Dr. Michael Crooke is a CEO and professor of business strategy. After becoming CEO of outdoor apparel compony Pearl Izumi in 1998, he was recruited by Patagonia Inc. founder Yvon Chouinard to become President and CEO of Patagonia and Patagonia's parent company, Lost Arrow Corporation, where he served from 1999-2005. He was later CEO of VC firm Revolution Living, a group of companies working to change the way consumers and brands interact. He was an early investor and member of the executive board of Kevita, which was named one of the top 25 most innovative consumer and retail brands by Forbes Magazine.
As a professor of business strategy, Crooke teaches capstone Leadership and Advanced Strategy courses to graduate students at the Lundquist College of Business at University of Oregon. Previously he was the founding and lead faculty of the Socially, Environmentally and Ethically Responsible (SEER) business certificate program at Pepperdine University which was selected as a winner of the 2013 Dr. Alfred N. and Lynn Manos Page Prize for Sustainability Issues in Business Curricula, granted by the Darla Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina.
Crooke has been recognized by Trust Across America as one of Top 100 Thought Leaders in Trustworthy Business Behavior (2012-13). In April of 2012 the Ford Foundation named Dr. Crooke one of the “10 Innovators Changing Our World,” and profiled him as one of ten cutting-edge innovators who are shaping new sustainable businesses and influencing positive change around the world.
Crooke holds a Ph.D. in management from Claremont Graduate University. His dissertation examined the role of values and “FLOW” in high performance organizations. Crooke holds a B.S. in Forestry and an MBA from Humboldt State University. In the late 1970’s, Crooke served as a Navy SEAL with Underwater Demolition Team 12 (UDT12) for four years, after successfully graduating from class 89: BUD/S (Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL).
Dr. Crooke is the keynote speaker for CMC's tenth annual Green Careers Conference, sponsored by the Roberts Environmental Center. Dr. Crooke's Athenaeum visit is co-sponsored by the Kravis Leadership Institute.
