Dick holds the titles of Clinical Professor in The Mays Business School and Executive Director of The CNVE both at Texas A&M University. CNVE operates as a hub of entrepreneurial activities at Texas A&M through creation and management of such programs as 3 Day Startup, Startup Aggieland, Ideas Challenge, MBA Venture Challenge, the Aggie 100, Aggies in Business, Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities, amongst many others.
He received his Ph.D. degree in Strategic Management from the Mays Business School at Texas A&M University, an EMBA from the University of Houston and a B.S. from Wright State University. His research has appeared in the Academy of Management Review, Academy of Management Journal, Strategic Management Journal, Journal of Corporate Finance, and Entrepreneurship Theory and Practiceamongst others.
Prior to his academic career Dick spent 20+ years in organizations that range from a Fortune 250 conglomerate to a midsized privately held corporation. The majority of his corporate experience has been in the oil and gas industry based out of Houston, Texas. His last corporate position was Vice President General Manager for a privately held firm based in Houston. Dick teaches graduate and undergraduate classes in entrepreneurship and corporate strategy and also teaches in the Mays Business Schools’ Center for Executive Development and Professional MBA programs.
From Seed Sumo:“No question Dr. Lester brings an enormous amount of value to our startups from his 20+ years of personal experience, but more importantly he brings a polished academia perspective which provides our startups a deep amount of current research in todays entrepreneurial age.”