Dr Regina Frank is Senior Lecturer in Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Leicester Castle Business School, De Montfort University (DMU), where she enjoys fostering critical thinking and entrepreneurial mindsets and skills of students of all levels (from UG to PG and Exec Ed), all the while encouraging activism in relation to global sustainability matters and UN SDGs.
Regina has a distinctively international educational and professional background, having lived and worked in Portugal, Brazil, Switzerland, France and the UK. Her multicultural work experience encompasses both academic and commercial worlds, in a variety of contexts.
Prior to joining DMU, Regina worked for over a decade at triple-accredited business and management schools, such as Loughborough University (Loughborough, London, and Singapore) and ESCP-EAP European School of Management (now ESCP Europe) in London and Oxford, as well as in industry and HEIs abroad.
In academia, Regina has always particularly enjoyed interdisciplinary work. Today, her primary research interests include social innovation and entrepreneurship for poverty alleviation, for and with marginalised communities, and in emerging markets; and education for sustainable development. Current projects range from critical perspectives on entrepreneurship (research) to art and entrepreneurship for social inclusion.
In the past, her dual exposure to corporate finance and strategic management led to her interdisciplinary PhD research on ‘Synergy valuation in bank mergers’. Subsequently, her work focused on high growth venture creation in the context of commercialisation of university science and research, and cross-disciplinary entrepreneurship education, for which she was awarded EU and US funding as Principal Investigator, while collaborating with a number of US American and Portuguese universities.
Regina’s interest in applied research originates from her experience outside academia: Prior to returning to academia full-time, Regina worked in corporate finance and strategic advisory. At Dresdner Kleinwort Benson, UBS and Investcorp, her projects ranged from financial modelling of MBOs, valuations of cross-border acquisitions, to the management of a multi-billion dollar project in Brazil. Regina further consulted on business start-ups and family firms, and participated in the UK launch of Citigroup focusing on new models of financial education.
Outside work, music has been a long-lived passion and source of inspiration in Regina’s life. Looking ahead – in entrepreneurial spirit – she plans to exploit synergies between music and management theory and practice.
Additional roles at DMU:
- University Advisor of Enactus DMU
- Employability Lead (for Enterprise Subject Group)
- Member of 'Education for Sustainable Development Forum' ('ESD Forum').
My source of energy: http://lpc.org.uk/
Summary: Researcher, educator and business adviser experienced in international and interdisciplinary settings. Fluent in German, Portuguese, English and French.