Bruce Barringer selected to lead OSU's entrepreneurship program
Thursday, August 8, 2013
Bruce Barringer has been selected as head of Oklahoma State University’s award-winning entrepreneurship program.
Barringer, the Johnny D. Pope Entrepreneurship Chair in the Spears School of Business for the past three years, will lead both the School of Entrepreneurship and the outreach branch, the Riata Center for Entrepreneurship, said Ken Eastman, interim dean of the Spears School.
Barringer's appointment is pending approval of the OSU Board of Regents at the Sept. 6 meeting.
“I’m very excited. We have a great group of students, we have a very engaged and skilled faculty, and a lot of support from the OSU community. We are confident that the best days of the School of Entrepreneurship and the Riata Center are ahead of us,” said Barringer, who has served an interim head of the School of Entrepreneurship since May 2012.
“Dr. Barringer has great plans for the school and the Riata Center and I look forward to more great things from the school. We greatly appreciate his willingness to accept this important, leadership role,” said Eastman.
Barringer lists five priorities for bettering the educational experience for OSU entrepreneurship students:
1) Significantly upgrade the school’s undergraduate program. “Our goal is to fully immerse our students in the life of our department and the programs we offer,” he said.
2) Shift the Master’s in Entrepreneurship (MSE) program to focus more on the skills that students need to start a business. “Our goal is to equip our master’s students to launch a business, regardless of whether they do it now or at some point in the future.”
3) Shift the focus of the Riata Center to focus more on student support. “We want to continue to offer our best external programs while supporting our students and student teams that are interested in launching businesses.”
4) Maintain a research-oriented culture for tenured and tenure-track faculty. “We will maintain a strong research focus for our tenured and tenure-track faculty, and continue to support a vibrant Ph.D. program.”
5) Act as a catalyst in creating an entrepreneurial university. “Our students achieve the highest levels of success when multiple units across the university are involved with their efforts. Thus, we will continue to form partnerships to lend support and expertise to our students.”
Barringer has been the director of the School of Entrepreneurship’s master’s program since 2010. He has taught courses at the Spears School on “Entrepreneurial Thinking and Behavior,” “Entrepreneurship and Venture Management,” “Advanced Entrepreneurship Practicum,” and “Launching a Business: The First 100 Days.”
He has written a weekly column, “The Wall Street Journal Entrepreneurship Weekly Review,” for Dow Jones, Inc., since 1999. The column focuses on entrepreneurship and related issues and is e-mailed by the Wall Street Journal to nearly 750 professors each week during the academic year.
OSU’s entrepreneurship continues to receive national acclaim since it was formed five years ago:
- The No. 1 Online Master’s in Entrepreneurship Program in the United States (TheBestSchools.org)
- The 2013 National Model Ph.D. Entrepreneurship Program Award, given annually to one university in the U.S. (United States Association of Small Business and Entrepreneurship)
- The School of Entrepreneurship is No. 22 in the 2013 rankings of the Top Schools for Entrepreneurship (U.S. News and World Report)
- OSU is No. 14 in the 2012 rankings of the top Graduate Entrepreneurship Programs in the U.S. (Princeton Review)
- OSU is No. 22 in the 2012 rankings of the top Undergraduate Entrepreneurship Programs in the U.S. (Princeton Review)
- The Riata Center was the recipient of the 2012 NASDAQ Center for Entrepreneurship Excellence Award (Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers)
- The 2012 National Model Undergraduate Entrepreneurship Program Award (United States Association of Small Business and Entrepreneurship), given annually to one university in the U.S.