Walton, Abram
Abram Walton
Professor | Nathan M. Bisk College of Business
Executive Director of Center for Innovation Management and Business Analytics
Contact Information
(321) 674-7494
Bisk College of Business; Center for Innovation Management & Business Analytics (Rooms 250 / 255)
Personal Overview
Dr. Abram Walton was recently named as one of 4 under 40 by Lead Brevard, was a winner of the 2019 "Under 40" business professionals for Space Coast Daily, and is a Professor of Management, specializing in Technology and Innovation at Florida Tech. He is a U.S. Delegate for ISO 56000 - Innovation Management System standards and has been actively researching in the fields of Innovation Management, Business Analytics, and Product Lifecycle Management for the past decade. He currently serves as the founding Director of Florida Tech's Center for Innovation Management & Business Analytics (CIMBA) and was the founding Director for Florida Tech's Center for Lifecycle & Innovation Management (CLIM), which together with the Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Innovative Design (CAMID), brought millions of dollars to Florida Tech for Lifecycle management work. He was also previously the Director for the Center for Ethics and Leadership. He has authored over 100 publications and conference proceedings, and his textbooks on Leadership and Management have sold over 15,000 copies. His corporate innovation efforts and grantsmanship has yielded over $27mm in funded research and gifts to universities. His research efforts focus on impacting technology-sensitive industries by creating sustainable, lean business models through the deployment of innovative continuous improvement methodologies. He takes a unique systems-thinking approach to innovation and technology, lean, healthcare, and product lifecycle management, which has cultivated multi-disciplinary collaborations, generating research and scholarship on innovative organizational strategies and best practices for engineering and innovation initiatives.
He received his Bachelors of Science in Management Information Systems at Northwest Nazarene University (2001), and his Masters of Science (2006) and Ph.D. (2009) in Technology, Leadership, and Innovation at Purdue University. He was awarded Purdue’s top Graduate Student Excellence award in 2009 for his combined efforts in research, teaching, engagement, and grantsmanship. Dr. Walton joined Florida Tech in 2012 and was the leader in helping Florida Tech obtain access to the cutting edge PTC Creo and Windchill Technologies through his Center for Lifecycle and Innovation Management.
He is the Deputy Editor-in-Chief for the International Journal of Innovation Science, an academic journal cited by most major indexing organizations and available at thousands of libraries throughout the world. He also serves on the Executive Board of Directors for the International Association of Innovation Professionals, and is the Founding Chairman of the Space Coast Economic Development Commission's Innovation Council. He was an invited Fellow for the National Knowledge and Intellectual Property Management Task Force, and achieved certification for Research Commercialization from the National Council of Entrepreneurial Tech Transfer Dr. Walton has developed a number of academic programs related to new product development and innovation and helped launch Florida Tech's academic programs related to Entrepreneurship and Innovation.
Before his academic life, he was a Fire Fighter and EMT, and he later held leadership positions as a Manager of Wal-Mart Stores. In addition to his academic pursuits, he is the Principal of a boutique technology commercialization consulting firm, serves as a Senior Consultant to several DOD firms, and enjoys dabbling in real estate investments. He also serves as a consultant for an Intellectual Property and Patent Management Organization (PMO). He frequently consults for Fortune 500 firms, such as GE, Harris, Bristol Myers Squib, and Delta (formerly Northwest Airlines) on a variety of topics, including leadership, lean process improvement, six sigma, innovation strategies, technology commercialization, product lifecycle management, and new product development. He has successfully helped launch several new technology ventures and works with companies on early-stage technology commercialization efforts, new product development, and leadership development.