Michael Robinson

Dr. Michael John Robinson

Positions

Professor Emeritus

Haskayne School of Business, Entrepreneurship and Innovation [ENTI]

Co-Academic Director, Directors Education Program

Haskayne School of Business

Academic Director, Private Equity Governance Program

Haskayne School of Business

Contact information

Email

michael.robinson@haskayne.ucalgary.ca

Phone number

Office: +1 (403) 220-8476

Location

Office: SH468

Background

Credentials

Certified Corporate Director (ICD.D), Institute of Corporate Directors, 2007

Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), CFA Institute, 1994

Educational Background

Doctor of Philosophy Comm, Manag & Bus Admin, University of Western Ontario, 1989

M.B.A. Comm, Manag & Bus Admin, University of Western Ontario, 1984

Bach of Math Mathematics, University of Waterloo, 1979

Biography

Dr. Robinson is a Professor Emeritus of Entrepreneurship and Innovation in the Haskayne School of Business, an organization he first joined in 1990. He has a B. Math degree (Majoring in Computer Science) from the University of Waterloo, and an MBA and Ph.D. in Finance from the University of Western Ontario. He also is a holder of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation granted by the CFA Institute in Charlottesville, Virginia, and the certified corporate director designation (ICD.D) from the Institute of Corporate Directors in Toronto, Ontario.

During his career, Dr. Robinson taught investments, portfolio management, new venture finance, and corporate governance to undergraduate, MBA, Executive MBA, and executive education students. He founded the Calgary Portfolio Management Trust (CPMT) program, a hands-on student investment fund, at the Haskayne School of Business in 1993. For the past twenty years he has served as an Academic Director of the Haskayne Directors’ Education Program (DEP), a joint initiative of the Haskayne School of Business, the Rotman School of Management, and the Institute of Corporate Directors. He was the first site lead for the Creative Destruction Lab Rockies program and served as the program faculty member until his retirement in 2024. In 2021, he developed and delivered Canada's first Executive Education program in Private Equity Governance. He was awarded the Haskayne Dean’s Award for Teaching Excellence for the 2005/2006 academic year and the Dean’s Award for Outstanding Service Leadership in 2017.

Dr. Robinson has non-academic work experience as a computer programmer and systems analyst, and as a Venture Capitalist while on a three-year leave from the University of Calgary. In this later position he was the lead investor for several multi-million dollar investments in high technology firms in Western Canada. Dr. Robinson has served as a member of the Board of Directors for a number of private and public Canadian corporations and other organizations.  His most notable board role was as the Chair of the Investment Operations Committee which provided oversight of Alberta Investment Management, a then department of Alberta Finance, which managed over $50 billion of assets on behalf of the Government of Alberta and selected public sector pension plans. He has also served on the Board of the Calgary CFA Society, the Board of Governors of the Glenbow Museum, the Board of Governors of the Certified General Accountants of Alberta, on the APEX Supplementary Pension Board, and on the Investment Advisory Committee of the City of Calgary. He currently serves as a member of the Independent Review Committee for an Alberta-based mutual fund.

Dr. Robinson has published several books and academic research papers that study Canadian capital markets, market efficiency, and methods of raising equity capital for developing firms. His most recent interests include corporate governance practices in Canada, the role of a firm’s board of directors in growth oriented firms, and the role of the private and junior public equity markets in financing developing firms in Canada. He recently authored a practitioner-oriented book that provides guidance to corporate founders with respect to governance and corporate development issues. He has created the following website to serve as a resource for founders and their supporters: https://found-ed.ca/. 

A list of his publications is as follows:

Publications

  • The Importance of Governance in Private Equity Financing. Raising Finance: From Traditional to New Forms of Entrepreneurial Finance, Edited by Doug Cumming, Hafiz Hoque, Eilnaz Pour, World Scientific. Forthcoming Book Chapter. (2024)
  • Founder's Guide to Governance: Beyond a Good Idea. Michael J. Robinson. FriesenPress Canada, Altona, Manitoba. 228. (2023)
  • Private Equity Governance. Michael J. Robinson. The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Private Equity, Edited by Douglas Cumming and Benjamin Hammer, Springer. 1-5. (2023)
  • Digital Entrepreneurship and Capital Acquisition in the Global Economy. Michael J. Robinson with Mohammad Keyhani, Andishe Ashjari, and Alfred Lehar. Digital Entrepreneurship and the Global Economy, Edited by J. Mark Munoz, Routledge. 91-101. (2023)
  • Factors Impacting Entrepreneurial Success in Accelerators: Revealed Preferences of Sophisticated Mentors. Michael J. Robinson. Review of Corporate Finance, Vol. 2, No. 3. 617-661. (2022)
  • Can Spending Time in the Minors Pay Off? An Examination of the Canadian Junior Public Equity Markets. Michael J. Robinson with Michele Meoli, J. Ari Pandes, and Silvio Vismara. Journal of Small Business Management, Vol. 56, S1. 88-107. (2018)
  • The Role of Agents in Private Entrepreneurial Finance. Michael J. Robinson with Douglas J. Cumming and J. Ari Pandes. Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice, Vol. 39, No. 2. 345-374. (2015)
  • Is Effective Junior Equity Market Regulation Possible?. Michael J. Robinson with J. Ari Pandes. Financial Analysts Journal, Vol. 70, No. 4. 42-54. (2014)
  • The IPO Market in Canada: What a Comparison with the United States Tells Us About a Global Problem. Michael J. Robinson with Bryce C. Tingle and J. Ari Pandes. Canadian Business Law Journal, Vol. 54, No. 3. 321-367. (2013)
  • Signaling Sustainability Leadership: Empirical Evidence of the Value of DJSI Membership. Michael J. Robinson with Anne Kleffner and Stephanie Bertels. Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 101, No. 3. 493-505. (2011)
  • Investment Patterns of Informal Investors in the Alberta Private Equity Market. Michael J. Robinson with Thomas Cottrell. Journal of Small Business Management, Vol. 45, No. 1. 47-67. (2007)
  • Uncertainty Resolution under Extreme Information Asymmetry: The Case of Alberta’s Private Equity Markets. Michael J. Robinson with Thomas Cottrell. International Business & Economics Research Journal, Vol. 4, No. 1, January 2005. 23-36. (2005)
  • Intraday Volatility and Trading Volume after Takeover Announcements. Michael J. Robinson with Brian F. Smith, Robert White, and Richard Nason. Journal of Banking & Finance, Vol. 21. 337-368. (1997)
  • The Day-of-the-Week Anomaly: The Toronto Stock Exchange Experience. Michael J. Robinson with George Athanassakos. Journal of Business, Finance & Accounting, Vol. 21, No. 6. 833-856. (1994)
  • An Overview of the Canadian Block Trading Market. Michael J. Robinson with Robert White. Canadian Investment Review, Summer. 7-11. (1994)
  • Equity Index Funds - Have They Finally Arrived in Canada?. Michael J. Robinson with James E. Hatch. Business Quarterly, Autumn. 51-60. (1985)
  • Summarybook CFA Level . Michael J. Robinson with Andre Dorsman. Reed Business Information bv The Hague, Netherlands. (2004)
  • Canadian Capital Market. Michael J. Robinson and Brian F. Smith. TSE/Western Business School. (1993)
  • Investment Management in Canada, Second Edition. Michael J. Robinson with James E. Hatch. Prentice-Hall Canada Inc., Scarborough, Ontario. (1989)
  • Investment Management in Canada, Second Edition Instructor's Manual. Michael J. Robinson with James E. Hatch. Prentice-Hall Canada Inc., Scarborough, Ontario. (1989)

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