journal in 2013, is perhaps still the leading study in that area. He received the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) award for best dissertation in the field of entrepreneurship in 2011, among other accolades and accomplishments.  

Amezcua received a bachelor of arts in anthropology and comparative studies in race and ethnicity from Stanford University and before joining Whitman he completed an M.P.A. in public administration and Ph.D. at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. Earlier in his career, Amezcua researched entrepreneurship policy at the Max Planck Institute and worked for the National Council of Nonprofit Associations as associate director for communications and outreach, where he improved public understanding of the nonprofit sector and forged stronger alliances with government, corporations and foundations. He also worked for the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, where he supported grant-making that addressed race relations and the management capacity of the nonprofit sector. He was a former Jane Addams Fellow in Philanthropy, where he studied nonprofit management and fundraising at Indiana University’s Center on Philanthropy. 

His expert opinion has been included on NPR, in Bloomberg Businessweek and The New York Times. Amezcua passed away in Paris on July 25, 2024