Professor David Gilbert

Director, Entrepreneurship

David is Professor and Director of Entrepreneurship at Monash Business School. He entered academia on the back of nearly 30 years in international business that saw him in Silicon Valley as a young fibre optics engineer with Sun Microsystems at the start of the tech boom, playing professional rugby in Japan, then holding positions at the highest levels including CEO, President and Partner in both corporate and private enterprises in various countries including Japan, USA, Singapore, Taiwan, Malaysia as well as Hong Kong. He has considerable experience in start-ups, having founded or invested in over a dozen businesses, the last two of which were sold to international investors.

David is a keen surfer and a great believer in the power of knowledge that can be translated into action that makes a difference. Education opened many doors for him over his career so following his first (failed) attempt at retirement he completed a 1st class Honours degree followed by a PhD in Innovation.

David has a different approach to educating the innovators and entrepreneurs of the future, one that is driven by a firm belief in the potential and capability of students underpinned by a strong bias to doing and not talking about doing. He co-founded the Fastrack Innovation Program in 2007 along with Peter Williams, CEO Deloitte Digital - a program that was ahead of its time in combining students from multi-disciplines with outstanding industry innovators to create and execute on innovative solutions that deliver meaningful impact on people’s lives.

Contact

Email: David.Gilbert@monash.edu
Phone:+61 (3) 9903 4298
Campus: Caulfield