Timothy S. Hatten is a professor at Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction, Colorado, where he has served as the chair of business administration and director of the MBA program. He received his PhD from the University of Missouri-Columbia, his MS from Central Missouri State University, and his BA from Western State College in Gunnison, Colorado. He is a two-time Fulbright Scholar. He taught small business management and entrepreneurship at Reykjavik University in Iceland and Copenhagen Business Academy in Denmark.

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.

He is the author of Small Business Management: Entrepreneurship and Beyond, currently in its 6th edition. He approached writing this textbook as if it were a small business. His intent was to make a product (in this case, a book) that would benefit his customers (students and faculty).