Team Biographies
Abbie Griffin
- Named a Crawford Fellow in 2003—the highest individual award in NPD
- Groundbreaking researcher in improving the process of new product development
- Chair of marketing at the University of Utah’s Business School
Abbie Griffin is one of the most creative and original thinkers in new product development (NPD) and has produced groundbreaking work in many areas of NPD. She is the fourth person and first woman to be named a Crawford Fellow by the Product Management and Development Association (PDMA.) This is the highest individual award in New Product Development.
Griffin holds the Royal L. Garff Presidential Chair at the David Eccles School of Business at the University of Utah, where she teaches business-to-business marketing. In addition, Griffin is a member of the Board of Directors of Navistar International, a $13 billion manufacturing company.
She was editor of the Journal of Product Innovation Management, the leading academic journal in NPD, from 1998 to 2003. Griffin also was the author and lead researcher for PDMA’s first study of product development: “Drivers of NPD Success: The 1997 PDMA Report.” In addition, Griffin has written and published many papers based on research for measuring and improving the process of new product development.She holds several degrees in NPD and related fields. Abbie holds a Ph.D. in management of technology and marketing from the MIT Sloan School of Management. She also earned an MBA from Harvard University, and a B.S. in chemical engineering from Purdue University. Professor Griffin also worked for Polaroid Corporation and Corning Glass Works and has consulted for Booz, Allen, and Hamilton.
