The National Center for the Middle Market (NCMM) named Thomas A. Stewart as its new executive director.

Stewart is recognized as one of America’s leading business and management thinkers. He most recently served as chief marketing and knowledge officer for the global management consulting firm Booz & Company. Prior to that, he spent six years as the editor and managing director of Harvard Business Review . His extensive experience as a publishing executive and business journalist also includes leadership roles as editorial director for Business 2.0 and a member of Fortune’s board of editors. Stewart is also the well-respected author of “Intellectual Capital,” “The New Wealth of Organizations” and “The Wealth of Knowledge: Intellectual Capital and the 21st Century Organization.”

“The Center was established to create a national dialogue around the middle market,” said Christine A. Poon, dean, and John W. Berry, senior chair in business at Fisher. “By combining the best thought leadership from academics with highly relevant insights from midsized businesses across industries and throughout the nation, we have elevated the voice of this critical economic segment, and look forward to adding Tom’s proven leadership to our mission.”

“Tom brings to the Center a deep level of insight about how businesses thrive as well as a distinguished editorial background,” said William Cary, president and COO for GE Capital. “This combined expertise fuels the Center’s mission to promote the middle market’s critical economic contributions and accelerate job creation and growth across the country.”

“The Center fills a critical knowledge gap for middle market executives, policy makers, and others,” said Stewart. “It has already developed an extensive body of research addressing middle market issues and specialized education and training for mid-market business leaders. I’m looking forward to building on that foundation to help these important companies reach their fullest potential as job creators, innovators and fixtures in our communities.”

Stewart succeeds Dr. Anil Makhija, senior associate dean and professor of finance at Fisher, who has served as the NCMM’s academic director since its inception in 2011. Under his leadership, Dr. Makhija drove the NCMM’s research agenda by partnering with internationally recognized academic institutions and practitioner organizations, and established mid-market education and training for business executives and students. He will continue to serve as academic adviser to the NCMM.

The NCMM was founded in 2011 in partnership with GE Capital and is located at the Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business.