Eric Liguori, PhD

Dr. Eric Liguori is a Jim Moran Professor and Associate Dean of the Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship at Florida State University. He currently serves as Editor-In-Chief of the Journal of Small Business Management and Cogent Business and Management. Liguori's work has been featured in media outlets including USA Today, U.S. News and World Report, and Forbes, and cited in policy documents put out by OECD, the European Union, Asian Development Bank, and the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth, to name just a few.

Liguori’s expertise in entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship education is sought after by leading Fortune 100 companies and governments alike. Liguori worked with Hewlett-Packard to help launch HP’s Learning Initiative for Entrepreneurs, which to date has provided over 5.5 million courses in eight languages, to more than 2.8 million learners, spanning over 200 countries around the globe. In 2023 he served as a subject matter expert for Amazon.com, helping develop the curriculum behind Amazon’s Small Business Academy. At a global level, Liguori has worked with leading organizations and agencies including the United Nations, the International Labour Organization, the U.S. Department of State, the Korea Entrepreneurship Foundation, and the Saudi Ministry of Education. In 2023 he was called “a true trailblazer in entrepreneurship education” by the U.S. Consul General to Dubai.

Liguori is a Past President of the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE), the largest academic organization dedicated to advancing entrepreneurship education through bold teaching, scholarship, and practice. In 2021 he was inducted as a Justin G. Longenecker Fellow, USASBE's highest honor, for his “outstanding contribution to the development, furtherance and benefit of small and medium businesses.” And, in 2023, he was named USASBE's Entrepreneurship Educator of the Year, making him one of only a select few to ever receive two of USASBE's Lifetime Achievement Awards. He is also Immediate Past Chair of AACSB’s Entrepreneurship & Innovation Affinity Group and Executive Editor Emeritus of Entrepreneurship Education and Pedagogy.

He is an active angel investor, primarily in CPG and e-commerce companies, with three such companies currently in his portfolio. From 2017-2024 he served on the Investment Screening Committee of RIVF, a $25M private equity fund. He’s a Cohort 14 graduate of Venture Capital University, a joint initiative of UC Berkeley, the National Venture Capital Association, and Venture Forward.

Liguori holds a Ph.D. in Entrepreneurship from Louisiana State University, an MBA from the University of South Florida, and a B.S. in Human Resource Management from Florida State University. 

Liguori Entrepreneurship Analysis & Development (LEAD) Lab

Selected Research

Dr. Liguori has co-authored more than 90 journal articles, 7 books, 27 book chapters, and over 120 conference presentations and proceedings. Select publications include:

Pidduck, R.J., Santos, S.C., Liguori, E.W., Tucker, R., and Newman, A. “Sociocultural Outsidership in Entrepreneurship: Rethinking the Double-Edged Role of Marginalization.” International Small Business Journal, 2026, 44(2), 103-117.

Altman, E., Balzano, M., Giannozzi, A., Liguori, E.W., and Srhoj, S. “Bouncing Back to the Surface: Identifying Key Factors Determining SME Recovery.” Journal of Small Business Management, 2025, 63(4), 1856-1883. *equal contribution; authors listed alphabetically.

Wilson, G.A., Case, T., Dobni, C.B., and Liguori, E.W. “The limitations of open innovation: An examination of innovation orientation, open innovation and performance in North America.” Management Decision, 2025, 63(8), 2941-2957.

McLarty, B.D., Vardaman, J., Liguori, E.W., Marler, L., and DeMassis, A. “Family business research: The next generation.” Journal of Small Business Management, in press.

Donaldson, C., Villagrasa, J., Alegre, J., and Liguori, E.W. “Back to the future: Entrepreneurial leadership and leveling up in the mobile-gaming sector.” Technology in Society, 2024, 79(December), 102748.

• Featured research insight article on EIX.org: https://eiexchange.com/content/the-founders-pivot-playbook-navigating-growth-constraints-and-sh

Santos, S.C., Liguori, E.W., and Garvey, E. “How digitalization reinvented entrepreneurial resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic.” Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 2023, 189(April), 122398.

Solomon, S.J., Bendickson, J., Liguori, E.W., and Marvel, M. “The effects of social policy on entrepreneurship in developed nations.” Small Business Economics, 2022, 58, 1596-1607.

• Featured research insight article on EIX.org: https://eiexchange.com/content/does-social-spending-discourage-entrepreneurship 

Webb, J., Holmes, R.M., Pryor, C., and Liguori, E.W. “Top executive goal orientations' effects on environmental scanning and performance: Differences between founders and non-founders.” Journal of Management, 2019, 45(5), 1958-1986.

Liguori, E.W., Bendickson, J.S., Solomon, S., and McDowell, W. “Development of a multi-dimensional measure for assessing entrepreneurial ecosystems.” Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, 2019, 31(1-2), 7-21.

A full listing of Dr. Liguori’s publications are available at https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=aks_aQUAAAAJ&hl=en.  

Select Honors and Awards

• AACSB Innovations that Inspire Award (2024)
• United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship Educator of the Year (2023)
• New Jersey Bright Idea Award for Research Impact (2023)
• ROI-NJ Higher Education Influencer Honoree (2022)
• International Council for Small Business Global Excellence Award for ‘Revolutionizing Entrepreneurship Education’ (2022)
• AACSB Innovations that Inspire Award (2022)
• Best Paper in Women Entrepreneurship, 66th ICSB World Congress (2022)
• Named a Justin G. Longenecker Fellow of the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (2021)
• AACSB Innovations that Inspire Award (2019)
• New Jersey Technology Council Innovator to Watch (2018)
• USASBE “Ray Smilor Volunteer of the Year Award” (2017)
• USASBE Distinguished Service Award (2017)