Lillien Ellis

As an expert in creativity and innovation, entrepreneurship, and ethical decision-making, Lillien Ellis investigates where creative, cutting-edge ideas come from and how they are advanced successfully. Ellis is particularly interested in the psychology of intellectual property ownership, protection, and theft, and the consequences of “idea theft” in contemporary knowledge work.

Ellis has received several grants and awards for research conducted by her lab, the Ellis Idea Lab, which she founded in 2017. In 2020, she was awarded the General Mills Award for Exemplary Teaching at Cornell University. She plays an active role in the intellectual property community as an adviser and research consultant to inventor organizations and entrepreneurs. Her work has been published in Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, as well as The Oxford Handbook of Group Creativity and Innovation. It has also been featured in industry outlets such as Inc.

B.S., M.S. and Ph.D., Cornell University

READ FULL BIO