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Develop Your Creative Confidence

Entrepreneurship Department

In this time of fluid, lean business practices, it’s valuable to bring entrepreneurial skills and an innovative mindset to the table. Whether you want to start a new venture or innovate within an existing company, the Entrepreneurship department at St. Thomas gives you the competitive edge you seek.

Become a More Innovative Thinker

Our entrepreneurship department offers both graduate and undergraduate study options. Earn an MBA, or BA with an entrepreneurship concentration. Round out a BA of another concentration with an entrepreneurship minor, or take a single class.

At St. Thomas, we believe that entrepreneurship isn’t just for startups. Everyone can benefit from learning to think like an entrepreneur. We teach students to create environments where entrepreneurial ideas can flourish, to identify and evaluate new opportunities, and to transform innovations into sustainable businesses.

Experienced, accessible faculty provide the outstanding instruction and support you need to embark on an entrepreneurship career or enhance your current credentials. Our experiential, hands-on curriculum develops your creative voice and confidence, and prepares you to make a professional impact. Graduate students attend class on the Minneapolis campus in Schulze Hall. Undergraduates have the opportunity to utilize our new innovation space in St. Paul, and the [create]space in the Anderson Student Center.

Learn more about our entrepreneurship programs, resources and faculty. Have questions? Please contact us.

Undergraduate Students: (651) 962-5544
Graduate Students: (651) 962-4200

Contact

Dr. Laura Dunham

Entrepreneurship Department Chair
Laura Dunham headshot.
Email
lcdunham@stthomas.edu
Phone Number
(651) 962-4409
A view of Schulze Hall and the skyline behind in downtown Minneapolis.

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The Schulze School of Entrepreneurship

The Schulze School of Entrepreneurship is home to our undergraduate and graduate degree programs in entrepreneurship. The Schulze School also houses the [create]space and our new innovation center in St. Paul, as well as the centers and institutes that provide entrepreneurial education and services to the public.

More About the Schulze School

Explore the Entrepreneurship Department

  • Academic Programs and Research Opportunities
  • Internships
  • Career Development Resources

    • Academic Programs and Research Opportunities

    Whether you’re an undergraduate or graduate student, St. Thomas has the programs and courses you need to develop your entrepreneurial expertise. The Schulze School of Entrepreneurship brings together the university's graduate and undergraduate degree programs in entrepreneurship.

    Undergrads can prepare to become entrepreneurs or run a family business with concentrations in those areas. Graduate students in MBA programs can choose to focus on new-venture management/entrepreneurship. This combination gives students the wide-ranging business education of an MBA, as well as advanced skills in entrepreneurship.

    Explore Entrepreneurship Degrees and Concentrations

    Undergraduate concentrations:

    Graduate programs: 

    Internships

    Local companies, large and small, startups and established, seek out our entrepreneurially minded students for internships. Many internships are paid, some turn into careers, and all are valuable. Our unique Entrepreneurial Fellowship places student interns in early-stage companies. Students who take on an Entrepreneurial Fellowship work with a faculty member to present what they’ve learned in class.

    Career Development Resources

    Our goal is to help you find the right home for your unique creative vision and voice, whether that’s in your own business or an existing one. The Career Development team at the Schulze School can help you explore your options, find job opportunities, and prepare to interview.
    Schulze School Career Development

    Academic Programs and Research Opportunities

    Whether you’re an undergraduate or graduate student, St. Thomas has the programs and courses you need to develop your entrepreneurial expertise. The Schulze School of Entrepreneurship brings together the university's graduate and undergraduate degree programs in entrepreneurship.

    Undergrads can prepare to become entrepreneurs or run a family business with concentrations in those areas. Graduate students in MBA programs can choose to focus on new-venture management/entrepreneurship. This combination gives students the wide-ranging business education of an MBA, as well as advanced skills in entrepreneurship.

    Explore Entrepreneurship Degrees and Concentrations

    Undergraduate concentrations:

    Graduate programs: 

    Schulze School Career Development

    Internships

    Local companies, large and small, startups and established, seek out our entrepreneurially minded students for internships. Many internships are paid, some turn into careers, and all are valuable. Our unique Entrepreneurial Fellowship places student interns in early-stage companies. Students who take on an Entrepreneurial Fellowship work with a faculty member to present what they’ve learned in class.
    Schulze School Career Development

    Career Development Resources

    Our goal is to help you find the right home for your unique creative vision and voice, whether that’s in your own business or an existing one. The Career Development team at the Schulze School can help you explore your options, find job opportunities, and prepare to interview.
    Schulze School Career Development

    Competitions & Scholarships

    Sharpen your competitive edge and earn financial support in several competitions at St. Thomas:

    Entrepreneurship Challenge
    The nation’s largest undergraduate business pitch competition gives funding to the top presenters, to support their budding businesses.

    The Fowler Business Concept Challenge
    Undergraduate and graduate students can compete in two different tracks: The Business Concept Track for those focused on more traditional commercial ventures, and the Social Venture Track, for students whose ventures aim to solve social problems. Scholarships are awarded to the top four finishers and best presenter in each track.

    Schulze Innovation Scholarship
    This four-year full-tuition scholarship and premier academic program helps to launch the careers of students ready to tackle big challenges through innovation and entrepreneurial leadership. We admit up to 10 freshman and transfer students to the program each year. Application required.

    Members gathered for a social event to submit names for a space.

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    Entrepreneurship Society

    In weekly meetings and special events, the St. Thomas Entrepreneurship Society gives you opportunities to network with fellow innovative thinkers. Listen to guest speakers and participate in real-world learning opportunities.

    Learn More and See Upcoming Events

    Featured Faculty

    Alec Johnson headshot.

    Alec Johnson, PhD

    Associate Professor in Entrepreneurship

    Alec Johnson has published in entrepreneurship and strategy journals with his work focusing on entrepreneurial strategy and finance. He is active in developing case studies on opportunity identification, business models, entrepreneurial management and entrepreneurial finance. In 2013, Johnson and colleague James Ebben developed the innovative Lemonade Stand Class, which earned the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship® 2013 award for Special Recognition in Entrepreneurship Education Innovation. He received his PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

    Read Full Bio

    AnnMarie Thomas headshot.

    AnnMarie Thomas, PhD

    Associate Professor in Entrepreneurship, Associate Professor in Engineering

    AnnMarie Thomas focuses her research on design process and prototyping, and the ways creativity and play can enhance learning environments. She is the founder and director of the St. Thomas Playful Learning Lab, which invites students to look at engineering challenges through a playful lens. Working with St. Thomas undergrad students in the PLL, Thomas founded Squishy Circuits, a product that uses homemade play dough to demonstrate electrical properties and turns kids into circuit designers. The success of Squishy Circuits led to a popular TED talk.

    Read Full Bio

    Jay Ebben headshot.

    Jay Ebben, PhD

    Associate Professor in Entrepreneurship

    In addition to teaching courses in entrepreneurial finance, business development and small business management, Jay Ebben advises the Practicing Entrepreneurs group. In 2010, Ebben won the Julie Hays Teaching Award in the Opus College of Business. In 2011, he received a Fulbright Scholarship to teach in Slovenia in 2011, where he has returned each summer to lead an entrepreneurship program sponsored by AMCHAM and the U.S. Embassy. He has started several businesses and has worked with entrepreneurs at many stages of business development. He earned his B.S. in industrial engineering from Marquette University and his MBA and PhD in entrepreneurship at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

    Read Full Bio

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