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NKU’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship named finalist for prestigious international award


Northern Kentucky University’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) has been named among the best in world at launching and supporting student-led startup companies.
 
The CIE was selected as one of the five finalists for the “Outstanding Contribution to Venture Creation” award at the 2018 Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers’ (GCEC) annual conference. This is the second top five listing the CIE has received from the GCEC in recent years.

CIE students work with Zac Strobl and Jeff Varrone to identify customer segments and find the best opportunity to pursue.

NKU is among some great company for the 2018 honor – Michigan State, Babson College, The University of Notre Dame and the University of Stockholm, Sweden. The CIE was selected from over 100 submissions that were reviewed by peer institutions to recognize the very best in entrepreneurship education.
 
“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 CIE, housed within the Haile/US Bank College of Business, is led by interim co-directors, Jeff Varrone and Zac Strobl. The Center was created in 2014 to be the hub for students across campus who desire more out of their college education. Students take ownership of their future through innovation and entrepreneurial activities both inside and outside the classroom.
 
“The CIE is built on a strong foundation and has recently been one of the top performing entrepreneurship centers not just nationally, but globally as well. This recognition is largely due to the success of the students and alumni who have graduated from our programs,” said Zac Strobl, interim co-director. 

The CIE is home to an award-winning curriculum that offers both a major and minor in entrepreneurship. The GCEC listed NKU as a top five finalist for the 2016 “Outstanding Contribution to Venture Creation” award. The CIE also received the GCEC’s 2015 “Exceptional Activities in Entrepreneurship Across Campus” award. The GCEC is the premier academic organization addressing the emerging topics to the nation’s university-based centers for entrepreneurship.   
 
“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,” said Burke, GCEC executive director.
 
The 2018 GCEC Conference hosted more than 250 top universities from around the world in Chicago from October 18-20.

GSE’s Mac Glidewell and President Ashish Vaidya (center) with the team that created the partnership.


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