Michael T. Hannan

Michael Thomas Hannan (born July 14, 1943) is an American sociologist known for his seminal work in the field of organizational ecology. He is a professor of sociology at Stanford University and the StrataCom Professor of Management at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He was previously the Scarborough Professor of Social Sciences at Cornell University from 1986 to 1991.

Biography Hannan graduated from the College of the Holy Cross with a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in sociology in 1965. He pursued graduate studies in sociology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, earning a Master of Arts (M.A.) and Ph.D. in sociology in 1968 and 1970, respectively. His doctoral dissertation concerned levels of analysis and was republished in 1971 as "Aggregation and Disaggregation in Sociology".

Hannan started his academic career as assistant professor of sociology at Stanford University, where he got promoted to professor of sociology. In 1984 he moved to Cornell University, where he was appointed professor of social sciences. In 1991 he moved back to Stanford to become professor of management and professor of sociology, and since 2015 emeritus.

The scope of their organizational ecology theory ranged from birth of new organizations (organizational founding), organizational growth and organizational change, to the death of organizations (firm mortality). Organizations compete in their environment, where processes like natural selection rule.

The role of categories Since the early 2000s, Hannan has been researching how concepts and categories shape markets. His main contribution is introducing fuzzy concepts to the study of industry and population boundaries. With his co-authors, Gael Le Mens, Greta Hsu, Balázs Kovács, Giacomo Negro, László Pólos, Elizabeth Pontikes, and Amanda Sharkey, they published a book on this topic: Concepts and Categories: Foundations for Sociological and Cultural Analysis.

Selected publications Hannan, Michael T., and Glenn R. Carroll. Dynamics of organizational populations: Density, legitimation, and competition. Oxford University Press, 1992. Hannan, Michael T., and John H. Freeman. Organizational ecology. Harvard University Press, 1993. Hannan, Michael T., Gael Le Mens, Greta Hsu, Balázs Kovács, Giacomo Negro, László Pólos, Elizabeth Pontikes, and Amanda Sharkey Concepts and Categories: Foundations for Sociological and Cultural Analysis. Columbia University Press, 2019.

Articles, a selection Hannan, Michael T., and John H. Freeman. The population ecology of organizations. American journal of sociology 82.5 (1977): 929–964. Hannan, Michael T., and John H. Freeman. Structural inertia and organizational change. American sociological review (1984): 149–164.

Awards and honors

Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1991 Max Weber Award, American Sociological Association, 2002 Max Weber Award, American Sociological Association, 1991 Distinguished Scholar, Organization Theory and Management Division, Academy of Management, 1991 Best Paper Award in Mathematical Sociology, American Sociological Association, 2003 Theorodology Prize, Princeton Sociology Department, 2014