Deming Center Recognized for Outstanding Entrepreneurship Program

The Deming Center for Entrepreneurship at CU Boulder’s Leeds School of Business was recognized as a finalist in the category Excellence in Specialty Entrepreneurship Education at the 2018 Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship (GCEC) conference in Chicago, Oct. 18-20. Other finalists included Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Syracuse University and Miami University. Babson College won the award. The category honors a center dedicated to a specific area of focus in entrepreneurship education, such as technology/knowledge transfer, social entrepreneurship, women in entrepreneurship, and other specialty programs.

Universities committed to innovative entrepreneurship education and programs were recognized for their outstanding programs at the conference. Now in its twenty-second year, the GCEC Conference was attended by more than 540 individuals from 250 top universities from around the globe, the most in the history of the organization.

Universities specializing in venture creation and specialty programs, such as women entrepreneurship, were among the acknowledged. The award winners were selected through a rigorous nomination and evaluation process undergoing review by a panel of 35 academic peers. More than 100 university programs were nominated this year from the 250 GCEC member schools for seven award categories.

“Entrepreneurship has become a central and vibrant educational component at most top universities around the world. Universities play a critical role in global innovation and economic development,” said Brad Burke, executive director of the GCEC and managing director of the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship, Rice University. “The GCEC has been a driver of vigorous and innovative academic and experiential entrepreneurial programs. More and more institutes of higher education are recognizing that teaching entrepreneurial skills are key to the success of our students and the world’s future economy.”

The GCEC is the premier academic organization addressing the emerging topics of importance to the nation’s university-based centers for entrepreneurship. It has become the vehicle by which the top, established entrepreneurship centers, as well as emerging centers, can work together to share best practices, develop programs and initiatives, and collaborate and assist each other in advancing, strengthening, and celebrating the role of universities in teaching the entrepreneurs of tomorrow.