Pierre-Jean (PJ) Hanard is an Associate Professor and School Lead for Entrepreneurship at UCL School of Management. He leads entrepreneurship education, enterprise activity and ecosystem development, building programmes and partnerships that help students and researchers turn ideas into ventures.

His career spans the corporate world and entrepreneurship. He worked at ExxonMobil and UBS, spent over a decade at HSBC Private Bank in London, Singapore and Geneva, served as an entrepreneur-in-residence at Citi Ventures, and co-founded a FinTech venture and a startup accelerator.

At UCL, PJ puts this experience into practice by developing entrepreneurial capabilities and building partnerships across communities and sectors. He co-founded the multi-award-winning Next Generation of Entrepreneurs for Ukraine programme and launched initiatives including UCL ElevateHer, the Future of Food Forum and the SustainTech Pitching Competition, supporting inclusive and sustainable entrepreneurship. He also co-leads UCL’s Entrepreneurship Community of Practice, strengthening collaboration across disciplines.

Having worked in major corporations and built ventures, PJ is particularly interested in what entrepreneurial thinking can teach us about the future of work. As AI reshapes jobs, capabilities such as judgement, initiative, experimentation and the ability to navigate uncertainty are becoming increasingly relevant across the workforce. His research on entrepreneurs’ wellbeing adds a human perspective on how people experience uncertainty and change.

His contributions to education have been recognised through multiple teaching awards, including the university-wide 2025 UCL Provost Education Award in the Celebrating Education category. He holds a PhD in entrepreneurship from King’s College London, an MBA from MIT Sloan, master’s degrees from SDA Bocconi and Vlerick Business School, and a bachelor’s degree from ULg-HEC Liège.