A $1.5 million grant from the Burton D. Morgan Foundation will endow a chair in entrepreneurship at Baldwin-Wallace College and help provide leadership for campus initiatives that nurture innovation and growth in Northeast Ohio's economy.
Burton D. Morgan
(1916-2003) founded the Morgan Adhesives Company, a multi-national business producing self-adhesive paper, foils and films and served as its president from 1959 to 1974. He also was co-founder and president of Fasson Products. His personal venture capital company, Basic Search, Inc., established several manufacturing enterprises, while he also helped others start new businesses as a partner in Seed One. All the while, he served as chairman of Multi-Color Corporation, a manufacturer of product labels and provider of packaging services, and he played a key role in founding Filmco, which now is a division of R.J. Reynolds Industries.“We are grateful to The Burton D. Morgan Foundation for this wonderful endorsement of the work being done at Baldwin-Wallace College,” said B-W President Mark Collier. “Baldwin-Wallace is committed to being an active,contributing partner in our region's economic revitalization. This chair will substantially strengthen our ability to do just that.”
In addition to teaching at the undergraduate and graduate level, the holder of the Burton D. Morgan Chair in Entrepreneurial Studies will be responsible for coordinating and expanding current B-W programs related to economic development, as well as College outreach to entrepreneurs and interaction with the business community. Another emphasis will be to find ways to integrate entrepreneurial thinking throughout the business curriculum and across the campus.
The first holder of the Morgan Chair will be Peter Rea, chairman of the Division of Business Administration. “While it is vitally important that corporate leaders, entrepreneurs and academics – especially in business and science – collaborate, the fact is this rarely occurs,” noted Rea.
“The Burton D. Morgan Chair will facilitate collaboration between B-W and the regional community and within B-W across disciplines. The guiding principle is to promote innovation guided by integrity.”
The Burton D. Morgan Foundation, based in Akron and administered by an independent board of trustees, was started in 1967. Its mission is to strengthen the free enterprise system by investing in organizations and institutions that foster the entrepreneurial spirit.
“Many of the traditional cornerstones of our region's economy have gone out of business, been acquired or departed from the community. It is clear to many that future economic growth will have to come from sectors other than heavy manufacturing,” observed Collier.
“We are convinced that the Morgan Chair will be a significant asset when helping our region to nurture an entrepreneurial environment, which is supportive of new and developing business ventures.” In addition to its academic emphasis on entrepreneurial thinking, Baldwin-Wallace College already is serving the region through a number of entrepreneurially-based initiatives, such as its Business Clinic, which assists in the development of more than 100 business plans each year, and partnerships with area financial institutions and organizations, such as the Council of Smaller Enterprises, the Cleveland Foundation's Civic Innovation Lab, and the President's Council.
The College also hosts offices for Glengary LLC, a venture catalyst enterprise that invests combinations of human and financial capital almost exclusively in start-up companies in Northeast Ohio. B-W students are able to attend Glengary partner meetings, work with client companies, and learn first-hand how venture investment works.
“Being recognized by The Burton D. Morgan Foundation is significant,” said Thomas Tyrrell, Glengary managing director. “Burton Morgan embodied all the qualities and spirit of what it means to be an entrepreneur. This spirit will now live on in the region through B-W's Chair in Entrepreneurial Studies, further inspiring the economic revival of Northeast Ohio.”
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