FAU Names New Director of the Adams Center

Florida Atlantic University names Kevin Cox, Ph.D., senior lecturer at FAU’s College of Business, the new director of the Adams Center for Entrepreneurship.

Cox, who has been serving as the assistant director of the center since 2016, succeeds Roland Kidwell, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Management Programs within the College of Business.  

“We are thrilled to have Kevin Cox step up as the new director of the Adams Center for Entrepreneurship,” said Daniel Gropper, Ph.D., dean of the College of Business. “Kevin is well-positioned to lead the Adams Center forward, having been on the forefront of executing many of the center’s initiatives while serving as assistant director. He is deeply engaged with our Florida entrepreneurial ecosystem and is dedicated to opening opportunities for our FAU students. We are looking forward to broadening the reach and activities of the center under his leadership.”

The Adams Center, founded in 2001 and named for FAU graduate and serial entrepreneur Scott Adams, seeks to prepare students who are interested in becoming entrepreneurs in business, science, engineering and other tracks.

The Adams Center also educates business leaders creating sustainable solutions to economic and social problems, while bringing faculty, students and the community together to foster the type of innovation needed to create more opportunities in a dynamic marketplace. The Princeton Review ranked the center No. 27 in undergraduate programs and No. 42 in graduate programs in 2023.

Cox received his Ph.D. in business administration from FAU in 2016. His areas of research include entrepreneurship, new venture creation, and finance and social entrepreneurship. He is also the lead instructor at FAU’s Tech Runway New Venture Accelerator, a public-private partnership that helps accelerate tech development and start-up companies.

“It’s an honor that FAU has entrusted me to lead the Entrepreneurship Center. Not only did we recently make a leap in the Princeton Review Rankings for top undergraduate entrepreneurship programs in the country, but we’ve expanded curricula, teaching staff, programming and funding,” Cox said. “It's definitely an exciting time to be part of the Adams Center.”

-FAU-