Paul J. H. Schoemaker

Paul J. H. Schoemaker, Ph.D. (born 1949) is an academic, author, and an expert in the fields of strategic management and decision making.
He is listed among the most highly cited scholars globally (top 1%) as measured by academic publications in leading journals of business and economics.
Schoemaker is the founder and executive chairman of a consulting and training firm specializing in strategic management, Decision Strategies International and also the chairman of two family companies (Public Salt Inc in Ohio and Vaessen-Schoemaker BV in the Netherlands). He also serves on the advisory board of the Decision Education Foundation, a philanthropic organization aimed at improving the decision making and judgment skills of adolescents, in associations with high schools around United States.
He currently lives in on the East Coast of USA with his wife, Joyce; they have two children.
Early life and education.
He was born and raised in the Netherlands, and he started his studies in physics and mathematics at the University of Groningen, Netherlands. He graduated magna cum laude from the University of Notre Dame with a B.S. in physics in 1972. Later, he received an M.B.A. in Finance, an M.A. in Management and a Ph.D. in Decision Sciences, all three degrees from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Professional life.
In 1975, he started his professional life as a Lecturer of Management at the Wharton School and later in 1977 served there as an assistant Professor of Management. For over twelve years "(starting 1979)", he served as a full-time professor in the Graduate School of Business at the University of Chicago, specializing in strategy and decision sciences.
In the 1980s he took an extended sabbatical with the strategic planning group of Royal Dutch Shell in London, where he helped pioneer scenario planning.
Prof. Schoemaker has served as Research Director of the Mack Institute for Innovation Management at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he remains as a senior fellow.
He is also the founder and Executive Chairman of Decision Strategies International, a consulting and training firm specializing in strategic management, executive development and multi-media software.
Paul Schoemaker is also an active private investor in new technology-based ventures and served on the Board of Directors of the Decision Education Foundation, a philanthropic organization aimed at improving the decision making and judgment skills of adolescents, in associations with high schools around United States.
Personal life.
He lives with his wife Joyce in Villanova, Pennsylvania and Delray Beach, Florida; they have two children. His hobbies include tennis, golf and piano.
His brother Hubert Schoemaker was a co-founder and the president of the biotech company Centocor.
Publications.
Schoemaker’s articles have appeared in the Harvard Business Review, The Journal of Economic Literature and the Journal of Mathematical Psychology, as well as numerous other journals. A selection of articles and books can be found below: