Nationally Renowned Expert to Discuss Role of Entrepreneurs in War-Torn Societies

Baylor’s Annual Free Enterprise Forum Opens This Week

Media Contact: Eric M. Eckert, 254-710-1964
Follow Eric on Twitter: @EricBaylorU
Follow Baylor Media Communications on Twitter: @BaylorUMedia

WACO, Texas (Sept. 12, 2017) – Baylor University’s John F. Baugh Center for Entrepreneurship and Free Enterprise kicks off its annual Free Enterprise Forum this week with one of the nation’s leading experts on entrepreneurship education – Steve Mariotti, founder of Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship and author of “An Entrepreneur’s Manifesto.”

The Free Enterprise Forum features four academically renowned guests who speak on a wide range of business topics. Speakers visit campus during set times throughout the fall semester.

Mariotti, a regular columnist for The Huffington Post, is scheduled to open this year’s speaker series with his lecture “The Triumph of the Entrepreneurial Spirit: Entrepreneurs in War-Torn Societies" at 4 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 14, in Room 250 of the Paul L. Foster Campus for Business and Innovation, the home of Baylor’s Hankamer School of Business. He will speak about entrepreneurs from disadvantaged backgrounds, focusing on their roles in healing war-torn societies.

“In the coming decades, young people who are capable of adjusting by learning new skills and finding ways to utilize those new skills to participate in the ownership opportunities presented by the continual change in economic marketplace will be on the forefront of the coming entrepreneurial society,” Mariotti said. “I hope my visit helps every Baylor student consider the opportunity of a small business career.”

In the 1980s, after surviving a mugging, Mariotti left a successful job in business to become a public high school teacher in New York City. It was there that he discovered he could reach even his most troubled students by teaching them to run small businesses. In 1987, he founded the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) to bring entrepreneurship education to low-income youth. NFTE has worked with more than 600,000 young people from low-income communities in 17 states and 10 countries. Mariotti has authored or co-authored 34 books and textbooks for young entrepreneurs.

“The Free Enterprise Forum brings prominent academics, businesspeople, journalists and other public figures to Baylor for lectures, discussions and debates,” said Peter Klein, Ph.D., professor of entrepreneurship in the Hankamer School of Business and senior fellow in the Baugh Center for Entrepreneurship and Free Enterprise. “We aim to expose our students, and the larger community, to leading ideas and issues related to the free enterprise system.”

Future Forum speakers include:

David R. Henderson, Ph.D., professor of economics at the Graduate School of Business and Public Policy, Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, and a Research Fellow with the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, will give the lecture “Economic Inequality: Popular Misconceptions and Important Facts” at 4 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 19, in Foster, Room 240. Henderson, who is editor of The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics, served as senior economist for health policy and senior economist for energy policy for President Ronald Reagan’s Council of Economic Advisers. He specializes in making economics understandable to non-economists.

Bill Moore, president and CEO of PacMoore, will present “Faith in the Workspace and Marketspace” at 4 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 16, in Foster, Room 250. After graduating from the University of Wisconsin with a B.S. in chemical engineering, Moore became a product development engineer for Procter & Gamble in 1985. After the unexpected death of his stepfather, Moore left P&G to lead his stepfather’s company, George Meyer Company. He developed a functional ability to process recycled starch products, while also recognizing a need by many companies in the food industry for a trusted and capable contract manufacturing partner. Moore’s energy and forward-thinking attitude have helped to spur this remarkable growth, not only in facilities but in sales and people as well. Employee transformation, including spiritual development, has defined the culture and the ability of the company to expand. The company employs 300 people, processes approximately 250 million pounds of ingredients each year and generates annual sales of over $35 million.

During his talk, Moore will announce the Baylor student recipients of the Muhabwa Innocent Marketplace Missionary Award.

More information about the Forum, speakers and the Muhabwa Innocent Marketplace Missionary Award can be found on the Baugh Center website.

ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY
Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked research institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for more than 16,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 80 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions.

ABOUT HANKAMER SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business provides a rigorous academic experience, consisting of classroom and hands-on learning, guided by Christian commitment and a global perspective. Recognized nationally for several programs, including Entrepreneurship and Accounting, the school offers 24 undergraduate and 13 graduate areas of study. Visit https://www.baylor.edu/business/ and follow on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Baylor_Business.