Dean’s Message – August 2023

The last academic year brought milestone moments for the Ambassador Crawford College of Business and Entrepreneurship. The construction site for Crawford Hall has been an almost daily attraction as students, faculty, staff, alumni and members of the community as they have driven by the site or followed the construction progress online via live streaming.

A milestone in the construction process occurred this spring with a topping out ceremony. This event represented a long-standing tradition among iron workers to raise a signed, white beam to the highest point of the building, along with a small evergreen tree and an American flag on opposite ends, signifying that the structural frame was nearing completion. I am grateful to the many donors who have supported Crawford Hall, including Don and Johnna Grant who are featured in this newsletter.

A new addition to the college’s podcasts launched this year: “ASPIRE: The Life of an American Entrepreneur,” featuring Ambassador Edward F. Crawford. The 14-episode podcast tells the story of Ambassador Crawford’s entrepreneurial journey in his own words.

The college also completed the work to expand its academic departments by dividing the Department of Management and Information Systems (M&IS) into two departments – The Department of Management and The Department of Information Systems and Business Analytics. The M&IS department had experienced substantial growth over the years and the expansion allowed the college to better highlight each of these disciplines and provided the opportunity to feature the growing business analytics discipline within a department name. The new Department of Information Systems and Business Analytics will be led by Jose Benitez, Ph.D., the Bridgestone Chair of International Business, who recently joined the college from a prior appointment at EDHEC Business School in France.

Entrepreneurship students had several opportunities to participate or attend pitch competitions including the College’s annual spring pitch competition and the Rice Business Plan Competition in Texas.

I hope you enjoy the features in this newsletter and join me in looking forward to another year of milestones as we approach the opening of Crawford Hall.

Deborah F. Spake, Ph.D.
Dean