HWS News
20 February 2023 • Entrepreneurship HWS’ Newest Major: Management and Entrepreneurship
Fusing liberal arts critical thinking with management and data literacy skills, the new program offers aspiring business leaders a strong foundation to solve complex problems.
Hobart and William Smith’s Management and Entrepreneurship program, which will launch in the fall 2023 semester, provides an interdisciplinary structure for students interested in careers in business to succeed as leaders and innovators of the 21st century. The new major introduces students to a wide range of quantitative skills like data analysis and market literacy while developing the ethical and critical-thinking capabilities needed to take on today’s social, economic and environmental challenges.
Students present their capstone project at the Bozzuto Center for Entrepreneurship.
The program’s launch has been accelerated thanks to lead gifts in support of faculty from Chair of the Board of Trustees Craig R. Stine ’81, P’17 and his wife Kathy Hay Stine P’17, and Daniel L. Rosensweig ’83, President and CEO of Chegg and a former Trustee.
The Stines have committed a $2 million gift to endow a professorship in Management and Entrepreneurship.
“Business leaders need a diverse and ever-expanding set of skills, especially today, and in my experience, there is no better academic background than the liberal arts,” says Craig Stine, Vice Chairman for the Global Financial Institutions Group at Barclays Investment Bank. “I am thrilled about the opportunities that the Management and Entrepreneurship major will create for Hobart and William Smith students to develop the critical and creative thinking and strategic decision-making skills that will enable them, in turn, to create the future.”
Rosensweig also made a commitment to support faculty positions over the next five years. He says: “The liberal arts was always designed to use the tools and skills of the time to make cogent arguments and improve society.… In a world where technology is part of that discussion, and now with the advent of artificial intelligence, students who can think, question, collaborate, communicate and execute will find themselves in the leadership positions of the future. I believe that liberal arts, paired with entrepreneurship and an appreciation for technology along with an understanding of how to leverage it, is the right balance for students entering the modern economy.”
“We want to give our students the skills they need to pursue their passion when they leave Hobart and William Smith,” says Professor of Economics Tom Drennen, who chairs the Management and Entrepreneurship program. “This program represents an incredible amount of collaboration from faculty across the curriculum, and we are very grateful to Craig, Kathy and Dan for their support.”
Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurial Studies Craig Talmage answers questions from students.
“Today’s challenges are systemic, multifaceted and incredibly complex,” says Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurial Studies Craig Talmage. “Future leaders require interdisciplinary and critical perspectives on management and entrepreneurship. This program provides students with real world examples and experiences that enable them to tackle difficult issues, build collaborative teams, and construct innovative and viable solutions. A liberal arts approach provides an essential groundwork for this work.”
In addition to developing skills in data analysis and visualization, market and financial literacy, research methods, technical writing, and oral presentation and pitching, the Management and Entrepreneurship program offers interdisciplinary concentrations in Music Administration, Dance Administration, Spanish for Management, and Entrepreneurship and Ecopreneurship.
The major builds on the existing curriculum of the Entrepreneurial Studies minor program with new courses, including “Fundamentals of Marketing,” “Managerial Accounting,” “Organizational Management” and “Nonprofit Management,” and a capstone project, which challenges students to develop a complete, actionable business plan.
Beyond careers as entrepreneurs and leaders in public, private and nonprofit enterprises, Management and Entrepreneurship offers a compelling academic path for students interested in finance and consulting.
Learn more about the Management and Entrepreneurship major.
