Thomas Duening is director of the Entrepreneurial Programs Office in the Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering at Arizona State University. He obtained his undergraduate degree in natural sciences from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and an M.A. in the philosophy of science and a Ph.D. in higher education administration from the University of Minnesota. While completing his doctorate, Duening was a principal with Robert S. Banks Associates, Inc., an international consulting firm serving the electric utility industry. He also has founded several companies, including U.S. Learning Systems, HighTechCampus.com and the Applied Management Sciences Institute. He currently is president and CEO of the international consulting firm INSYTE Business Research Group. His clients include John Wiley & Sons, McGraw-Hill, Prentice Hall, eBay, PayPal and Atomic Dog Publishing.

Before joining Arizona State University in September 2004, Duening successfully launched the Entrepreneur & Venture Development Center at the University of Houston. Prior to that, he served for nine years as the assistant dean for Administration and International & Executive Programs at the C.T. Bauer College of Business at the University of Houston main campus.

Duening is the author of numerous journal articles and eleven books on business, management, entrepreneurship and outsourcing. His most recent book, published in March 2005, is titled The Essentials of Business Process Outsourcing.