Management programs get boost from anonymous donor

Students in the School of Management soon will enjoy a new tutoring/mentor program and an enhanced entrepreneurship course and pitch competition, thanks to a donation of more than $300,000.

The donor, who wishes to remain anonymous, agreed to fund two proposals.

One is for a tutoring/mentor program that will run in the school’s Undergraduate Learning and Community Center, a new signature space in the lower level of Jacobs Management Center slated for completion in fall 2015.

The second proposal is to support the Entrepreneurship Lab (eLab), a boot-camp-style course that gives students the concepts and tools they need to function as entrepreneurs, and the Elevator Pitch competition, in which students generate novel ideas, connect with peers and learn how to pitch to potential investors.

Both the eLab and the pitch competition were designed by Yong Li, associate professor of operations management and strategy in the School of Management. Last year, UB’s Office of Science, Technology Transfer and Economic Outreach and the Undergraduate Entrepreneurship Academy partnered with the School of Management to offer both initiatives.

“We are so pleased to receive this funding because of the impact it will have on our students,” says Arjang Assad, dean of the School of Management. “The eLab and pitch competition will support our growing entrepreneurship focus, and the tutoring/mentor programs will significantly enhance learning opportunities for our undergraduate business majors and help build a sense of community.”