UA's Eller Center Winner of NASDAQ Center of Entrepreneurial Excellence Award

The H.N. & Frances C. Berger Entrepreneurship Program, housed in the UA's Karl Eller Center at the Eller College of Business and Public Administration, has been named one of five national winners of the prestigious NASDAQ Center for Entrepreneurial Excellence Award.

This special award was created by NASDAQ in association with the National Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers for the purpose of recognizing the unique achievements and outstanding efforts of Entrepreneurship Centers across the United States.

The selections are made by a panel of NASDAQ representatives and professors of entrepreneurship at some of the leading programs in the country. The honor is given to Entrepreneurship Centers that have made remarkable advancement in the entrepreneurial field in the following areas: entrepreneurship research, outreach to emerging ventures, entrepreneurship curriculum, community collaborations, special projects, and overall prestige and recognition in the entrepreneurship field.

The NASDAQ Center of Entrepreneurial Excellence Award honors centers that have made and will continue to make enormous contributions in advancing entrepreneurship as the force in economic growth throughout the world.

One of the few research universities in the country to offer a one-year comprehensive entrepreneurship curriculum, the UA's Berger Entrepreneurship education program qualifies as an undergraduate major and as a masters in business administration (MBA) concentration. Begun in 1984, this award-winning program is designed to prepare selected students for success as entrepreneurs, business leaders and in socially aware ventures. Students in the program focus on analysis, decision-making and business planning as a foundation for that success. Each student benefits from the perspectives of academic and adjunct faculty working together to provide integrated and relevant curriculum including the latest business trends and techniques. The Berger Entrepreneurship Program is consistently ranked in the nation's top programs.

In 2001, the Karl Eller Center introduced a core course in entrepreneurship, to be provided to all Eller College first year MBA's. The course is designed to provide business students with an overview of entrepreneurial concepts to assist them in determining entrepreneurship as an educational and business focus, and to help them integrate discipline specific studies and make them more marketable in any professional path.

In addition to the UA's Berger Entrepreneurship Program, additional winners for 2001 are: Cornell University's Entrepreneurship and Personal Enterprise Program; Columbia University's Entrepreneurship Program; the Institute for Entreprenerial Studies at University of Illinois, Chicago; and Wake Forest University's Angell Center for Entrepreneurship.