MIT Sloan Remembers Professor James Utterback

Dear MIT Sloan Faculty and Staff,

I write with deep sadness to share that James (“Jim”) Utterback, longtime faculty member of MIT Sloan and a pioneering scholar of technological innovation, has passed away at the age of 83. My thoughts are with his wife, Peggy, their children, Camille and Matthew, and their extended family and friends.

Jim’s intellectual arc reflected both depth and breadth. A first-generation member of what would become MIT Sloan’s Technological Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Strategic Management (TIES) group, Jim received his PhD from MIT in 1968 and went on to become one of the field’s most influential thinkers. His landmark work with his co-author Bill Abernathy on “dominant designs” and the co-evolution of industries and technologies remains foundational for generations of scholars and practitioners. His 1994 book, Mastering the Dynamics of Innovation, captured decades of careful study of the ways technology, industry structure, and organizational change shape one another.

Over his nearly five decades as a faculty member at MIT, Jim served with distinction across the Institute. He joined the faculty of the School of Engineering in 1979 as part of the MIT Center for Policy Alternatives, before eventually leading the MIT Industrial Liaison Program from 1983-1989. In 1996, Jim joined the MIT Sloan TIES faculty group, where he served as a core member for nearly 30 years. His teaching and mentorship spanned every level of the classroom—from undergraduates to executives —and he was particularly proud of his work with the Management of Technology and System Design and Management Programs. His careful, patient style of inquiry made a lasting impression on students and colleagues alike. He had a special gift for grounding theoretical insight in historical understanding, a quality exemplified in many ways but not least by his legendary classroom use of a rediscovered early-1900s MIT film on ice harvesting, which he preserved and shared with generations of students.

Jim collaborated widely and generously. He worked with Fernando Suárez, Clay Christensen, and many others, pushing the boundaries of how we understand technological and industrial evolution. He mentored doctoral students and junior faculty with kindness and rigor, helping shape a community of scholars who continue to build on his ideas.  His MIT Sloan office was a legendary testament to his scholarship and passions, featuring among other things his original antique typewriters.

Beyond his academic achievements, Jim was a devoted colleague and friend. Together with Peggy, his partner in life for more than six decades, he built a warm family life while remaining deeply engaged with the MIT community.

Jim will be remembered at MIT Sloan as a scholar of enduring influence, a teacher of patience and wisdom, and a colleague whose generosity and warmth enriched our school. His legacy is visible in the scholarship of innovation, in the careers of his students, and in the culture of collaboration and inquiry that he helped to nurture. On a personal note, I was lucky to know and benefit from Jim’s wisdom early in my career at MIT Sloan and I will miss his wise counsel.

With both sadness and appreciation for all that Jim brought to MIT Sloan and the Institute,

Richard M. Locke | John C Head III Dean
MIT Sloan School of Management

Watch a classic lecture from Professor Utterback