Richard Lester is Professor and Head of the Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering and the founding Director of the Industrial Performance Center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His research focuses on industrial innovation and technology strategy, with an emphasis on the energy and manufacturing sectors. He is also active in research and teaching on the management and control of nuclear technology. Professor Lester has led several major studies of national and regional productivity, competitiveness and innovation performance commissioned by governments and industrial groups around the world. His book on the sources of creativity and innovation in advanced economies, Innovation—The Missing Dimension, co-authored with Michael J. Piore, was published by Harvard University Press in 2004. Other recent books include Making Technology Work: Applications in Energy and the Environment (Cambridge University Press, 2004), jointly authored with John M. Deutch, and The Productive Edge: A New Strategy for Economic Growth (W.W. Norton, 2000.)
