{"id":1316,"date":"2026-08-20T13:05:34","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T17:05:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/ise\/?page_id=1316"},"modified":"2026-08-20T13:05:54","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T17:05:54","slug":"eric-dobson","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/ise\/faculty\/other-faculty\/eric-dobson\/","title":{"rendered":"Eric Dobson"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"profilePageTitle\">Assistant Professor of Practice<\/p>\n<p><!-- Right Column --><\/p>\n<div class=\"one-third column pull-right\">\n<div><!-- 400 by 600 headshot --><\/div>\n<div class=\"profilePageCard\">\n<h3 class=\"quietHeading\">Contact Information<\/h3>\n<hr \/>\n<p><b>Email<\/b><br \/>\n<a href=\"mailto:edobson@utk.edu\">edobson@utk.edu<\/a><\/p>\n<p><b>Links<\/b><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/scholar.google.com\/citations?hl=en&amp;view_op=list_works&amp;gmla=ACrTK9Xd6kACRYTGoUxBVZkSztKHfgZonH-dq4Bi5QFVqW0YaqplE_Kv-RInmMa24gCpI6Sh2_pwkNo92KIX-A&amp;user=1vHqG5QAAAAJ\">Google Scholar<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/orcid.org\/my-orcid?orcid=0009-0001-4592-4763&amp;justRegistered=true\">ORCID<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/ericdobsontn\/\">Personal Website<\/a><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"quietHeading\">Research Areas<\/h3>\n<hr \/>\n<ul>\n<li>Geography<\/li>\n<li>GIS<\/li>\n<li>Remote Sensing<\/li>\n<li>Entrepreneurship<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"two-thirds column \">\n<p><!-- Biography --><\/p>\n<h2>Biography<\/h2>\n<p>Eric Dobson is the Managing Partner of Community Equity Partners, a syndicate of angel groups and venture capital funds, and a Lecturer in Entrepreneurship in the Tickle School of Engineering at the University of Tennessee.<\/p>\n<p>He was the founder of three companies, advised dozens, and led investments in 50+ startup technology companies totaling over $30.5M. Eric has served in a number of leadership roles in entrepreneurial startups and in private equity financing. He has extensive experience in IP development and licensing, business development and commercialization, and educational experience with entrepreneurship.<\/p>\n<p><!-- Education --><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"quietHeading\">Education<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>PhD, Philosophy, University of South Carolina, 1998<\/li>\n<li>MS, Philosophy, University of South Carolina, 1993<\/li>\n<li>BA, University of Tennessee, 1991<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><!-- Courses --><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"quietHeading\">Courses Taught<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Introduction to Entrepreneurship<\/li>\n<li>New Venture Planning<\/li>\n<li>Engineering Entrepreneurship<\/li>\n<li>Technology Product Development and Entrepreneurship<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><!-- Professional Service --><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"quietHeading\">Professional Service<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Boards of Directors for Ascend Manufacturing, Inc, Authentrics.AI, and Sparkz, Inc.<\/li>\n<li>Membership Committee of the Angel Capital Association<\/li>\n<li>Board of Directors for the Appalachian Investors Alliance, a not-for-profit angel investment syndicate<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><!-- Awards &amp; Recognitions --><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"quietHeading\">Awards &amp; Recognitions<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Pinnacle Innovator of the Year, Innovation Valley Technology Council, 2011<\/li>\n<li>Navigator Entrepreneur of the Year, Knoxville Chamber of Commerce, 2010<\/li>\n<li>National Laboratory Consortium Technology of the Year Award for work with ORNL, awarded by the Department of Energy, 2004<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Assistant Professor of Practice Contact Information Email edobson@utk.edu Links Google Scholar ORCID Personal Website Research Areas Geography GIS Remote Sensing [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":0,"parent":105,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"template-wide.php","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1316","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Eric Dobson - Industrial and Systems Engineering<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/ise\/faculty\/other-faculty\/eric-dobson\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Eric Dobson - Industrial and Systems Engineering\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Assistant Professor of Practice Contact Information Email edobson@utk.edu Links Google Scholar ORCID Personal Website Research Areas Geography GIS Remote Sensing [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/ise\/faculty\/other-faculty\/eric-dobson\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Industrial and Systems Engineering\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-20T17:05:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tickle.utk.edu\\\/ise\\\/faculty\\\/other-faculty\\\/eric-dobson\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tickle.utk.edu\\\/ise\\\/faculty\\\/other-faculty\\\/eric-dobson\\\/\",\"name\":\"Eric Dobson - Industrial and Systems Engineering\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tickle.utk.edu\\\/ise\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-20T17:05:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-08-20T17:05:54+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tickle.utk.edu\\\/ise\\\/faculty\\\/other-faculty\\\/eric-dobson\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/tickle.utk.edu\\\/ise\\\/faculty\\\/other-faculty\\\/eric-dobson\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tickle.utk.edu\\\/ise\\\/faculty\\\/other-faculty\\\/eric-dobson\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tickle.utk.edu\\\/ise\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Faculty\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tickle.utk.edu\\\/ise\\\/faculty\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Other Faculty\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tickle.utk.edu\\\/ise\\\/faculty\\\/other-faculty\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Eric Dobson\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tickle.utk.edu\\\/ise\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tickle.utk.edu\\\/ise\\\/\",\"name\":\"Industrial and Systems Engineering\",\"description\":\"University of Tennessee, Knoxville\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tickle.utk.edu\\\/ise\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Eric Dobson - Industrial and Systems Engineering","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/ise\/faculty\/other-faculty\/eric-dobson\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Eric Dobson - Industrial and Systems Engineering","og_description":"Assistant Professor of Practice Contact Information Email edobson@utk.edu Links Google Scholar ORCID Personal Website Research Areas Geography GIS Remote Sensing [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/ise\/faculty\/other-faculty\/eric-dobson\/","og_site_name":"Industrial and Systems Engineering","article_modified_time":"2026-08-20T17:05:54+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/ise\/faculty\/other-faculty\/eric-dobson\/","url":"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/ise\/faculty\/other-faculty\/eric-dobson\/","name":"Eric Dobson - Industrial and Systems Engineering","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/ise\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-08-20T17:05:34+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-20T17:05:54+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/ise\/faculty\/other-faculty\/eric-dobson\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/ise\/faculty\/other-faculty\/eric-dobson\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/ise\/faculty\/other-faculty\/eric-dobson\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/ise\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Faculty","item":"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/ise\/faculty\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Other Faculty","item":"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/ise\/faculty\/other-faculty\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Eric Dobson"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/ise\/#website","url":"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/ise\/","name":"Industrial and Systems Engineering","description":"University of Tennessee, Knoxville","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/ise\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/ise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1316","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/ise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/ise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/ise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/ise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1316"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/ise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1316\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1389,"href":"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/ise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1316\/revisions\/1389"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/ise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/105"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/ise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}