Global entrepreneurship educators from around the world honored the Carolina Entrepreneurial Initiative (CEI) on Oct. 17 with a 2009 Award for Exceptional Activities in Entrepreneurship Across Disciplines.
The award was presented at the Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers' (GCEC) annual conference in Houston.
The GCEC's awards program is designed to showcase and celebrate top university entrepreneurship programs. CEI, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's cross-campus entrepreneurship effort, prevailed over several top programs that were finalists, including MIT, Stanford University and University of Maryland.
The CEI, now in its sixth year, was developed and is managed for the university by the Frank Hawkins Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise.
CEI's education and venture-creation programs are developed and led by faculty champions across campus in partnership with successful entrepreneurs and business leaders, many of them UNC alumni. CEI programs involve several academic initiatives in the College of Arts and Sciences, including first-year seminars, an entrepreneurship minor and a graduate certificate in entrepreneurship for students interested in an artistic, life sciences or social entrepreneurship track. Many students in the College participate annually in the Carolina Challenge competition.
Representatives from nearly 350 universities attended the conference, hosted by Rice University. Ted D. Zoller, executive director of the Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at Kenan-Flagler Business School and a key CEI partner, accepted the award on behalf of the university.
The CEI launched in 2004 with a five-year grant from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation but is now self-sustaining with funds provided by the schools and departments that host CEI programs along with contributions from private donors. For more information, visit www.unc.edu/cei.
The GCEC is the primary vehicle by which top university entrepreneurship centers work together to share information and best practices, develop programs and initiatives, and collaborate and assist each other in advancing, strengthening and celebrating the contributions and impact of university entrepreneurship programs.
For more information, visit www.globalentrepreneurshipconsortium.org.
