Babson’s Blank School, Frank & Eileen Center for Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership Honored at GCEC

Babson College was honored with a top award and the Frank & Eileen™ Center for Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership (F&E CWEL) at Babson received two recognitions at the Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers (GCEC) conference. 

Babson’s Arthur M. Blank School for Entrepreneurial Leadership, which hosted the GCEC conference last weekend, was named one of two winners of the GCEC Center of Entrepreneurial Leadership Award, along with the Sasin School of Management. 

F&E CWEL earned Highly Commended citations in two categories: Excellence in Specialty Entrepreneurship Education, and Exceptional Contributions in Entrepreneurship Research. 

Also, Michele Bernier, the associate director, programs and operations at Babson’s Kerry Murphy Healey Center for Health Innovation and Entrepreneurship, was recognized with the cohort of graduates of the GCEC Center Leadership Academy certification program. 

A total of 16 universities and colleges earned top honors in nine categories. Here is the complete list of 2024 GCEC awardees: 

Outstanding Emerging Entrepreneurship Center (schools with less than 7,500 students): 

• Highly Commended: Entrepreneurship Innovation Center at Bowie State University 
• Winner: Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the University of Tulsa 

Outstanding Emerging Entrepreneurship Center (schools with more than 7,500 students): 

• Highly Commended: Veale Institute for Entrepreneurship at Case Western Reserve University 
• Winner: Tulane Innovation Institute at Tulane University 

Exceptional Activities in Entrepreneurship Across Disciplines: 

• Highly Commended: University of Toronto Entrepreneurship 
• Winner:  Tsai Center for Innovative Thinking at Yale University 

Outstanding Contributions to Venture Creation: 

• Highly Commended: Velocity at the University of Waterloo 
• Winner 1: Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Chicago 
• Winner 2: University of Toronto Entrepreneurship 

Excellence in Specialty Entrepreneurship Education: 

• Highly Commended: The Frank & Eileen Center for Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership at Babson College 

• Winner: UCL School of Management at University College London 

Outstanding Student Engagement & Leadership (schools with less than 7,500 students): 

• Winner: Joseph C. Prince Entrepreneurship Program at Stetson University 

Outstanding Student Engagement & Leadership, schools with more than 7,500 students: 

• Winner: Pacific Asian Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Hawaii 
• Winner: J. Orin Edson Entrepreneurship + Innovation Institute at Arizona State University 

Exceptional Contributions in Entrepreneurship Research: 

• Highly Commended: The Frank & Eileen Center for Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership at Babson College 

• Winner: Pappajohn Center for Entrepreneurship at Iowa State University 

Excellence in Entrepreneurship Teaching and Pedagogical Innovation: 

• Highly Commended: The Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurial Development at UC Santa Cruz 
• Highly Commended: The SMU Impact Lab at Southern Methodist University 
• Winner: Simon Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship at Loyola University Maryland 

Nasdaq Center of Entrepreneurial Excellence (schools with less than 7,500 students): 

• Winner: Institute of Entrepreneurship and Private Capital at the London Business School 

Nasdaq Center of Entrepreneurial Excellence (schools with more than 7,500 students): 

• Highly Commended: Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation at Indiana University 
• Highly Commended: Schulze School of Entrepreneurship at University of St. Thomas 
• Winner 1: Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Texas Christian University 
• Winner 2: Georgetown Entrepreneurship at Georgetown University 

GCEC Center of Entrepreneurial Leadership 

• Winner 1: Babson College 
• Winner 2: Sasin School of Management 

Legacy Awards honoring individuals for their pioneering work advancing entrepreneurship in universities and/or directing a university entrepreneurship center that created a legacy impact on the field: 

• Winner 1: Jeffrey S. Hornsby, University of Missouri-Kansas City 
• Winner 2: Tom Byers and Tina Seelig, Stanford University 

GCEC also announced that the 2025 GCEC Conference will be hosted by the University of Calgary on October 2–4. 

Posted in Community, Entrepreneurial Leadership

Tagged Campus, Entrepreneurial Leadership, Entrepreneurship, Women's Leadership

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