Timothy S. Hatten is a professor at Mesa State College in Grand Junction, Colorado, where he has served as the chair of business administration and director of the MBA program. He is currently co-director of the Entrepreneurial Business Institute. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Missouri-Columbia, his M.S. from Central Missouri State University, and his B.

A. from Western State College in Gunnison, Colorado. He is a Fulbright Scholar. He taught small business management and entrepreneurship at Reykjavik University in Iceland and business planning at the Russian-American Business Center in Magadan, Russia. Dr. Hatten has been passionate about small and family businesses his whole life. He grew up with the family-owned International Harvester farm equipment dealership in Bethany, Missouri, which his father started. Later, he owned and managed a Chevrolet/Buick/Cadillac dealership with his father, Drexel, and brother, Gary.

Since entering academia, Dr. Hatten has actively brought students and small businesses together through the Small Business Institute program. He counsels and leads small business seminars through the Western Colorado Business Development Corporation.