The 2020 Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers conference brought together the largest number of attendees in the annual event’s 24-year history to award 17 university entrepreneurship programs top honors.
The Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers (GCEC) is a group of 250 leading university entrepreneurship programs that work together to share best practices, develop programs and collaborate on advancing student entrepreneurship. The Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship at the Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University is the administrative home for the GCEC.
The annual conference has become the premier gathering of the world's leading minds in university-based entrepreneurship. This year’s conference was virtual for the first time, hosted by the Troesh Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas.
In record-breaking numbers, more than 600 attendees tuned into 40 breakout sessions and three keynotes. At the close of the conference, 17 universities were awarded top honors. More than 76 universities were nominated with 101 submissions for this year’s awards.
Exceptional Activities in Entrepreneurship Across Disciplines
- Horn Entrepreneurship - University of Delaware
- Center for Penn State Student Entrepreneurship - The Pennsylvania State University
Outstanding Contributions to Venture Creation
- Neeley Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation - Texas Christian University
- Northeastern University Center for Entrepreneurship Education - Northeastern University
Outstanding Emerging Center
- Furman Innovation and Entrepreneurship - Furman University
- Center for Entrepreneurship - Eastern Washington University
- Jill Ker Conway Innovation & Entrepreneurship Center - Smith College
- Innovate@BU/BUild Lab IDG Capital Student Innovation Center - Boston University
Excellence in Entrepreneurship Teaching and Pedagogical Innovation
- Kirzner Entrepreneurship Center - Universidad Francisco Marroquín
Exceptional Contributions in Entrepreneurship Research
- McFerrin Center for Entrepreneurship - Texas A&M University
- Apex Center for Entrepreneurs - Virginia Tech University
Excellence in Specialty Entrepreneurship
- Entrepreneurship Center for Music - University of Colorado Boulder
- Entrepreneurship & Innovation Institute - Georgia State University
- GW Office of Innovation & Entrepreneurship - George Washington University
Outstanding Student Engagement and Leadership
- Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship - University of Houston
GCEC Award of Entrepreneurial Leadership
- Troesh Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation - University of Nevada, Las Vegas
The Nasdaq Center for Entrepreneurial Excellence Award recognizes a single, outstanding university entrepreneurship program each year and is the highest award presented during the conference.
Nasdaq Center for Entrepreneurial Excellence
- John W. Altman Institute for Entrepreneurship - Miami University
Three legacy awards were also announced to honor individuals for pioneering work in advancing entrepreneurship in universities and/or directing a university entrepreneurship center that created a legacy impact on the field of entrepreneurship. The GCEC Legacy Award was created in 2012 and there have been only 7 recipients to date. Candidates for the award demonstrate a long-term commitment to entrepreneurship in an academic setting and have achieved a standard of excellence and made a substantial impact upon students, faculty, staff, startups and/or region.
2020 Special Posthumous Legacy Award: Patricia Henriques, educator/entrepreneur-in-residence: Babson College / Georgetown University / Oklahoma State University / University of Utah / Simmons University / Syracuse University
2020 Legacy Award: Dianne Welsh, Hayes Distinguished Chair and Professor of Entrepreneurship; founder and director emeritus of the North Carolina Entrepreneurship Center; founding director of the Entrepreneurship Cross-Disciplinary Program at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro; Fulbright-Hall Endowed Professor of Entrepreneurship for Central Europe (2015)
2020 Legacy Award: Edward Roberts, David Sarnoff Professor of Management of Technology and Founder/Chair of the MIT Entrepreneurship Center – Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
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