Woodrow M. Strickler Chair
College of Business
Nat Irvin, II is the Strickler executive in residence and professor of management at the College of Business.His groundbreaking demographic research has created new paradigms for the future of African Americans in business and has made traditional stereotypes of black consumers obsolete.
Among the profiles of emerging archetypes he has identified are “thrivals,” a new breed of forward-thinking, globally tuned African Americans who bring a “no-limits” approach to doing business. Advertisers and other media use Irvin’s findings to identify new demographic groups and target them with customized messages and opportunities.
At the College of Business, Irvin teaches change management, leadership and future studies.
In 1996, he founded Future Focus 2020, a non-profit think tank dedicated to examining the impact of upcoming, permanent changes in business, social and economic cultures.
The organization continues to bring futurist thinking to urban America and minority communities.
Irvin will chair the July 2008 Annual Meeting of the World Future Society, an international, non-partisan scientific and educational association mapping how social and technological developments are shaping the future.He also is a frequent guest commentator on news and issues programming, including National Public Radio broadcasts.
Prior to joining the College of Business in 2007, he was assistant dean for MBA student development and executive professor of future studies at the Babcock Graduate School of Management at Wake Forest University.
He holds a doctorate in musical arts from North Texas State University and a master of media arts and bachelor’s degree in philosophy from the University of South Carolina. He also is a graduate of the Institute for Educational Management at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education.