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MU receives $1 million to increase minority entrepreneurship

Rachel Reeves

Miami University alumni David and Vicki Herche recently gave $1 million to establish an endowed assistant professor chair for the Miami University Institute for Entrepreneurship within the Farmer School of Business.

The Herches hope the endowment will enhance the teaching of entrepreneurship and promote diversity.

According to Jenny Callison, the director of communications for the Farmer School of Business, David and Vicki Herche were some of the earliest supporters of the entrepreneurship program at Miami. David Herche is a business school graduate who started out in a managerial position for Enerfab, a Cincinnati-based company that engineers steel products and food-grade linings for several industries. Five years later he purchased the company and since then it has grown to become an industry leader.

David Herche is a trustee of Miami and is on the board of the Thomas C. Page Center for Entrepreneurship within the business school. He has an interest in continuing entrepreneurship education and in driving minority growth.

"David always felt the school needed to provide and support entrepreneurship," said Roger Jenkins, dean of the Farmer School of Business. "He felt the program got off track and he said if we got it back on track he would support it. He was true to his word. The Herches spent a long time strategically making this decision to donate. That's what makes their donation really meaningful."

Jenkins noted that the business school is aware that other majors are interested in entrepreneurship. Half of the seats in entrepreneurship classes are reserved for non-business school students. The Herche chair will help support and encourage entrepreneurship across the campus.

"Businesses are started by people from all walks of life," Jenkins said. "We want to aggressively reach out for the whole community to embrace entrepreneurship."

The Herches want candidates with an interest in expanding minority entrepreneurship to be given preference in the selection process for the David and Vicki Herche Endowed Assistant Professor Chair. A selection committee made up of people from the Institute for Entrepreneurship and the Farmer School will make the hire, with approval by the dean and the provost.

"The Herches are hoping that the endowment will attract an expert in minority entrepreneurship, which will then attract minority students," Callison said.

According to Jenkins, the Herches want to use their donation to increase entrepreneurial diversity, which will add value to classes at the end of the day.

"David knows that our students will work in a diverse world," Jenkins said. "He feels, as I do, that if we add more diversity to our campus, students will be more prepared for the real-world market."

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The endowment will be fully funded over the course of a few years. As soon as the Herches fulfill their commitment in cash, the business school will hire a professor.

This gift is part of the initiative set by Richard T. and Joyce B. Farmer in April 2005. The Farmers gave $5 million to establish endowed professor chairs that is meant to help attract quality faculty to tenure-track positions in the business school.

"The Farmers realized that one of the biggest challenges is to attract a top-notch faculty," Callison said. "It's particularly difficult in business because potential professors have so many other opportunities. The pool is getting smaller and the demand is getting bigger."

The Farmers realized that one way to attract promising professors was to offer financial incentives. The school will provide the chair with a five-year period of pre-tenure time that will give them a bit of cushion and breathing space-enabling them to focus on research before they get tenure.

For every $1 million that is donated, the Farmers will donate an additional $500,000. So for every two endowed chairs, the Farmers will endow one additional chair until there is a total of 15 endowed professor chairs.

Jenkins added that the business school is hoping that the Herches' donation will encourage other individuals to do the same. Jenkins believes that these endowed assistant professor chairs, along with the new business building, will attract a quality of faculty and students that other schools do not have.