When Tim Michaelis, assistant professor in the Department of Management, was a child, he enjoyed being a free-thinking individual.
“I was a very independent and active child. I had a job since I was 10 years old and would try to sell anything I could get my hands on to the neighborhood kids,” he says. “I regularly did most of my own shopping, cooking, and would actually clean and organize my room for fun. I was definitely an odd child compared to most.”
Michaelis notes that, looking back, it makes sense he ended up researching entrepreneurs.
“I had no issues in questioning adults as a child. I would ask questions constantly, to the point of being told to be quiet,” he adds with a laugh. “Still to this day, I am always questioning the status quo and asking why things are a certain way. I think researchers and entrepreneurs are naturally prone to figuring things out for themselves and are relentless in their pursuit of knowledge and trying to improve the world.”
Timothy Michaelis
When he graduated high school, Michaelis enrolled in North Carolina State University where he earned a degree in political science and, eventually, his master’s degree in innovation management. Next, he went on to earn an MBA with an emphasis in innovation from
IAE-Graduate School of Management in France, and when he returned, he decided to launch his own business, Data Decision Models, in the states.
“I needed some income while I was launching my business, so I decided to do a Ph.D. in applied social psychology at NC State,” Michaelis says. “I never thought I would be a professor. In my last year of the Ph.D. program, I realized how much I enjoyed research, so I decided to make it my career.”
Michaelis jokes that he was in college for a long time and if he had to do it all again, he would have focused more heavily on STEM-related courses in computer science and statistics.
“I’ve learned that those classes that are really challenging, where you have to put in real effort to learn and understand a topic, are by far the most rewarding experiences now looking back at my time in school,” he says. “I spent a lot of time and effort understanding applied statistics, and it is likely the most rewarding skill I took with me into my career.”
Michaelis and his wife Allison are dual-career academics, now both assistant professors at NIU. Before applying for jobs, the pair developed a list of all schools they wanted to be at that would have both entrepreneurship and atmospheric science positions. Michaelis explained that once they both visited campus, they knew NIU would be a great fit.
“We both had NIU on a list of possible universities, and I saw an opening in the business school,” he says. “After looking at the amazing research records and talking with the faculty in the management department, I was sold. I’ve loved every minute of being at NIU — I tell everyone it’s a hidden gem.”
At NIU, Michaelis continues his research into what makes an entrepreneur innovative and unsettled in the status quo. In the Department of Management, his research program covers multiple papers and book chapters on how and why entrepreneurs are resourceful.
“Specifically, I study frugality in entrepreneurship and how entrepreneurs make decisions when it comes to their resources,” he says. “I tend to take a psychological perspective and conduct a lot of experiments and longitudinal designs to figure out how entrepreneurs think and act.”
In addition to his focus on resourcefulness, he has had the opportunity to work with several amazing researchers on other topics such as hybrid entrepreneurs (those who hold a job while starting their business), crime and fraud in entrepreneurship, the health and well-being of entrepreneurs, and how social media influences new ventures. Michaelis appreciates working with his co-authors around the world who allow him to learn more and share research insights with his students in the classes he teaches at NIU.
“NIU students are some of the most practically minded and receptive students that I have had the pleasure to learn from and interact with,” he says. “Most people think entrepreneurs start companies like Facebook, Airbnb and YouTube, when, in reality, 90% of newly founded businesses are either family businesses or nontechnical. I like to push students to blend these two paths and see if it is possible to digitally transform an existing business without having to raise a lot of upfront capital.”
Michaelis also notes that he enjoys collaborating with nice people who are all interested in helping make the world a better place — a purpose he shares with many of his colleagues.
“NIU is one of the most diverse campuses in the nation, especially within the business school. Coming to NIU will give students access to new ways of thinking and allow them to interact with people who are different from themselves,” he says. “Working with others and seeing problems through the eyes of others is a critical skill in entrepreneurship, and NIU is a great place to facilitate an entrepreneurial mindset.”
