CHICAGO — Business strategist Terri Lonier has been appointed executive director of the Coleman Entrepreneurship Center and clinical professor of management in DePaul University’s Driehaus College of Business.

An entrepreneurship scholar and business historian whose work explores the intersection of business, technology and visual culture, Lonier is a pioneer in the microbusiness movement, authoring five books, hundreds of articles and three audio programs.

“Students today are embracing entrepreneurship in record numbers, and DePaul has long been recognized as a national leader in entrepreneurship education,” Lonier said. “I am pleased to bring my deep experience in both the entrepreneurial and academic environments to DePaul’s distinguished program. I look forward to creating a bridge between the classroom and the world of entrepreneurship for students throughout the university.”

Ray Whittington, dean of the Driehaus College of Business, said Lonier will be an asset to the Coleman Entrepreneurship Center. “Dr. Lonier brings a level of education and experience to move the Coleman Entrepreneurship Center forward in terms of both operations and reputation,” he said.

Lonier said future programs at the center will include entrepreneurial speakers, business workshops, student business competitions, and individual and group advising—all designed to help students understand what it takes to be an entrepreneur.

“The momentum of entrepreneurship in Chicago has risen dramatically in the past few years,” she said. “This is an exciting time for any DePaul student who wants to explore entrepreneurship. If a student is thinking of starting a business or being self-employed, we want to help them create a path to success.”

Most recently, Lonier was assistant professor and program supervisor of entrepreneurship and strategy in the Arts, Entertainment and Media Management department at Columbia College Chicago. Prior to joining Columbia in fall 2010, Lonier led the strategy consulting firm Working Solo, Inc., which guided Fortune 100 and high-tech firms such as Apple, Microsoft, Bank of America, Visa USA and HP in reaching the small business marketplace. Her entrepreneurial startup guide, “Working Solo,” was named “the No. 1 choice for solo entrepreneurs” in an Inc. magazine cover story and “the free agent’s bible” by Fast Company magazine.
  

Lonier received her doctoral degree in business history from New York University, where she was awarded a MacCracken Fellowship to research the history of entrepreneurialism, branding and food marketing in the United States. She has a master of fine arts degree from the University of Florida, and a bachelor of fine arts degree from Saint Mary’s College in Notre Dame, Ind.

The Coleman Entrepreneurship Center was established at DePaul through a Coleman Foundation pledge of $2.5 million in 2003. Building on DePaul’s well-respected academic programs in entrepreneurship that were first offered in 1982, the center promotes entrepreneur education and offers services to assist entrepreneurs. Since opening its doors in September 2003, the center has assisted hundreds of entrepreneur clients through professional and student-based consulting services.

Entrepreneur magazine and the Princeton Review recently ranked DePaul’s entrepreneurial programs among the country’s 25 best for entrepreneurship education. The academic program is headed by Harold Welsch, Coleman Foundation Chair in Entrepreneurship. Of the more than 2,000 surveyed for the “Best Schools for Entrepreneurs 2012” guidebook, DePaul’s graduate entrepreneurship program was ranked 17th and the undergraduate program was ranked 20th.

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SOURCE:

Terri Lonier

tlonier@depaul.edu

312-362-6489