Ann Lee

About

Overview

Ann Sung-an Lee (李頌恩) is a doctoral researcher at Bayes Business School whose work explores how entrepreneurs seek legitimacy and recognition amid structural and cultural inequality. She studies how immigrant founders pursue symbolic survival and status mobility in culturally charged markets such as the restaurant industry, examining how identity and meaning shape access to opportunity within shifting institutional orders.

Her research combines qualitative fieldwork, quantitative analysis, and archival inquiry to trace how micro-level entrepreneurial practice shapes, and is shaped by, the historical evolution of markets and institutions. She is currently developing a large-scale study of restaurant critics and revising a systematic review of entrepreneurship education.

Ann has taught for seven years across undergraduate, master’s, and executive levels at BI Norwegian Business School, where she developed new courses in entrepreneurship and innovation. She previously served as Program Coordinator for Harvard Summer School and continues to mentor emerging entrepreneurs.

Before entering academia, Ann worked in technology and startups and founded several award-winning hospitality ventures in Oslo. She holds an MBA from the Kenan-Flagler Business School (UNC Chapel Hill), an Ed.M. from Harvard University, and a B.A. from Duke University.

Qualifications

• CITI Program – Social & Behavioral Research Investigators, Harvard University, United States, 2023
• Teaching Certification for Pedagogical Competence (NOKUT), BI Norwegian Business School, Norway, 2021
• Ed.M., Harvard University, United States
• MBA, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, United States
• Bachelor's, Duke University, United States

Employment

• Lecturer, BI Norwegian Business School, Norway, August 2022 - August 2023
• Adjunct Lecturer, BI Norwegian Business School, Norway, August 2018 - August 2022
• Consultant, Lenovo, United States, 2014 - 2015
• Technical Project Manager, Everlight Chemical, US/Taiwan, 2012 - 2014

Expertise

Primary topics

• Entrepreneurship

Research students

1^stsupervisor

• Professor Simone Ferriani, Professor of Entrepreneurship

2^ndsupervisor

• Professor Vangelis Souitaris, Professor of Entrepreneurship

Publications