Tea Petrin was a Professor of Economics and Entrepreneurship, Head of the Entrepreneurship Department at the Faculty of Economics, and a member of the Senate at the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia. Ms. Petrin was a visiting professor at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and at the Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley. She was also a Fulbright professor at the Institute of International Studies at UC Berkeley and at the Centre for Industrial Competitiveness in the University of Massachusetts Lowell. In Slovenia and former Yugoslavia, her papers and major works represent the very foundation of studies on small business and entrepreneurship and on proactive industrial policy. She holds a MA degree from Louisiana University in New Orleans and a PhD (Econ) from the Faculty of Economics, University of Ljubljana. In various roles, Dr. Petrin has acted as an Advisor to public administration institutions and governments, mainly in Slovenia, but as well for multilateral institutions such UNDP/UNIDO, International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the European Commission / DG Enterprise. She worked as a professional in EUR FAO Rome (1994-1997). She has been Slovenia’s representatives on the European Small Business Council, a member of International Small Business Council, the European Association for Industrial Economics Research and a member of the editorial board Review of Industrial Organization. Currently she is involved in different international and EU research projects.
Dr. Petrin is the former Minister for Economic Affairs (and later Minister of Economy) within the Slovenian Government (1999-2004). During her term she introduced new Industrial Competitiveness and Entrepreneurship Policy. She was also Ambassador of the Republic of Slovenia to the Netherlands (2004-2008).
She is the Vice-President of the Board of Advisors of The Competitiveness Institute and a member of the Academic Advisory Board of the European Forum of Entrepreneurship Research. She chaired European Cluster Policy Group, European Commission/DG Enterprise and Industry (2009-2010) and is a member of the Synergies Expert Group, European Commission/DG Research (2010-2011).