May 12, 2008

Five faculty members at California State University, Fresno have been named recipients of 2006-07 Coleman Fellowships that recognize the development of new and existing courses that integrate entrepreneurship into various academic disciplines.

The awards were announced by Dr. Timothy Stearns, Coleman Foundation Chair in Entrepreneurial Studies and director of the Lyles Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Fresno State, and the Coleman Foundation of Chicago.

Stipends of $5,000 are awarded to the faculty members to support development of curricula that incorporates entrepreneurship into an existing course, or for the creation of a new course in their academic disciplines.

All five of the courses will be offered by the Craig School of Business at Fresno State in the spring 2007 semester. Recipients and their proposals are the following:

Dr. Chung Hoon Lee of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering for his course proposal “MEMS and Nanotechnology for Entrepreneurship.” The course will provide fundamental principles and applications of the technologies to students and will also expose them to the problems associated with the need to construct, characterize, control and manipulate these structures. Micro/Nano-machining is becoming an essential fabrication technology in science and engineering and is used in the fields of drug developments, biomedical sensors, energy conversions and advanced atomic level electronics.

Dr. Tom Wielicki and Dr. Rafael Solis of the Department of Information Systems and Decision Sciences for their course proposal “Project Management for Entrepreneurs.” The course will provide entrepreneurship students with a comprehensive knowledge of a project management concept that applies in the context of managing innovative, unique undertakings, as well as with a specific set of skills delivered with the use of practical tools.

Betsy Hays, lecturer in the Department of Mass Communication and Journalism, for her course proposal “Public Relations Entrepreneurship.” The course will familiarize students with the basic structure and workings of a public relations consulting business, provide an understanding of the opportunities and challenges associated with owning and managing a business, and offer keys to owning a successful practice.

Dr. Jia Wang of the Department of Management for his course proposal “Corporate Entrepreneurship.” The course is about entrepreneurship in established companies – called  intrepreneurship. It will address revolution, innovation and change management, while studying emerging theories and practices of entrepreneurship and apply them to the existing firm.

Dr. Miles Ishigaki of the Department of Music for his proposal “Introduction to Music Entrepreneurship.” This course will develop an understanding of the complex tasks faced by individuals engaged in entrepreneurial activities related to music. The primary purpose is for students to learn the principles of entrepreneurship in music, while also providing students an opportunity to design, plan and prepare entrepreneurial concepts and ideas in the discipline of music.

For more information, contact Stearns at 559.294.2045.

(Copy by University Communications student-intern Megan Jacobsen.)