Chairholder

Isabelle Le Breton-Miller

Isabelle Le Breton-Miller is Professor of management and Chair in Succession and Family Enterprise at HEC Montréal. She obtained her Ph.D. in management from Imperial College London and a M.Sc. from HEC Montréal.  Before commencing her academic career, she held senior managerial positions in human resource management in a variety of organizations.

Professor Le Breton’s research, teaching and publications focus on the strategies, organizational challenges, governance structures, and succession processes of family enterprises. Over the past fifteen years, she has published over 70 contributions — academic and practitioner articles, a book, pedagogical cases, and various research reports. Her research has appeared in top tier journals such as Strategic Management Journal, Organization Science, Journal of Management Studies, Journal of Management, Journal of Business Venturing, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, California Management Review, and Family Business Review. Her book with Danny Miller, Managing for the Long Run: Lessons in Competitive Advantage from Great Family Businesses (Harvard Business School Press) has been translated into six languages; the French version titled Réussir dans la durée : Leçons sur l’avantage concurrentiel des grandes entreprises familiales. The book was designated by the Family Business Review in 2012 and by the Academy of Management Learning and Education in 2015 as one of the three major classics published in the family business field over the last 25 years. In 2017, the Family Firm Institute (FFI) awarded her the Barbara Hollander Award for her career contribution to research and teaching in family business and the following year, she was named FFI Fellow for her expertise and ongoing commitment to the field. In 2021, she received the FERC Lifetime Influence & Impact Award at the 16th Family Enterprise Research Conference (FERC).

Professor Le Breton-Miller is a member of numerous editorial boards, including those of Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, Journal of Family Business Strategy and Family Business Review. She also served as an Associate Editor at the Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal for 7 years (2013-2020). In 2022, she was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada after serving as a member of the Society’s College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists from 2016 to 2022.