Joe DiNunzio
Executive Director, Mike and Renee Child Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Assistant Adjunct Professor
Master of Business Administration (MBA), Stanford Graduate School of Business, 1988
Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), Psychology, Harvard University, 1984
Research Expertise
Innovation, Entrepreneurship, Leadership, Management Consulting, Entertainment & Media, Technology
Areas of Expertise
Operations Management, Management & Organizations, Technology Management
Joe DiNunzio serves as an assistant adjunct professor at the UC Davis Graduate School of Management, where he teaches MBA and undergraduate students and authors case studies in innovation and entrepreneurship. DiNunzio also serves as the executive director of the UC Davis Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, where he works with researchers and corporate leaders to support commercialization of more than $1 billion in research work conducted annually by the university.
DiNunzio founded and serves as president of Fido Management, a partnership that provides strategic counsel to both corporate and early-stage clients in business, product, and market development, as well as helping them build and run high-performance teams.
DiNunzio’s prior entrepreneurial experience includes founding CFO of Project Archer, an augmented reality studio under Walmart’s innovation division; founding CFO and board member for Harebrained Schemes, an independent game developer acquired by Paradox Interactive AB (publ); chairman and founding CEO of 42 Entertainment, a digital advertising and alternative reality game agency; and founding CEO of Z.com, a venture-backed digital media studio and network.
DiNunzio’s prior corporate roles include SVP of new product development at Walt Disney Imagineering, where he led global development of theme park and digital media initiatives; principal at management consultancy Booz Allen Hamilton, where he sold and led client engagements in marketing, operations and organization; and brand management at Procter & Gamble.
DiNunzio has an A.B. in psychology from Harvard and an MBA from Stanford. In 2023, he was honored with the UC Davis Faculty Stewardship Award. He also serves as an elected governing board member for the Davis Joint Unified School District.
