Nicole Woolsey Biggart is an American sociologist, organizational theorist, and academic known for her expertise in economic and organizational sociology, management of innovation, and energy efficiency.^[1]

She is a Professor Emerita at the University of California, Davis, where she has had a career, including serving as Dean of the Graduate School of Management from 2003 to 2009.^[2] Biggart has also held the Chevron Chair in Energy Efficiency and directed the UC Davis Energy Efficiency Center from 2010 to 2015. ^[3]

She was born in Brooklyn NY on June 7, 1947 and grew up in Paramus, New Jersey. As a high school student was selected as an American Field Service exchange student where her experience of living with a Muslim family in Turkey was one of several that turned her interests toward sociology.^[4] Another was her work among the personal staff of the Postmaster General during the Nixon administration.^[5]  The post office, the largest non-military organization in the world, was undergoing dramatic political and industrial change during her tenure. Biggart wrote her PhD dissertation “The Magic Circle: Personal Staffs in Public Bureaucracies” during the post-Watergate era.^[6]

She received her Ph.D. in economic sociology from the University of California, Berkeley with a dissertation titled The Magic Circle: A Study of Personal Staffs in the Administrations of Governors Ronald Reagan and Jerry Brown,^[7] M.A. in sociology from the University of California, Davis, and a B.A. in communication from Simmons College.^[8]

Professor Biggart was Dean of the UC Davis Graduate School of Management and was a founding faculty member of the school.^[8] She did sabbaticals at the Cambridge University as the Arthur Anderson Visiting Scholar at Judge Business School and Visiting Fellow at St. John’s College, and at Cardiff Business School.^[7]

Biggart joined UC Davis in 1981 as one of the founding faculty members of the Graduate School of Management.^[8] She held various academic positions, ultimately becoming a professor of management. In 2003, she was appointed Dean of the Graduate School of Management, a role she held until 2009. ^[9]

During her tenure, she oversaw the school's strategic planning, curriculum development, and research activities. ^[10]

From 2010 to 2015, Biggart held the Chevron Chair in Energy Efficiency and directed the UC Davis Energy Efficiency Center.^[11] In 2015, she became Professor Emerita, marking the conclusion of her active academic career at UC Davis.^[12]

In addition to her academic contributions, Biggart has held leadership positions in several professional organizations, including the Academy of Management, the Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics, and the American Sociological Association.^[2]

Biggart also served on the scientific advisory board for the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies in Cologne, Germany. ^[13]She currently serves on board of Inventopia (inventopia.org) and Sierra Energy (sierra energy.com).^[10] In addition to Fellow of the AAAS, she was Chair of the Section on Social, Economic and Political Sciences.^[3]

Biggart's research focuses on organizational theory, innovation management, economic and organizational sociology, and industrial change. ^[14]Her work examines firm networks, the social bases of technology adoption, and business clusters. ^[15]

She has studied a wide array of sectors, organizations, and markets globally, including the automotive industries of South Korea, Taiwan, Spain, and Argentina, the U.S. commercial building industry, and management strategies in Japan. ^[16]

Biggart's research has explored topics, including labor and leisure sociology, organizational change, and the sociological explanations behind organizational scandals. ^[10] Among her notable works is Charismatic Capitalism: Direct Selling Organizations in America (1989), which examines direct selling organizations,^[17] and Economic Sociology: A Reader (2001), a key textbook in the field.^[18] She has also contributed extensively to reports and studies, including work for the National Research Council on organizational performance and human enhancement.^[19]

In 2008, she received the Faculty Award for Pioneer Sustainability in Management Education from the Aspen Institute^[20] and was honored with the Women Who Mean Business Award by the Sacramento Business Journal in the same year.^[21] Additionally, she was named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2013.^[22]

• Hamilton, Gary G.; Biggart, Nicole Woolsey (1984). Governor Reagan - Governor Brown: a sociology of executive power. New York, NY: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-05903-9.
• Biggart, Nicole Woolsey (1990). Charismatic Capitalism. University of Chicago Press. doi:10.7208/chicago/9780226227269.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-226-04786-7.
• Biggart, Nicole Woolsey, ed. (2002). Readings in economic sociology. Blackwell readers in sociology (First published ed.). Malden, Massachusetts Oxford, UK: Blackwell. ISBN 978-0-631-22862-2.

• Beamish, Thomas D.; Biggart, Nicole Woolsey (2017), Capital and Carbon: The Shifting Common Good Justification of Energy Regimes, Research in the Sociology of Organizations, vol. 52, Emerald Publishing Limited, pp. 173–205, doi:10.1108/s0733-558x20170000052006, ISBN 978-1-78714-380-7, retrieved 2025-02-04<
• Beamish, Thomas D.; Biggart, Nicole Woolsey (2015-03-28), "Social Heuristics: The Pragmatics of Convention in Decision-Making", Research in the Sociology of Organizations, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, pp. 235–282, doi:10.1108/s0733-558x20150000044010, ISBN 978-1-78441-726-0, retrieved 2025-02-04
• Biscotti, Dina; Biggart, Nicole Woolsey (2014-04-16), "Organizing belief: Interfaith social change organizations in the religious-environmental movement", Research in the Sociology of Organizations, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, pp. 413–439, doi:10.1108/s0733-558x_2014_0000041019, ISBN 978-1-78190-692-7, retrieved 2025-02-04
• Biggart, Nicole Woolsey (2013-08-02). "Foreword: Integrating the Social into the Built Environment". Constructing Green: ix–xiv. doi:10.7551/mitpress/9233.003.0001. ISBN 978-0-262-31538-8.
• Beamish, Thomas D.; Biggart, Nicole Woolsey (2012). "The role of social heuristics in project-centred production networks: insights from the commercial construction industry". Engineering Project Organization Journal. 2 (1–2): 57–70. doi:10.1080/21573727.2011.637192. ISSN 2157-3727.