Babson President Stephen Spinelli Receives Entrepreneurial Achievement Award

WELLESLEY, Mass., Jan. 21, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Babson College's Stephen Spinelli Jr., PhD, MBA'92, president of the top ranked college for the study of entrepreneurship and a leader in education innovation, has received the Entrepreneurial Achievement Award from the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE).

USASBE honored President Spinelli with the John E. Hughes/USASBE Award for Entrepreneurial Achievement, which focuses on entrepreneurial and philanthropic achievement and commitment to entrepreneurship education. 

USASBE, one of the leading entrepreneurship education organization, presented the honor during the organization's annual conference, where President Spinelli delivered one of the keynote addresses, Higher Education on the Precipice: Why Entrepreneurship Matters More Than Ever.

"What distinguishes Dr. Spinelli are his distinguished and sustained contributions as a leading scholar and as an administrator at Philadelphia University, Thomas Jefferson University, and Babson College," said Eric Liguori, USASBE president and Executive Director and Rohrer Chair of Entrepreneurship at the Rowan Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Rowan University.

"Informed by his success as an entrepreneur and co-founder of Jiffy Lube International, as well as by his research as a scholar and by his time in the classroom, Dr. Spinelli has meaningfully helped to bridge academia and industry at each of the institutions that he has led," said Liguori.

"USASBE Hughes award winners are accomplished entrepreneurs who take the knowledge that they have gained in the field and share it to inform, transform, and empower the generations ahead," said Liguori. 

"The impact of Dr. Spinelli on entrepreneurship education and research during the past several decades is known far and wide," Liguori added. "He has championed the growth and development of the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, the world's largest collaborative research project studying entrepreneurship activities and mindsets. Insights from GEM, which was cofounded by Babson, have helped transform education and public policy at a global level."

"Dr. Spinelli has supported entrepreneurship education worldwide, overseeing the expansion of Babson's Symposium for Entrepreneurship Educators program, helping to scale its impact to hundreds of new educators and tens of thousands to new students across the globe," Liguori said.

"A leading champion for interdisciplinary education, Dr. Spinelli established at Philadelphia the unique Kanbar College of Design, Engineering, and Commerce, one of America's first multidisciplinary colleges," he said.

"Dr. Spinelli's accomplishments are vast and his impact unquestionable. Yet, he remains a humble servant leader, working daily to help transform education and empower students to thrive in an ever-evolving business environment. His continued perseverance and service-above-self philosophy of life are traits exhibited by Mr. Hughes himself and are central to why USASBE has selected Dr. Spinelli as the 2020 Hughes Award winner," Liguori said.

Higher Education on the Precipice: Why Entrepreneurship Matters More

President Spinelli's keynote at the USASBE annual conference focused on the need for entrepreneurial innovation in education that can impact society.  His key points included:

• Colleges and universities are contending with dramatically unfavorable demographic trends, declining enrollments, and a burdensome regulatory and cost environment.
• The pace of change in the world and workplace is creating disruption in almost every industry.
• The future of work is driving entrepreneurship education to the forefront of business education specifically and higher education generally.
• This is a time of unprecedented opportunity for entrepreneurial leaders who are nimble, opportunity-driven, innovative, and growth-oriented.
• Babson provides a vision for higher education innovation by developing a system that will inspire and empower entrepreneurial leaders to thrive in any context; build and leverage an impactful, networked, global entrepreneurial ecosystem; engage learners on their terms; and model entrepreneurial leadership.

About President Stephen Spinelli Jr.

Dr. Spinelli began his journey at Babson as an MBA student and later as a professor and administrator. He has spent his career at the intersection of academia, business, and philanthropy.

During his 14 years at Babson, he served as the Alan Lewis Chair in Global Management, Chair of the Entrepreneurship Division, Director of The Arthur M. Blank Center for Entrepreneurship, and Vice Provost for Entrepreneurship and Global Management. An accomplished entrepreneur, Dr. Spinelli co-founded Jiffy Lube International. In 2011, he was inducted into Babson's Alumni Entrepreneur Hall of Fame.

He served for 10 years as president of Philadelphia University, and, after leading the successful merger of Philadelphia and Thomas Jefferson universities, he was named Chancellor of Thomas Jefferson University. As president, he established the unique Kanbar College of Design, Engineering, and Commerce: one of America's first transdisciplinary colleges. He championed the Master of Science in Sustainable Design, an award-winning, transdisciplinary, collaborative degree program that is among the most recognized sustainable design graduate degrees. He returned to Babson as President in 2019.

John E. Hughes/USASBE Award for Entrepreneurial Advocacy

Newly established in 2018, The John E. Hughes Award for Entrepreneurial Achievement recognizes an individual who, through significant and sustained entrepreneurial initiatives, has demonstrated a unique ability to accept and manage risk, exercise personal control, and acquire personal reward. The recipients should be an entrepreneur (new venture, corporate, and/or social) that is committed to entrepreneurship education and has demonstrated impact on the field of entrepreneurship, community leadership and philanthropic giving. 

Nominee Criteria

• Nominees should be an individual who has used business ownership to make a positive contribution to the world. Business ownership can be through startup or being a CEO of an existing organization.
• Candidates should demonstrate a commitment to entrepreneurship education at any level, and their impact on entrepreneurship education will be considered a plus.
• Nominees should exhibit philanthropic achievement recognizing the importance of "paying it forward" to help others (including organizations) positively impact their community.

John E. Hughes was born in February, 1927. He dropped out of high school in 1944 and volunteered for military service in World War II, serving with the parachute infantry. After leaving the service, he obtained a high school GED in 1947, and went on to receive his C.P.A. certificate, from the University of Illinois in 1957. In 1968, he founded his own C.P.A. firm. After selling his firm, he went on to be an owner and CEO at Archibald/Fannie May Candy Shops, Inc. from 1981 through 1991, selling his interest in October 1991. Mr. Hughes is passionate about self-employment and its positive impact on individuals and communities, which is why this award was established in his name supported by the Coleman Foundation where Mr. Hughes is Board Chairman Emeritus.

About USASBE

USASBE is an inclusive community advancing entrepreneurship education through bold teaching, scholarship, and practice.

About Babson College

Babson College is the educator, convener, and thought leader of Entrepreneurship of All Kinds^®. The top-ranked college for entrepreneurship education, Babson is a dynamic living and learning laboratory where students, faculty, and staff work together to address the real-world problems of business and society. We prepare the entrepreneurial leaders our world needs most: those with strong functional knowledge and the skills and vision to navigate change, accommodate ambiguity, surmount complexity, and motivate teams in a common purpose to make a difference in the world, and have an impact on organizations of all sizes and types. As we have for nearly a half-century, Babson continues to advance Entrepreneurial Thought & Action^® as the most positive force on the planet for generating sustainable economic and social value.

SOURCE Babson College