Professor advocates entrepreneurs
By combining the elements of entrepreneurship, technology and education, Professor Kathleen Allen has launched herself as one of the leading faculty members at USC.
Entrepreneur· Professor Kathleen Allen has been a leading proponent in cross-disciplinary education, combining the strengths of the Keck, Viterbi and Marshall schools. – Photo courtesy of USC Marshall
Allen, who was recently awarded the 2014 Entrepreneurship Educator of the Year Award from the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship, has been a USC professor for more than 20 years at the Marshall School of Business and the Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurship Studies.
USC Vice Dean for Faculty and Academic Affairs Gareth M. James stressed how high an honor Allen’s award was.
“In making its selection from among a large pool of deserving nominees, the awards committee specifically commended Dr. Allen’s extensive and exemplary record of publication that includes some of the best-selling entrepreneurship textbooks in the world,” James said.
The veteran professor has helped propel the school’s entrepreneurial program to the top, and James G. Ellis, dean of the USC Marshall School of Business, noted how beneficial her contributions have been.
“Kathy Allen has been critical to helping our Lloyd Greif Center Entrepreneurial Studies program grow into the leading entrepreneurial studies program it is today,” Ellis said. “She has become the go-to person to help USC students, alumni and faculty commercialize complex technology ideas. We could not be more proud.”
The Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, the first entrepreneurship program in the United States, was established in 1972. It aims to equip students with the comprehensive skills required to start and manage a successful new business venture.
The program is currently ranked among the top undergraduate and graduate entrepreneurial programs in the nation. In 2013, Entrepreneur magazine ranked the program No. 3 on its list of Top 25 Undergraduate College and Business Schools. Businessweek with U.S. News and World Report describing The Greif Center as “one of the best” in the country.
According to her article “The Value of Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration,” Allen has dedicated her teaching and research to “the business of commercializing technological innovations developed by university scientists.”
Professor Kathleen Allen, however, has quite the unconventional background. With degrees in business, foreign language and music, her role in the technological field at first can seem quite misplaced. Yet her background is exactly what gave her the edge she needed.
“My experience in business and entrepreneurship enabled me to bring to the table a set of unique skills and a market perspective that scientists, physicians, and engineers didn’t have,” Allen said in her article.
Though now well-established in the field of entrepreneurship, Allen revealed that her passion did not begin until later in her life when she entered the business industry for the first time. This newfound interest was fueled by the desire to be her own boss.
“I have always been interested in technology because I grew up with a father who always brought home the latest technology gadgets,’’ Allen said. “However, entrepreneurship was a field that I did not get into until my 30s when I first started my business. I never wanted to work for someone else. Entrepreneurship provides me the ownership I always wanted.”
Allen is also a leading proponent of cross-disciplinary education. She is a founding director of the Marshall Center for Technology Commercialization, an interdisciplinary partnership founded in the 1990s to support entrepreneurship education across USC’s business, medical and engineering schools.
“My courses in entrepreneurship and technology commercialization bring together business, science, and engineering students to create diverse perspectives that produce new insights and a level of creative and critical thinking I have not seen in more discipline-focused classes,” Allen said in her article.
Sandra J. Chrystal, vice dean for online education at Marshall, expressed the importance of Allen’s cross-disciplinary contributions.
“Professor Allen’s vision, commitment and research have provided Marshall, Keck and Viterbi students and faculty with knowledge focused on commercialization of entrepreneurial technology,” Chrystal said. “She designed and directs the Center for Technology for Commercialization, one of Marshall’s Centers of Excellence. In addition to these unique contributions, she actively engages with the Marshall Faculty Technology committee and several other key Marshall and USC committees.”
Allen is also the owner of four successful businesses and the author of 15 entrepreneurship books, including Launching New Ventures: An Entrepreneurial Approach, Entrepreneurship for Scientists and Engineers.
She hopes to keep expanding the entrepreneurial program in the years to come.
“At USC, I wish to expand the program to the undergraduate level as well as the graduate level,” Allen said. “We also want to develop an online version of the program that could reach out to the people in the industry.”