UF Entrepreneurship program recognized with global award

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Thomas S. Johnson Master of Science in Entrepreneurship Program (MSE) at the Hough Graduate School of Business at the Warrington College of Business Administration was recognized by the Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers (GCEC) with the “2012 Excellence in Specialty Entrepreneurship Education” award.

The winner was announced during GCEC’s annual conference October 5-6 at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Past winners include the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University of Rochester, Miami University, Rice University, UC-Boulder, the University of Illinois-Chicago, and MIT.

“This is a tremendous achievement and serves as the pinnacle of recognition for our program, as this award comes directly from our peer group of global center directors,” said Jamie Kraft, director of the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

The GCEC bestows several awards annually across a number of categories, including enterprise creation, pedagogy, research, and entrepreneurial excellence. In the specialty education category, the center must demonstrate a specific area of focus in entrepreneurship education and have a well-established vision with qualified outcomes. In addition, the center’s role in the specialty focus must be well established and communicated.

Launched as one of the first specialized entrepreneurship programs of its kind, the MSE program fuses a diverse and robust curriculum with immersive and engaging experiential learning opportunities, exposing students to cutting-edge entrepreneurial theory, which they apply immediately by consulting for small business, commercializing technology, creating their own ventures, and innovating within existing organizations.

“More students than ever before are looking to change the world, engaging in today’s connected global entrepreneurial economy, and immersing themselves in rigorous and innovative experiential academic programs,” said MSE Program Director Chris Tassin.

The program was also recognized at the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship’s (USASBE) annual conference in January 2012. At that event, the program finished in the top two for the 2012 National Model Graduate Entrepreneurship Program award.

The program is named after Thomas S. Johnson (BSBA ’72). Mr. Johnson served as Director, President and Chief Executive Officer of Global Imaging Systems, which he founded in 1994. Global Imaging Systems acquired 110 offices imaging businesses and reached $1.3 billion in annual revenue.