In answer to demand from TCU students and the entrepreneurial community, the Neeley Entrepreneurship Center is now the TCU Neeley Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.
The new designation brings with it an increased focus on co-curricular support for TCU students in any major, research affecting entrepreneurship and small business around the world, and a strong partnership with DFW economic drivers of entrepreneurship and small business.
Rodney D’Souza (pictured), a renowned leader in entrepreneurship education and research and successful business owner and angel fund manager, joins TCU Neeley as managing director of the institute and the Davis Family Entrepreneur-In-Residence. D’Souza was formerly the Fifth Third Bank Endowed Professor of Entrepreneurship and director of the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Northern Kentucky University. He was awarded the 2017 Freedoms Foundation Leavey Award for Excellence in Private Enterprise Education and the 2017 University Award for Excellence in Outreach and Engagement, among other honors. He developed and delivered undergraduate courses on entrepreneurial mindset, opportunity recognition, idea valuation, new venture creation, new venture management and business plan writing, as well as a MBA module on innovation and competitive intelligence. He holds a Bachelor’s of Commerce and Masters of Computer Management from the University of Pune, MBA from Northern Kentucky and PhD from the University of Louisville.
Keith Hmieleski, the Robert and Edith Schumacher Executive Faculty Fellow in Innovation and Technology, is academic director of the institute. Brad Hancock is assistant director of the institute. Matt Smilor is director of the Values and Ventures® program. The institute’s staff also includes Michael Sherrod, the William M. Dickey Entrepreneur-in-Residence; Lin Nelson, instructor; and Cindy James, administrative assistant.
The Neeley Entrepreneurship Center launched in 1999 and quickly earned a reputation for helping TCU students imagine and achieve their dreams of being business owners. TCU Neeley has ranked in the top 25 U.S. Undergraduate Schools for Entrepreneurship 2012-2017 by The Princeton Review for Entrepreneur magazine, and has been designated a National Model Entrepreneurship Program by the U.S. Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship.
For more information on the TCU Neeley Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, visit www.neeley.tcu.edu/entrepreneurship.
