Last night was the final session for U-M ENTR490.012 Urban Entrepreneurship, Fall 2017 edition. Students presented the business models they developed to a distinguished panel of judges. Really interesting business proposals, great presentations, insightful and probing questions from the judges. Thanks to the students for the privilege of being their instructor and facilitator this semester. […]
Students in my U-M Urban Entrepreneurship class hard at work developing solutions. Our guest lecturer for this session was Charlie Michaels of the U-M Center for Socially Engaged Design. Did a really good job helping the students with idea generation.
Once again, we’re livin’ for the city. Fall is almost upon us, and so it is time for the next edition of my University of Michigan class, “Urban-Focused Entrepreneurship.” In this class, students learn to create a for-profit business model to solve an important urban problem. The process begins with students engaging an urban community […]
As of July 17, 2017, I have accepted a senior administrative position with Wayne State University (WSU) in Detroit, Michigan. The position is Senior Counselor to the Provost for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. In this role, I will provide guidance and overall strategic direction to the University in areas of innovation and entrepreneurship, and will administer […]
As a young person coming of age in the 1960s, I learned a smattering of black history in school. We studied, however briefly, black icons like Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, Harriet Tubman, and George Washington Carver. Though clearly important, these people often seemed frozen in amber, because my contemporaries and I were witnessing new […]
More than forty-five years ago, I began my college education at General Motors Institute (now Kettering University) in Flint, Michigan. This was back in Flint’s glory days, when world-class industrial production as well as ground-breaking research took place right in the midst of the city. My co-op sponsor was the AC Spark Plug Division of […]
2016: Another Year in the Can It is hard to find the words to describe all that has transpired in 2016. I have so much to say, but where shall I begin? In many ways, for me and my family, 2016 brought many new accomplishments and blessings, but as we exit the year, I feel […]
2015 was a year of anniversaries – some happy, some sad, some bittersweet. As each anniversary came and went this year, I made a mental note, but didn’t otherwise recognize it. Doing so distracted me from the flow of daily events, and besides that, it made me feel old. However, sitting here on the eve […]
The University of Michigan College of Engineering is searching for a new Dean. The second and final term of the current dean, David Munson, ends next June, and the search for his successor is well underway. I am serving on the search committee, and we’ve received a lot of input from people in and around […]