New director takes job with Kelley school

A new executive director appointed to the Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation has big plans for the Kelley School of Business at IU.\nDonald F. Kuratko was offered the position of executive director along with the Jack M. Gill Chair of Entrepreneurship. \nKuratko, who will officially begin his duties in January, said he will work toward his goal of making IU the No. 1 entrepreneurship program in the country.\nFor the last 21 years, Kuratko served as founding director of the entrepreneurship program at Ball State, leading the school to numerous national rankings, such as a U.S. News and World Report's ranking as the No. 1 public university for entrepreneurship.\nAlthough he is leaving a successful program behind, Kuratko said he sees the move as a dream come true and the last phase of his career.\n"I always said the only way I'd ever leave Ball State after 21 years is if a dream job at a Big Ten university came along," he said. "This is where I want to call home, and this is where I want to build a program for the rest of my career. I'm fully committed."\nDan Smith, interim dean of the Kelley School of Business, said he is as pleased to have Kuratko at IU as Kuratko is to be here.\n"He is widely recognized as a leader in the field of entrepreneurship with several best-selling books to his credit," Smith said. "He is a person of incredible energy, creativity and integrity. He is also an extraordinarily gifted teacher and will make many contributions in the development of our students."\nWhile serving as director of the Johnson Center, Kuratko will also be teaching Master of Business Administration -- and possibly Ph.D.-level entrepreneurship classes. \n"I love teaching," Kuratko said. "I love bringing energy to the classroom and motivating students to want to learn the subject material."\nKuratko, known as "Dr. K" to his students, said the benefits of teaching aren't restricted to the classroom.\n"A piece of your soul goes with each and every one of your students," he said. "I get such a sincere joy and satisfaction in seeing students go out and succeed. No other job can replace that."\nIn order to ensure the success of students at IU and achieve his goal of creating a top-ranking program, Kuratko said he has plans for many areas of the program. He said he wants to make sure students get exposure to the best companies in Indiana and receive the right kind of background curriculum-wise. He said he will also do more to promote and facilitate the world-class research he believes the Kelley school to be capable of.\n"If here at IU we can be leaders in these areas, the rest of the nation will look to us as a model," he said. "I think that is what we are going to build, the national model. I'm really excited about it."\nPatricia McDougall, Kelley School of Business interim associate director, said she has been observing Kuratko's success at Ball State for the past 15 years and is looking forward to work with Kuratko in the years to come.\n"I love his energy," she said. "He's always up, always full of ideas. This is going to be a fun journey."\n-- Contact staff writer Haley Beck at habeck@indiana.edu.