Andy El-Zayaty, Ph.D.
Biography and Education
Professor El-Zayaty received his Ph.D. from the Wisconsin School of Business at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (2021), and before joining the faculty at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, spent several years researching, teaching about, and working closely with startups in the heart of Silicon Valley as a faculty member at Santa Clara University. Prior to entering academia, Professor El-Zayaty was a Certified Public Accountant and consultant with Deloitte, Touche, & Tohmatsu.
Research and Teaching
Professor El-Zayaty’s research focuses on the startup founding teams, with a specific focus on how their human capital profiles and language use influence investor decision-making. His work has been published in leading journals such as Organization Science and Strategic Management Review.
He teaches courses on entrepreneurship at the graduate and undergraduate level, as well as courses in corporate strategy and broader management topics. Recently, he has been one of the inaugural instructors in the “Doing Business in Detroit” Freshman Friday’s program, helping to connect future business leaders in Southeast Michigan with the business ecosystem of Metro Detroit.
Selected Publications
El-Zayaty, A., Ganco, M., & Khoshimov, B. (2025). Vague Language, Founding Team Human Capital, and Resource Acquisition. Organization Science.
El-Zayaty, A. & Ganco, M. (2022). On the Waves of Change: The Impact of the Burden of Knowledge on the Strategic Management of Human Capital. Strategic Management Review.
Coff, R., El-Zayaty, A., Ganco, M., and Mawdsley, J. (2019). Firm- Specific Human Capital at the Crossroads: A Conversation on Current Issues and Future Directions. Advances in Strategic Management, Vol. 41. Emerald Publishing Ltd.