St. Thomas taps entrepreneurship chief as next dean of Opus College of Business

Laura Dunham, an entrepreneur-turned-professor, has been named dean of the Opus Faculty of Small business at the College of St. Thomas, the 2nd-biggest organization university in Minnesota.

Dunham for the previous five yrs has been associate dean in cost of the Schulze School of Entrepreneurship in just the business college or university. She succeeds Stefanie Lenway, who led the Opus Faculty of Company considering the fact that 2014.

“The Opus College or university wants an entrepreneurial chief, who will go on to construct a culture of innovation in all corners of the faculty,” Lenway stated in a assertion. “Laura is this entrepreneurial chief with deep working experience building courses in the Schulze University that have been given countrywide recognition.”

With Dunham at the helm, the Schulze College grew approximately three situations in dimensions as measured by the variety of majoring students and in general credit history hours taught. Entrepreneurship is now the fifth-largest main at the University of St. Thomas.

In that time, the Schulze College went from unranked to No. 23 on the Princeton Review’s record of undergraduate entrepreneurship systems. Dunham aims for St. Thomas to be amongst the top-rated Catholic business universities.

“We have a certainly great faculty and staff members who are committed to educating our students and supporting our group,” Dunham mentioned in an interview. “What is actually fantastic about the rankings is that they permit men and women know about our get the job done.”

Dunham joined St. Thomas 19 decades in the past after co-founding a studio theater as a younger grownup. She helped make interdisciplinary encounters at the St. Paul-centered university, such as a workshop for to start with-calendar year pupils that matches, for occasion, engineering pupils with finance majors on tasks.

Dunham worked with some of the university’s major benefactors, together with Best Invest in founder Dick Schulze and Liquid Investments CEO Ron Fowler, to produce 4 business competitions that reward college students with scholarships and seed capital.

A lot more a short while ago, she aided the Schulze Faculty develop interactions with the Minnesota Black Chamber of Commerce, the Latino Economic Enhancement Center and other people to develop much more alternatives for prospective learners and organization leaders of colour in Minnesota. As a outcome, Opus University started to catch the attention of a more varied pool of candidates to scholarship courses and maximize faculty range.

“We are actually fully commited to building an surroundings that attracts a additional numerous established of college students,” Dunham stated. She noted that the Twin Towns region, like a great deal of the country, faces a scarcity of talent and a populace that is ever more various.

“We want to make sure all people is receiving accessibility to educational possibilities,” she reported. “It can be a ethical critical and an economic crucial.”

Lenway will stay at the Opus Higher education, becoming a college fellow in its Business in a Electronic Environment initiative.