2026 Best 40-Under-40 Business Professors: Todd Gerarden, Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, Cornell University

Todd Gerarden
Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management
Cornell University SC Johnson College of Business

“Professor Todd Gerarden is an influential and rapidly rising scholar in the field of energy and environmental economics, with a research portfolio that is both academically rigorous and deeply relevant to global policy and business challenges. His work focuses on renewable energy, environmental regulation of the energy sector, energy efficiency, and energy technology innovation — areas of critical importance as governments and firms navigate the clean‑energy transition. He is the author of ten peer‑reviewed journal articles in many of the most prestigious outlets in economics and management.

“In his Environmental Economics course, Professor Gerarden blends foundational economic theory with advanced empirical techniques in a way that is rare in business school teaching. Students engage deeply with classic works — such as Coase and Samuelson — alongside modern theoretical contributions like Phaneuf & Requate, giving them a comprehensive understanding of the rationales for environmental policy. He then guides students through contemporary empirical research, including state of the art applications of instrumental variable strategies to identify causal effects. This integration of theory, empirical tools, and policy relevance provides students with a uniquely rigorous and practical learning experience.” – Andrew Karolyi, Dean

Todd Gerarden, 39, is the Ruth and William Morgan Assistant Professor at the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, part of the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business. He is also a Faculty Fellow at Cornell’s Atkinson Center for Sustainability and was a 2024-2025 Faculty Fellow at the Cornell Center for Social Sciences. 

His research studies how firms, consumers, and governments together shape the energy transition: how innovation happens, how clean-energy markets develop, and where well-intentioned interventions succeed or fall short. His work has appeared in leading academic journals, including the American Economic Review: Insights, Management Science, and the American Economic Journal: Economic Policy. He has presented his research findings to practitioners at the USITC, IMF, OECD, WTO, World Bank, and his work has been covered in Fast Company and Wired. 

At Cornell, Gerarden developed the class R Programming for Business Analytics and Data Visualization for professional master’s students. He has received the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business Dean’s Distinguished Award for Early Career Impact (2024), the Cornell Dyson Outstanding Early Career Achievement Award (2023), and the Cornell CALS Early Career Faculty Teaching Award (2022).  

BACKGROUND 

At current institution since what year? 2018 

Education: PhD, Harvard University, BS, University of Virginia 

List of MBA/graduate business courses you currently teach: R Programming for Business Analytics and Data Visualization 

TELL US ABOUT LIFE AS A BUSINESS SCHOOL PROFESSOR 

I knew I wanted to be a business school professor when… I got a job offer from Cornell! 

What are you currently researching and what is the most significant discovery you’ve made from it? Recently, I’ve been studying the impacts of U.S. import tariffs on Chinese solar panels. My coauthors and I use production and sales data from the solar industry to understand how the tariffs affected firms, consumers, government revenue, and the environment. The most surprising thing we learned is that while tariffs were harmful to the U.S., a domestic manufacturing subsidy could improve both U.S. and global economic outcomes, because of the environmental benefits of more solar deployment. 

If I weren’t a business school professor… I would be a professor in an economics department. 

What do you think makes you stand out as a professor? My passion for the content I teach! Programming and quantitative analysis are daunting for some students but can also open up exciting new opportunities. I try to help students tackle steep learning curves by sharing my enthusiasm, connecting with students of different backgrounds, and tailoring course content to meet the students where they are. 

Here’s what I wish someone would’ve told me about being a business school professor: How much work it is to prep a new course and teach it the first time. Developing my R Programming class was easily the most intense semester of my time at Cornell, with lots of late nights spent creating and perfecting course content, but I now look back on the experience fondly! 

Professor I most admire and why: Mary Beck, who taught me calculus at the University of Virginia. She opened my eyes to the beauty and utility of calculus and showed me what it looks like to support students both academically and personally. I try to bring some of that to my own classroom and office hours to this day. 

What do you enjoy most about teaching business students? Watching them build skills they can use in their studies and careers. I love hearing back from former students telling me how my courses changed the way they work with data or helped them land internships and jobs. One wrote me a few years after graduating to say, “Your class and your passion for what you teach have led me to one of the coolest jobs I can imagine.” (!) 

What is most challenging? Right now, I’m finding it challenging and exciting to explore how to incorporate generative AI into my courses and our academic programs more generally. 

When it comes to grading, I think students would describe me as… 🫣 I have been called “tough but fair” by some former students, but I strive to be “transparent.” Over the past few years, I have worked to develop detailed rubrics for assignments, using electronic grading tools to give clear feedback, and provide students with multiple avenues for clarification on their grades. 

LIFE OUTSIDE OF THE CLASSROOM 

What are your hobbies? Skiing, biking, hiking, and traveling with my family. 

How will you spend your summer? Doing research! 

Favorite place(s) to vacation: Virginia Beach, Virginia and Phrae, Thailand, to visit family in both places. 

Favorite book(s): Anything by Bill Bryson or Michael Lewis, because they make the most mundane subjects fascinating and fun. 

What is currently your favorite movie and/or show and what is it about the film or program that you enjoy so much? I don’t watch movies often, and I almost never rewatch them, but if I had to go back and watch one movie today, it would be Her, because of its timely plot and timeless poignancy. 

What is your favorite type of music or artist(s) and why? I don’t have one. I listen to a mix of rock, indie folk, hip-hop, jazz, R&B, and electronic, depending on my mood and activity. This week I’ve been listening to Dijon, James Blake, and Dave. 

THOUGHTS AND REFLECTIONS 

If I had my way, the business school of the future would have much more of this… flipped classrooms that give students hands-on experience using modern tools to apply the insights of business disciplines to real-world business problems. 

In my opinion, companies and organizations today need to do a better job at… thinking carefully about how to use the data they already have. Many organizations still make decisions on instinct or precedent. Teaching students to work with data rigorously and to communicate what they do and don’t tell us is one of the most valuable things I can do at Cornell.  

I’m grateful for… my family, for all the opportunities and support they have given me over the past 39 years! 

DON’T MISS: THE ENTIRE 2026 ROSTER OF THE WORLD’S BEST 40-UNDER-40 GRADUATE BUSINESS PROFESSORS 

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