Miami University’s entrepreneur program wins top, international award

A Miami University college recently won an international award and acclaim from industry leaders for its work in fostering student business entrepreneurs.

Miami and its Farmer School’s John W. Altman Institute for Entrepreneurship were named earlier this month the winner of the 2020 NASDAQ Center of Entrepreneurial Excellence Award.

The award is granted annually by the Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers (GCEC) and is “the highest honor that a university entrepreneurship center can receive,” said Miami officials.

“This recognition reflects Miami’s commitment to fostering a space for entrepreneurs across campus to learn, plan and grow,” Miami President Gregory Crawford said in a statement released by the school.

The award is a first for both Miami and the Farmer School of Business.

The business school’s entrepreneurship program now joins past award winners like the University of Chicago, University of California – Berkeley, MIT, Stanford University, Columbia University and Cornell University.

The honor is well-deserved, said Allos Ventures co-founder and managing director John C. McIlwraith.

“This prestigious award is further recognition that Miami’s entrepreneurship program has become one of the top programs in the country. And that’s no surprise given the program’s outstanding faculty, innovative in-classroom curriculum and numerous opportunities for experiential learning, such as the student-led Redhawk Ventures seed investment fund and the Center for Social Entrepreneurship,” said McIlwraith, whose Cincinnati-based company is a leading Midwest-focused venture capital firm.

The Farmer School’s John W. Altman Institute for Entrepreneurship institute director Tim Holcomb said the latest honor for the business school “reflects a total team effort more than 28 years in the making.”

“To be named the top entrepreneurship program and center in the world by NASDAQ and the Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers is a real honor. I am especially happy for the faculty, staff, students, and graduates of … the Farmer School of Business’s entrepreneurship program,” said Holcomb.

The institute and undergraduate entrepreneurship program, which has been ranked among the “Top 10 Public Schools for Undergraduate Entrepreneurship Studies” for 13 consecutive years by Entrepreneur Magazine and The Princeton Review, became a full department at the Farmer School earlier this year.

Crawford said the latest “recognition reflects Miami’s commitment to fostering a space for entrepreneurs across campus to learn, plan and grow. Our outstanding faculty and staff are nurturing a spirit of innovation and creativity and providing the inspiration, guidance and support needed for our students to begin their entrepreneurial careers on solid ground.”

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