The Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at The University of Texas at Dallas has been selected to host the 2023 Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers (GCEC) annual conference Oct. 5-7 in Richardson.
Themed “Mindsets and Methods,” the conference will focus on how to support entrepreneurs and will explore how university-based entrepreneurship centers can be more effective in their methods for teaching mindsets and skills to all students.
“UT Dallas is incredibly honored to be recognized among our peers as the 2023 conference host,” said Dresden Goldberg, senior director of programs and operations for the institute. “We are excited to show off North Texas and the amazing innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystems that have emerged in our communities. We look forward to our peers from entrepreneurship centers all over the world joining us to learn, connect, grow and better our efforts in the entrepreneurship space.”
Established in 2006, the institute is a nationally ranked center for student entrepreneurship and innovation and is an interdisciplinary division of the Naveen Jindal School of Management. Programming is open to students from any academic major and includes workshops, networking events, pitch competitions, venture support, innovation programs, scholarships and community outreach.
The institute manages the Venture Development Center (VDC), an incubation space for students, alumni and faculty seeking to commercialize their ideas and inventions, in partnership with the Office of Research and Innovation. An extension of the VDC recently opened at the Richardson Innovation Quarter.
The Blackstone LaunchPad network also is a part of the institute. Funded by a grant from the Blackstone Charitable Foundation, the network makes entrepreneurial skills accessible to all students and recent alumni through startup resources, mentors, advisors and events.
The GCEC is an academic organization that addresses emerging topics of importance to the nation’s university-based centers for entrepreneurship. It has become the vehicle by which the top established entrepreneurship centers, as well as emerging centers, can work together to share best practices, develop programs and initiatives, and collaborate and assist each other in advancing, strengthening and celebrating the role of universities in teaching the entrepreneurs of tomorrow.
Each year a global conference is held on the campus of a GCEC member school. The Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship at Rice University serves as the administrative home of the GCEC.
Impact of the GCEC: What They Said
“UT Dallas has long had a deeply ingrained entrepreneurial focus that benefits our students, faculty and the companies with whom we have partnered. We are honored to be chosen as the site for the next GCEC conference and proud to showcase campus and regional efforts to support entrepreneurship in the realm of tech-oriented research and innovation.”
— Dr. Richard C. Benson, president of UT Dallas and the Eugene McDermott Distinguished University Chair of Leadership
“We are known in Texas as leaders of entrepreneurship. This is what we have been since our founding. UT Dallas has always been focused on entrepreneurship, meeting industry needs and interacting with industry — this is all part of our institutional DNA. We look forward to showcasing our campus to an international community by hosting this conference. We are eager to illustrate and demonstrate what is special about what we do in the areas of innovation and entrepreneurship.”
— Dr. Joseph Pancrazio, UT Dallas vice president for research and innovation and professor of bioengineering