Aaron J. Shenhar is a renowned expert in project management, innovation, strategy, and leadership. He is the Chairman and Founder of the Diamond Leadership Institute and CEO of The SPL Group.
Shenhar holds five academic degrees in engineering and management, including three from Stanford University and two from the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology.
Before his academic career, he spent almost 20 years in the defense industry, managing projects, innovation, R&D, and high-tech businesses. He rose through various roles from project manager to executive positions, including Corporate Vice President of Human Resources and President of the Electronic Systems Division at Rafael, Advanced Defense Systems.
In his academic career, spanning over 20 years, Shenhar served as a tenured professor at several universities, where he established new programs in Project and Technology Management. These institutions include Stevens Institute of Technology, Rutgers University, University of Minnesota, and Tel Aviv University. At Stevens Institute, he founded the Project Management Program, pioneering curricula that integrate technical and managerial disciplines.
Shenhar is recognized for developing the methods of Strategic Project Leadership® and the Diamond of Innovation, which focus on aligning projects and innovations with business results and adapting management processes to specific project goals and contexts. His research primarily focuses on project and program management, technology and innovation management, and leadership in technology-based organizations.
He is the lead author of the best-selling book, Reinventing Project Management: The Diamond Approach to Successful Growth and Innovation (2007), co-authored with Dov Dvir. This book was selected among the top five best business books of the year and was the first project management book published by Harvard Press. He has authored or co-authored six books and over 150 publications, which have appeared in leading journals such as Strategic Management Journal, Management Science, Sloan Management Review, Research Policy, and IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management. His work has significantly influenced project and technology leadership research and education globally.
Shenhar has received numerous awards, including the 2019 IPMA Global Research Award, the 2019 Walt Lipke Award for Project Governance Excellence, the 2019 Antura Lifetime Achievement Award, the 2016 PMI Fellow of the Institute Award, the 2015 PMI Research (lifetime) Achievement Award, the 2012 IPMA Research Award, and the 2009 PMI Research Achievement Award (as the first recipient). He was also named "Engineering Manager of the Year" by the Engineering Management Society of IEEE and is a Fellow of NASA Science Council of Project Management Research.
He has served as a consultant to major corporations such as 3M, Honeywell, AT&T, Trane, Dow Jones & Co., US Army, NASA, NSA, Lockheed Martin, Merck, Intel, Amdocs, Tata, and the Aerospace Industry.
Reinventing Project Management: The Diamond Approach to Successful Growth and Innovation