Fulbright Forum -
Newsletter of the Fulbright Academy - October 2009
Ever wonder about the impact of your work and teaching
on others?
Dr. Fred Kiesner - a 1987 Fulbright lecturer at the University of Limerick, Ireland - was
honored this week by a $5 million donation from one of his former students/mentees to recognize Fred's decades as a leader in entrepreneurship education. The
$5 million goes to Loyola Marymount University, where Fred has taught since 1974, and the funds will endow the "Fred Kiesner Center for
Entrepreneurship."
“[Fred] gave me an opportunity. He has also done this for so many thousands of students over
the decades, both before and after me: to learn and see the world with all its disappointment and wonder,” said Ron Valenta, a 1980 graduate of LMU
whose family created the $5 million endowment in Kiesner’s name. “His passion embodies the true entrepreneurial spirit of the United States
… what a great legacy for LMU to name its Center of Entrepreneurship after him. I am so very fortunate and proud of him.” The
endowment will enable the school to compete for the best faculty, develop new courses and complement its curriculum with speaker events, networking
opportunities, hands-on experience and service activities.
LMU's undergraduate and graduate entrepreneurship programs were named among the nation’s top
25 programs this year by the Princeton Review and Entrepreneur magazine’s sixth annual Top 50 Entrepreneurial Colleges. The undergraduate program
is rated 17th and the graduate program 12th.
Fred earned his doctorate in management and education at Claremont Graduate University
in 1984, where he studied with management guru Peter Drucker. He earned his MBA at Northwestern University in 1962, and his BS at the
University of Minnesota.
Fred is the Conrad N. Hilton Chair of Entrepreneurship and has been affiliated with the College of
Business Administration since 1974. He is the Past National President for Association of Private Enterprise Education, is a member and the
former national president of the U.S. Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship, and the Regional President of the Small Business Institute Directors
Association. He has over 175 placements of articles in various academic journals, books, magazines, newspapers, television and other publications in
the business, educational and entrepreneurial field throughout the world and has appeared on a number of local, regional and national radio and TV show
programs in the U.S., Ireland, England, France, Russia (the Soviet Union), Canada, Yugoslavia, and Singapore, speaking on entrepreneurship and other business
subjects.
(Click here for a 2004
conversation with Fred & Ron Valenta - 54 minutes)
Upcoming FAST
Events
Budapest, Hungary - November 3 - Alumni Dinner. FAST is leading a
delegation of two-dozen scientists at the World Science Forum. The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Third World Academy of Sciences
(TWAS) and other groups also will be at the Forum. On the evening before the opening, FAST and the University of Texas at El Paso are hosting a dinner for
local Fulbrighters as well as Fulbrighters who are attending the Forum.
Atlanta, Georgia - November 8 - Networking Dinner. Each year, the FAST
Board of Directors meets in a different city to meet with and get feedback from alumni and our institutional members. In 2007 it was Washington, DC; in 2008 it
was Chicago. This year's meeting is hosted by Hunton & Williams, a respected international law firm.
Boston, Massachusetts - November 17 - Women in Science Forum & Networking
Dinner. Since early 2008, FAST has led a Fulbright Women in Science initiative. The sixth meeting is a forum at Northeastern University. Several
Fulbright alumnae will present case studies on international collaboration, and
the target audience is young women students and post-docs at universities and research institutes
in the Boston area. Boston area Fulbrighters of both sexes are welcome to join us for dinner.
San Francisco, California - March 11-14 - Sustainability Conference. This
will be our Fifth Annual Conference. We already have registrations from Fulbrighters affiliated with the Microsoft, University of Alaska, the American Academy
of Nursing, Cleveland State University, Brigham Young University and UC-Berkeley. More than 200 are expected from 15 countries, making it the largest gathering
of Fulbrighters on the US West Coast in many years. (registration details)
San Francisco, California - March 14 - Entrepreneurism. This
one-day executive education course is for Fulbrighters in business creation and sustainable development. FAST is seeking participants from small and large
entrepreneurial firms, the venture capital community, economic development agencies, and the academic/research community. The Walker Center for Global
Entrepreneurship at the Thunderbird School of Global Management is one of the sponsors. The Fred Kiesner Center for Entrepreneurship at LMU is also involved (see above story).
San Francisco, California - March 14 - Global Health. More than
250 people are abroad each year on Fulbright grants in health-related disciplines. This one-day program is for grantees and alumni active in medicine, nursing,
public health, pharmacology, health research, and related fields. The session will lay the foundation for a FAST Global Health Initiative, which will support
the sharing of best practices and leverage support for promising programs.
For additional details on any of the above programs, simply reply to this
email.
The Fulbright
Academy
FAST is also seeking Fulbright leaders to serve in
leadership positions, as co-chairs of our working groups or on our board of directors and the international advisory board. For details, simply reply to this
email, including your contact information, and a FAST volunteer or staff member will contact you.
FAST is a non-partisan, non-profit organization that serves Fulbright
scholars and alumni - executives, educators, and researchers worldwide. Our members and sponsors include individuals and
institutions such as universities, corporations, government agencies and foundations. Membership is open to institutions that support
the FAST mission and to individual Fulbright scholars and alumni, hosts of scholars and friends of the Fulbright program. Click here for "FAST is a
Blast" - a ten minute video about FAST.
If you have not paid your membership dues or made a financial contribution to FAST this year, please
consider doing so now through our secure, on-line system. Dues are $60/year. Contributions from friends and members make it possible for FAST to offer
discounts to young Fulbrighters and lower-income alumni and those from developing countries. Please join/renew today.
FAST is an independent organization and is not affiliated with or funded by the Fulbright
Exchange Program or the US Fulbright Association. Member contributions are critical to our continued success. Please learn more about the
work of the Fulbright Academy by visiting our website: www.FulbrightAcademy.org
We hope to see many of you at our Fifth Annual Conference - San Francisco, March 11-14, 2010. The program includes a
gala celebration, a film festival, science tours, an executive training on entrepreneurism, a workshop on global health, and deep discussion on Sustainability.
Please visit the website to propose yourself as a speaker/presenter to register. We already have over sixty expected participants from fifteen countries.
Thank you and best wishes,
Eric Howard
Executive Director of FAST
1989 Fulbright Grantee to Germany in Environmental Management