Steven Sinofsky, the former Microsoft Windows chief, will return to Harvard Business School as an “executive in residence” this spring, he said on Twitter this morning. Sinofsky was a visiting scholar at Harvard in the 1990s and later collaborated on a management book with a Harvard Business School professor.
Answering questions on Twitter, the former Windows chief said he will focus on research and writing, in addition to teaching about product development, planning and collaboration, among other topics.
Sinofsky was a polarizing figure inside Microsoft, but he oversaw a turnaround of the Windows business starting with Windows 7, and led an overhaul of the operating system with Windows 8, before his sudden departure last month. As we reported last week, he and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer clashed over issues including the best ways to collaborate among the company’s different divisions.
The Harvard Business School role looks like an interim step, not a permanent gig. No word yet on what Sinofsky will do for his next act in the world of business and technology.
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