Kidwell Cited For Work In Entrepreneurship Education

Roland Kidwell, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Management Programs at FAU, has been named as a Justin G. Longenecker Fellow, the highest honor given by the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE) to those who promote small and medium-sized businesses.

The award honors people who demonstrate a commitment to entrepreneurship through teaching, writing, research and public service. Only about 90 educators, researchers, government officials and others have been honored since 1986.

Kidwell received the award at a ceremony in Tallahassee in January, alongside Jill Kickul, Ph.D., of the University of Southern California and Doan Winkel, Ph.D., of John Carroll University.

The late Justin G. Longenecker is renowned for his research, teaching and advocacy for entrepreneurs. 

“The 2023 Longenecker Fellows embody the best qualities of entrepreneurship educators,” said Julienne Shields, CEO of USASBE. “We are grateful for all they have done for entrepreneurship education and look forward to their future contributions.”

Kidwell is director of FAU’s Adams Center for Entrepreneurship. The undergraduate entrepreneurship program is ranked 27^th nationally by the Princeton Review and Entrepreneur magazine. Both the undergraduate and graduate programs have been nationally ranked for the past three years.

Program innovations include providing entrepreneurship instruction for Florida Veterans and offering Spanish-language entrepreneur boot camps to the Hispanic community in South Florida.

“Family businesses and entrepreneurs are vital drivers of economic growth everywhere, but particularly in South Florida where the urge to innovate has never been stronger,” Kidwell said. “Business innovation potentially benefits everyone – including society and the environment.”              

“Entrepreneurship is a key way that small businesses in free-market economic systems address consumer and societal needs and create value,” FAU College of Business Dean Daniel Gropper said. “Dr. Kidwell’s work highlights ways that small businesses can be supported and be successful innovators. Recruiting Dr. Roland Kidwell to Florida Atlantic University as a distinguished professor and Department Chair was a key step in building and enhancing our entrepreneurship education and research program, and I am thrilled that he is recognized as a Longenecker Fellow. I am also proud that he is now the second of our faculty to earn this recognition.” 

FAU Associate Dean and Professor Siri Terjesen, Ph.D., was named a Longenecker Fellow last year.

USASBE, founded in 1981, seeks to advance entrepreneurship through teaching, scholarship and practice. The Decatur, Illinois-based organization also publishes a peer-reviewed academic journal and develops resources and professional development opportunities for educators dedicated to entrepreneurship.

-FAU-