UTC team places third in global entrepreneurial competition
The competition was stiff. The London School of Economics and Political Science placed first followed by Johannes Kepler University from Linz, Austria.
A team from the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC) was selected as one of the top three organizations in a worldwide competition honoring excellence and achievement in higher education entrepreneurship activities.
The recognition occurred at the recent Accreditation Council for Entrepreneurial and Engaged Universities’ global “Triple E Awards” ceremony in Barcelona, Spain, where the CIE team placed third in the “Innovation and Entrepreneurship Team of the Year” category. It focused on university programs that involve and benefit students and the local community.
UTC was in prestigious company, coming just behind the London School of Economics and Political Science, which won first place in the category, and Johannes Kepler University in Linz, Austria, which finished second.
“It was an honor to represent UTC and the Gary W. Rollins College of Business at the ‘Triple E Awards’ ceremony in Barcelona,” said Thomas Lyons, Clarence E. Harris Chair of Excellence in Entrepreneurship and Professor of Marketing and Entrepreneurship. “Our third-place finish speaks to the hard work, dedication and creativity of our team.”
Other CIE team members are Commercialization Coordinator Jennifer Skjellum, Entrepreneur-in-Residence Mike Bradshaw, and former CIE Director Libby Santin, who left UTC in January to start her own consulting business.
Innovation and Entrepreneurship Team of the Year global finalists also included the University of the South Pacific in Fiji and Gründungsgarage in Graz, Austria.
“The caliber of our competition only makes this accomplishment more impressive,” Lyons added.
