Catherine J. Turco

Catherine J. Turco is the Fred Kayne (1960) Career Development Professor of Entrepreneurship and an Associate Professor of Economic Sociology and Work and Organization Studies at the MIT Sloan School of Management.

Turco is an ethnographer and economic sociologist who studies cultural dynamics in organizations, occupations, and markets, with particular focus on the role of meaning in people's lives and work.

Turco is the author of The Conversational Firm: Rethinking Bureaucracy in the Age of Social Media (New York: Columbia University Press). Her research has also appeared in the American Journal of Sociology and the American Sociological Review, and has been recognized with awards from the American Sociological Association. It has been covered by The Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe, CNN, and Fortune.

Prior to entering academia, Turco worked as a technology investment banker and then in the software industry, where she managed a corporate venture fund. She has consulted to a number of organizations on issues of corporate strategy and culture.

Turco received her BA in economics from Harvard College, where in addition to her studies, she was president of Harvard Student Agencies/Let’s Go Inc., a 1,000-person company. She received her MBA from Harvard Business School, where she was a Baker Scholar. She received her MA and PhD in sociology from Harvard University, where she was a Presidential Scholar.