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News Release

Last modified: Tuesday, August 31, 2004

National leader in entrepreneurial education to direct center at IU's Kelley School of Business

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The Kelley School of Business at Indiana University has named Donald F. Kuratko as executive director of its Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. Kuratko will come from Ball State University, where he guided the school's nationally respected entrepreneurship program, to direct the IU Kelley School's similarly lauded programs in business development.

In addition to directing the center, Kuratko also will hold the Jack M. Gill Chair in Entrepreneurship and teach as a professor of entrepreneurship. He will begin his activities at IU on Jan. 1.

"I am extremely excited and proud to have this dream opportunity at a prestigious Big Ten institution," Kuratko said. "Indiana University is considered world-class in terms of leadership, faculty, facilities and students, and I am truly honored to join the faculty at the Kelley School of Business. IU's commitment to entrepreneurship is incredible, and I believe that together we will position the Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation as the nation's premier entrepreneurship program."

Kuratko will lead an entrepreneurship program that already boasts a world-class research faculty, and undergraduate and graduate programs ranked among the best by U.S. News & World Report and Entrepreneur magazines. Its doctoral program recently was chosen by the National United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship as the model Ph.D. program in the field. The Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation oversees the school's MBA Entrepreneurial Management Academy, the Growth 100 program, the national Velocity Conference, a new ventures lab and numerous internships for students.

"The Kelley School has a distinguished national reputation in the area of entrepreneurship. I am thrilled that Dr. Kuratko will be at the helm of the Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. The center provides the platform for many of our initiatives in this area, and there is no better person than Don to serve as executive director," said Daniel C. Smith, interim dean of the Kelley School of Business. "He is a nationally recognized visionary in the entrepreneurship field and is regarded by many as the leading entrepreneurship center director in the country. I eagerly look forward to having him on our team."

A pioneer in entrepreneurship education over the past two decades, Kuratko is a prominent scholar and national leader. He is the author of more than 150 articles and 20 books on various aspects of entrepreneurship, new venture development and corporate entrepreneurship.

His books include one of the leading entrepreneurship texts being used today at American universities, Entrepreneurship: Theory, Process, Practice (South-Western Publishers, 2004). His other books include Strategic Entrepreneurial Growth, Corporate Entrepreneurship, Effective Small Business Management and Entrepreneurial Strategy.

His many honors include being named the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year for Indiana and being inducted into the Institute of American Entrepreneurs Hall of Fame. The U.S. Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship honored him as the National Outstanding Entrepreneurship Educator. The National Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers selected him as a 21st Century Entrepreneurship Research Fellow.

For his excellence in teaching entrepreneurship, Kuratko has received the George Washington Medal of Honor, the Leavey Foundation Award for Excellence in Private Enterprise, the NFIB Entrepreneurship Excellence Award and the National Model Innovative Pedagogy Award for Entrepreneurship. In 2000, he was awarded the Thomas W. Binford Memorial Award for Outstanding Contributions to Entrepreneurial Development by the Indiana Health Industry Forum. The U.S. Association for Small Business & Entrepreneurship honored him as their Scholar for Corporate Entrepreneurship in 2003.

Kuratko was honored by his peers in Entrepreneur magazine as the No. 1 entrepreneurship program director in the nation in 2003.

He has been a consultant on corporate entrepreneurial strategies to a number of major corporations such as Anthem, AT&T, United Technologies, Ameritech, Acordia, Union Carbide Corp., ServiceMaster and TruServ. He holds a bachelor's degree from John Carroll University, a master of business administration degree from Benedictine University and a doctorate in business administration from Nova Southeastern University.

At Ball State, Kuratko held the rank of distinguished professor, was the founding director of the university's entrepreneurship program and is executive director of the Midwest Entrepreneurial Education Center. Under his leadership, Ball State's entrepreneurship program consistently earned top national rankings, including those issued by the Journal of Management and U.S. News & World Report and Entrepreneur magazines.

For more information about JCEI, call 812-855-4248 or see the center's Web site at https://www.kelley.indiana.edu/jcei/.

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