Richard Locke

Richard Locke is the Class of 1922 Professor of Political Science and Management, Deputy Dean at the MIT Sloan School of Management, and Head of the Political Science Department at MIT.

Locke has been a consistent voice for integrating social and economic concerns into curriculum and research. His teaching case on Nike’s response to NGO pressures to address labor standards of Nike contractors was selected for teaching at MIT Sloan’s 50th Anniversary Convocation. His work also has had an impact on Nike’s business practices, helping the company to integrate reporting and auditing labor conditions with its quality improvement efforts.

Locke was named a 2005 Faculty Pioneer in Academic Leadership by the Aspen Institute. Along with MIT Sloan colleagues, he spearheaded the development of the Laboratory for Sustainable Business (S-Lab). This course seeks to provide students with in-depth knowledge of the various sustainability issues society faces today; a set of analytical tools and frameworks that will help them understand and analyze as well as impact these issues; and experience working with a firm or organization currently developing new business models—or reforming existing ones—in line with sustainable development. Locke also pioneered the popular Global Entrepreneurship Laboratory, a course that teaches students about entrepreneurship in developing countries by placing them in internships with startups in an array of companies in various emerging markets. As a result of this work, Locke was awarded the MIT Class of 1960 Teaching Innovation Award in 2007 and the Jamieson Prize for Excellence in Teaching in June 2008.

Locke is currently working on several projects related to globalization and labor standards. He began a term as Deputy Dean on July 1, 2009, and is the former faculty director of the MIT Sloan Fellows Program. His publications include Remaking the Italian Economy (Cornell University Press, 1995, 1997); with Thomas Kochan and Michael Piore, Employment Relations in a Changing World Economy (MIT Press, 1995); and with Paul Osterman, Thomas Kochan, and Michael Piore, Working in America (MIT Press, 2001). He also has published numerous articles in Politics & Society, the Industrial and Labor Relations Review, the European Journal of Industrial Relations, and Stato E Mercato.

Locke holds a BA from Wesleyan University, an MA in education from the University of Chicago, and a PhD in political science from MIT