Marshall W. Van Alstyne (born March 28, 1962) is a professor at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...

and research associate at the

MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy The 'MIT Center for Digital Business' is an industry-funded research center headquartered at the MIT Sloan School of Management. MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy In 2013, the Center for Digital Business organized and launched the Institute-wid ...

. He co-developed the theory of two-sided markets with Geoffrey G Parker. His work focuses on the economics of information. This includes a sustained interest in information markets and in how information and technology affect productivity with a new emphasis on “platforms” as an extension of the work on two-sided markets.

Early life and education

Marshall Van Alstyne was born in Columbus, Ohio. He received a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

in Computer Science from

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

in 1984. He then moved to Software Systems Developer role at Martin Marietta Data Systems in Colorado and later Associate Staff at MIT Lincoln Laboratory in Massachusetts, before starting his

M.S. A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

and Doctorate programs. He obtained his MS in Management in 1991 and

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

in Information Systems and Economics in 1998, both at the

MIT Sloan School of Management The MIT Sloan School of Management (MIT Sloan or Sloan) is the business school of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT Sloan offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree programs, ...

Career

Alstyne is a professor at

and research associate at the

. Marshall co-organizes and co-chairs the annual MIT Platform Strategy Summit, an executive meeting on platform-centered economics and management, and he organizes and co-chairs the Platform Strategy Research Symposium, the premier conference on Platform research. After finishing his PhD, he joined as an assistant professor at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

, and later joined Boston University in 2004.

Publications

He is the co-author of ''Platform Revolution: How Networked Markets Are Transforming the Economy and How to Make Them Work for You''. The book describes the

information technologies Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information technology system (I ...

, standards, and rules that make up platforms, and are used and developed by the biggest and most innovative global companies.

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

included it among 16 must-read business books for 2016, describing it as "a practical guide to the new business model that is transforming the way we work and live."

Awards

* National Science Foundation Faculty Career Award (1999) * Thinkers 50 Digital Thinking Award (2019) – Ranked #36 among management scholars globally * INFORMS Practical Impact Award (2020) – For research with real world impact * Thinkers 50 Digital Thinking Award (2021) – Award shared with Geoff Parker

Personal

He is the son of constitutional law scholar

William Van Alstyne William Warner Van Alstyne (February 8, 1934 – January 29, 2019) was an American attorney, law professor, and constitutional law scholar. Prior to retiring in 2012, he held the named position of Lee Professor of Law at William and Mary Law Sch ...

References

External links

Homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Van Alstyne, Marshall MIT Sloan School of Management alumni Living people Yale University alumni Boston University faculty University of Michigan faculty 1962 births Information systems researchers