Board Member Spotlight: Andrew Corbett

For Andrew Corbett, Paul T. Babson Distinguished Chair at Babson College, USASBE has been part of his professional journey for nearly two decades. What began as a place to develop his research and connect with other young scholars has grown into an opportunity to give back to the community that supported him early in his career.

Andrew first became involved with USASBE after his doctoral advisor encouraged him to attend. At the time, USASBE was known as a welcoming place for young scholars to share early research, receive feedback, and improve their work. Andrew submitted his research, was accepted, and has stayed involved ever since.

After serving as Treasurer, Andrew now serves as Vice Chair of the USASBE Board of Directors. With higher education and entrepreneurship programs facing new challenges, he felt it was the right time to give back. He enjoys working with USASBE leadership and fellow Board members to think about how the organization can continue supporting entrepreneurship educators, researchers, and scholars as the field changes.

One area Andrew is especially passionate about is the connection between entrepreneurship and the American Dream. He sees entrepreneurship as a way for people to create opportunities, improve their quality of life, and define success for themselves. His current research explores that connection and how entrepreneurship can continue to create opportunities for people from all backgrounds.

Andrew is also proud of his research on the entrepreneurial mindset. Working with colleagues at Babson, he studied how an entrepreneurial mindset develops in students and, more importantly, how educators can help teach it. Their work looked at the role experiences, challenges, and emotions can play in building resilience and helping students develop the skills to think more entrepreneurially.

For Andrew, one of the best parts of USASBE has always been the people. He describes it as a place to meet colleagues, coauthors, and even “co-conspirators” who help one another become better educators and researchers. His advice for conference attendees is to take advantage of the Learning Journeys and keynote sessions, while also making time to connect with the people around them.

One of his favorite USASBE memories happened outside the conference itself. While attending the 2025 conference in Utah, Andrew went skiing before the conference and became stranded after more than three feet of snow closed the mountain road. With transportation unable to get through, he and his group ended up skiing about four miles down the mountain road to get back. It quickly became a memorable story to share with everyone at the conference that night.

Outside of work, Andrew runs, golfs, spins, plays pickleball, still plays ice hockey, and enjoys learning about wine from around the world. If he could start a business just for fun, he would take inspiration from a small winery he visited in Chile and open a winery near the beach.

At the heart of Andrew’s work is a belief that entrepreneurship can be a powerful force for good. Whether through education, research, or his work with USASBE, he hopes to help more people see entrepreneurship as a way to create opportunities and build the future they want for themselves.