Christoph Winkler, Ph.D.

Christoph Winkler is the endowed professor and founding program director of the Hynes Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation at Iona University, where he leads an interdisciplinary entrepreneurship program dedicated to creativity, innovation, and personal growth. His work centers on building experiential learning environments that foster the development of an entrepreneurial mindset across the disciplines and beyond academic boundaries.

A respected leader in entrepreneurship education, Dr. Winkler has been pushing boundaries and re-envisioning traditional academic practices in higher education. He presently serves as the executive editor of the journal Entrepreneurship Education and Pedagogy (EE&P) of the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship® (USASBE), playing a pivotal role in advancing the field of entrepreneurship education.

To recognize his distinguished educational leadership in the field of entrepreneurship and his contributions to advancing how educators think about and approach entrepreneurship teaching and learning, USASBE named Dr. Winkler the 2026 Entrepreneurship Educator of the Year. In addition, he was named a Justin G. Longenecker Fellow in 2025—USASBE’s highest honor for individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to the development, furtherance, and benefit of small and medium businesses. He was also launched as a Faculty Innovation Fellow at Stanford University’s d.school in 2024, deepening his commitment to designing impactful learning and innovation spaces through community-engaged programs.

His research and thought leadership have been featured in leading outlets such as Harvard Business Review, Journal of Small Business Management, Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Entrepreneurship Research Journal, and Entrepreneurship Education and Pedagogy. He is also the co-editor of The Rowman & Littlefield Handbook on Workplace Diversity and Stratification.

Dr. Winkler received his Ph.D. in educational psychology from the Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York (CUNY), and currently holds a joint faculty appointment at Iona University's School of Arts & Science (Psychology) and the LaPenta School of Business (Management). Before joining Iona University, he served on the entrepreneurship faculty at Long Island University (LIU) and Baruch College's Zicklin School of Business. During his time at CUNY, he also served as the associate director of the CUNY Institute for Virtual Enterprise and director for Technology, Innovation and Research at the CUNY Center for Student Entrepreneurship.