Henry Chesbrough Honored with Doctorate for Advancing Brainport Innovation
Eindhoven, Tuesday, 25 February 2025.
Henry Chesbrough, known for ‘open innovation’, receives an honorary doctorate from TU Eindhoven for his pivotal role in establishing the Brainport model, a key technological hub in the Netherlands.
Recognition and Timing
The Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) will award the honorary doctorate to Professor Henry Chesbrough on June 24, 2025, during the university’s Research Day [1]. Chesbrough, who introduced the transformative concept of ‘Open Innovation’ in his 2003 book, has garnered significant recognition for his work, including recent honorary doctorates from the University of Oulu (Finland) in 2023 and the University of Kaunas (Lithuania) in 2022 [1].
Impact on Brainport Development
Professor Marcel Bogers, who serves as professor of Open & Collaborative Innovation at TU/e, highlights how Chesbrough’s work directly influenced Philips’ management in their decision to open the High Tech Campus Eindhoven (HTCE) to other companies [1][3]. This strategic move proved instrumental in developing what would later become known as the Brainport region. The High Tech Campus has since evolved into a significant innovation hub, now hosting more than 300 companies and 12,500 researchers, developers, and entrepreneurs [7].
Academic Implementation and Recognition
Faculty Dean Geert-Jan van Houtum, who successfully defended Chesbrough’s nomination to the TU/e Executive Board, emphasized the professor’s exceptional ability to bridge academic theory with practical application, noting his impressive record of over 100,000 scientific citations [1]. The integration of Chesbrough’s work at TU/e has led to an enriched educational curriculum, particularly in the master’s Innovation Management program [1].
Lasting Legacy
The High Tech Campus Eindhoven, shaped by Chesbrough’s philosophy, has celebrated more than 25 years of open innovation [3]. His fundamental principle that ‘open innovation is based on a landscape of abundant knowledge, which must be used readily if it is to provide value for the company that created it’ [3] has transformed the region into a powerful technology hub. The campus now accounts for nearly 40% of all Dutch patent applications [7], demonstrating the practical success of Chesbrough’s open innovation model in driving technological advancement and economic growth.