Open doors and friendly handshakes. The Lundquist College of Business offers students an unprecedented entrée into all aspects of their respective industries.

This is reflected in part by the visits from hundreds of business leaders who come to campus to share their insights with our students in workshops and lectures, via a speaker series, executive-in-residence program, entrepreneurs on campus, and more. What motivates these industry movers and shakers to become friends of the program? The reasons are as varied as their backgrounds.

Speaker Series

All four centers of excellence at the Lundquist College maintain active speaker series, providing an opportunity for students and faculty to hear practitioners from around the world. These guest speaker series bring a range of industry leaders as guest lecturers, feature an open question-and-answer format, and are open to the larger campus community. Guests are typically chief executives, founders, and presidents of their firms, and part of the broad network of industry support that the four centers enjoy.

Sports Product Management Industry Events

The Sports Product Management program hosts industry engagement events throughout the year as networking events, panels, speaker series, and more.

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Professors of Practice

In 2012, the Lundquist College of Business created a new class of professorship know as a professor of practice. These professors are highly motivated, dedicated professionals, academic, or government leaders who have blazed a trail that others follow. Professors of practice have limited-duration appointments spanning several years or months and provide practical course instruction to students, leading them through real-world applications of business methods and theory. They identify internship and experiential education opportunities that illustrate curriculum topics and academic principles, and they bring an extensive network of contacts and connections in their fields, providing opportunities for students to engage more intensively with industry.

Executives in Residence

Once or twice a year, the Center for Sustainable Business Practices and the Cameron Center for Finance and Securities Analysis invite leaders from companies to visit with our faculty and students for a day. These Executives in Residence engage with our students and share their wisdom, experience, and perspective. They work with students in a variety of settings—speaking to classes, holding public presentations, or even participating in lunch and dinner roundtables—in which students get to talk informally with them about their life, business, and experiences

What is so interesting about these visits is that the executives in residence themselves say they find tremendous value in participating—and ask to come back. 

Entrepreneurs on Campus

No amount of study and practice can prepare someone for the pressure, intensity, and ever-changing landscape of the real world. That's why the Lundquist Center for Entrepreneurship brings real-world, live-fire experience to students by hosting face-to-face interactions with successful entrepreneurs through the Entrepreneurs on Campus program. This undertaking is similar to the Executives in Residence program of other centers, but the focus is on entrepreneurship.

Each term, the Lundquist Center invites experienced entrepreneurs to come "back to campus" for a day. These Entrepreneurs-on-Campus fully engage with MBA students and share their wisdom, experience, and perspective. They work with students in a variety of settings—speaking to classes, participating in roundtables, and even holding office hours for more one-on-one interaction. Our entrepreneurs speak candidly with MBA students—not just about the nitty-gritty facts of business, but also about the nuances of what it takes to start a business and how the entrepreneurial experience meshes with other areas of life. Often, students get to talk with the entrepreneurs informally and frankly about life and business.

And it's not just a one-way street. The entrepreneurs say they find tremendous value participating in the program. They often finish their two- or three-day tenure feeling energized and, through sharing their experiences with students, are reminded of important lessons they've learned along their own business paths.

Previous Entrepreneurs on Campus have included: