Research Profile: Franz W. Kellermanns

Franz W. Kellermanns, the Addison H. & Gertrude C. Reese Endowed Chair in International Business and Professor of Management in the Belk College of Business at UNC Charlotte.

Franz W. Kellermanns is one of the world’s leaders in family business research. As the Addison H. & Gertrude C. Reese Endowed Chair in International Business and Professor of Management in the Belk College of Business at UNC Charlotte, he holds a joint appointment with the Center for Family Business at the WHU–Otto Beisheim School of Management in Germany.

Kellermanns’ research interests include international business, strategy process and entrepreneurship. In December 2024, he ranked first in the nation and fourth worldwide for family business research in an annual assessment by Texas State University. He was ranked second worldwide in family firm research and first in the United States by Small Business Economics Journal in 2024.

Kellermanns joined the Belk College in 2013 and has built an impressive research portfolio with over 29,000 citations. His most influential publication has been cited more than 1,500 times. He is an editor of “Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice” and former associate editor of “Family Business Review.”

Having won multiple best paper awards, Kellermanns has published more than 145 papers, including in the world’s top-tier journals, such as “Organization Science,” “Journal of Management,” “Journal of Management Studies,” “Journal of Organizational Behavior,” “Journal of Business Venturing,” “Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice,” “Family Business Review” and the “Academy of Management Learning and Education.”

He serves on the editorial boards of “Journal of Business Venturing,” “Journal of Management,” “Journal of Management Studies,” “Group and Organization Management,” “Family Business Review,” “Journal of Family Business Strategy” and “Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal.” His most recent co-edited books are “Innovating Strategy Process” and the “Family Business Companion.”

Kellermanns was instrumental in the establishment of Charlotte’s Doctorate in Business Administration program and serves as its academic director. He received a Ph.D. from the University of Connecticut and an MBA from Indiana University of Pennsylvania.