Thomas Murdock

Clinical Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship
Operations Management and Strategy

  • Faculty Director, Engineering Management

Education

MBA, University of Notre Dame
BS, Miami University

Vita

Background

Murdock brings extensive experience in business incubation and economic development to his role in the School of Management. As general manager of the Western New York Incubator Network, he assisted hundreds of startups in identifying resources, raising $50M-plus in outside capital and creating more than 500 local jobs. Before returning to Buffalo and shifting his career to focus on economic development, Murdock was an international management trainee and marketing manager at United Technologies Corporation in Chicago and management consultant at Deloitte Consulting in New York City.

Beyond the classroom, he is active in WNY’s incubator, entrepreneurial, and economic and workforce development communities.  He has authored and led economic development grants totaling more than $3.5M at UB  focused on developing new entrepreneurs in the local economy.  

Murdock also serves as an instructor in the National Science Foundation’s I-Corps program through UB’s partnership with the Interior Northeast I-Corps Hub at Cornell University.

Teaching

  • MGO 330: Introduction to Entrepreneurship
  • MGO 230: Creativity and Leadership Development for Entrepreneurs
  • MGO 463/663: Entrepreneurship Lab
  • MGT 648: Social Impact Fellows
  • MGT 211/611: Experience the 50
  • MGG 199: First Year Seminar

Awards

Murdock leads the efforts which have resulted in UB Entrepreneurship earning national recognition:

  • Ranked among the top undergraduate programs nationally beginning in 2021 (Princeton Review and Entrepreneur.com) 
  • Top university nationally for engaging students with startup companies (VentureWell and Deshpande Foundation) – 2023
  • Top university nationally for entrepreneurship curriculum innovation (VentureWell and Deshpande Foundation) - 2024
  • 2024 USASBE Top Three Model Emerging Entrepreneurship Programs
  • Personal Award: Innovative Educator of the Year (InfoTech WNY, 2024)

Conference Presentations

  • 2024 USASBE: Introducing Empathy Interviews – Birmingham, AL
  • 2024 VentureWell: Engaging Students in Off-Campus Ecosystems – San Diego, CA
  • 2024 BIANYS: Introducing the UB and Buffalo Ecosystems – Buffalo, NY
  • 2025 USASBE: Tools for Entrepreneurial Concepts – Las Vegas, NV
  • 2025 iNBIA: Engaging Students – Philadelphia, PA

Board/Leadership Roles

  • Beverly Gray Business Exchange
  • Business Incubator Association of New York State
  • Buffalo Green Fund
  • Amherst Academies
  • The Awesome Foundation
  • The Saturn Club Historic Preservation Foundation
  • Buffalo Startup Weekend
  • Viaduct
  • WNY Student 2 Biz

Certifications

  • Business Analytics Certificate – University of Notre Dame
  • Certified Incubator Management Professional – National Business Incubator Association

Grants

Murdock has served as Principal Investigator and co-Principal Investigator for $3.5M+ in grants at the local, state and federal levels, including:

  • Western New York Innovation Hot Spot
  • REIMAGINE Workforce Center
  • Small Business Administration Accelerator Fund
  • University at Buffalo Innovation Hub
  • Erie County Industrial Development Agency Business Development Grant