Dr. W. G. "Will" Zhao

W. G. "Will" Zhao is an Associate Professor with Tenure in the Stratford School of Interaction Design and Business within the Faculty of Arts at the University of Waterloo. An interdisciplinary scholar whose work advances Human-Centered Innovation Research (HCIR), Professor Zhao is also cross-appointed to the Department of Management Science and Engineering and the Department of Systems Design Engineering in the Faculty of Engineering for graduate supervision and collaborative research.

He holds visiting and external faculty roles at the University of Toronto Mississauga, the Ivey Business School at Western University, and the University of Bath School of Management, and has held an external research affiliation with Nottingham University Business School, all of which enrich the perspectives on innovation research he brings to his academic home at Waterloo. A dual national of Canada and France who has called both Montréal and Lyon home, Professor Zhao completed his PhD at the French Grande École Emlyon Business School and pursued postdoctoral research at Stanford University as an SCANCOR scholar. His teaching and research have been recognized through multiple faculty and university-level distinctions.

HCIR forms the foundation of Professor Zhao's scholarly program. His work examines how ethical reflection and artistic sensibility can inform the development, commercialization, and governance of innovations in ways that enhance, rather than erode, human well-being. Drawing on organizational theory, human-computer interaction, and systems thinking, Professor Zhao's current projects contribute to sectors where human well-being is directly at stake: creative practice, health, education, and finance (CHEF).

Beyond his research and teaching, Professor Zhao collaborates with industry and societal stakeholders to connect scholarship with practice through entrepreneurial initiatives, collaborative partnerships, and public engagement, thereby deepening the insights he brings to HCIR and its role in shaping humane organizational and technological futures.

Professor Zhao's research program, Human-Centered Innovation Research (HCIR), investigates innovation through a multidisciplinary lens. Situated at the intersection of the social sciences, engineering, and the arts, this work addresses pressing innovation challenges that require insights beyond traditional disciplinary boundaries. It is guided by a central question: How can innovation become more responsive to human needs, cultural contexts, and institutional complexity?

HCIR rests on the premise that innovation is not only a technical process, but also a deeply social, symbolic, and institutional phenomenon. With this perspective, the research program bridges theory and practice, contributing to both academic discourse and applied decision-making across sectors where human well-being is directly at stake: creative practice, health, education, and finance (CHEF).