AUSTIN, Texas-Dr. Robert Ronstadt, a professor of entrepreneurship at Pepperdine University’s Graziadio School of Business & Management, has been named director of The IC2 Institute at The University of Texas at Austin, and Dr. Johan S. Gervais, executive director of the Corridor Business Incubator (CBI) in San Marcos, was chosen to direct the institute’s Austin Technology Incubator (ATI).
As director, Ronstadt will head the IC2 activities of nearly 200 IC2 Fellows-national and global leaders from academia, business and government. Ronstadt also will hold the appointments of adjunct professor in the department of management in the UT Austin College and Graduate School of Business, the J. Marion West Chair Professor for Constructive Capitalism and the Harry H. Ransom Endowed Centennial Fellow of the IC2 Institute.
While at Pepperdine, where he has served as professor of entrepeneurship since 1992, Ronstadt initiated and implemented a number of programs, including the innovative Entrepreneurial Management Program, designed for practicing entrepreneurs to launch or reposition their businesses. He is the author of numerous articles and several books as well as author of Ronstadt’s Financials, a Windows-based software for business decision making. His most recent article is entitled Entrepreneurship & Education: What We Can Learn from Immigrant Entrepreneurs.
During the early 1980’s, Ronstadt launched the undergraduate major and MBA concentration in entrepreneurship at Babson College in Wellesley, Mass. For his pioneering work in entrepreneurship at Babson, he received the prestigious Leavey Award for Excellence in Private Enterprise Education in 1986. He subsequently became chief executive officer and chairman of Lord Publishing, Inc., a book and software company that focuses on business and financial applications. Ronstadt received his academic training at the University of California at Berkeley (A.B. in history), the University of Oregon at Eugene (M.A. in international relations) and Harvard Business School (D.B.A. in international business & technology management).
“The appointment of Drs. Ronstadt and Gervais to join the IC2 management team will accelerate the next phase of the IC2 Institute’s development,” said Dr. George Kozmetsky, interim director of the institute.
Gervais will report to Ronstadt in his appointment as director of the institute’s Austin Technology Incubator, which strives to foster the development of emerging technology-based businesses in Austin. Gervais has more than 20 years of experience in technology companies including dynamic, small, start-up companies as well as large corporations.
In 1992, Gervais completed post-doctoral research in technology transfer and management, and business incubation and new product management at the IC2 Institute. He received his doctor of business administration from the University of Pretoria, South Africa in 1992, after having received his MBA summa cum laude from the State University of New York and an M.S. in electronic engineering, computer design at the University of Pretoria. Gervais’s corporate experience includes serving as group marketing vice president for Grinaker Electronics, Ltd., Pretoria, a consortium of 10 companies and 1,400 employees active in instrumentation, software development and satellite communications. He also was general manager and marketing manager for Telkor Communications in Johannesburg.
As a unique and non-traditional center for research and educational excellence, the IC2 Institute has, since its founding in 1977, established an outstanding national and global reputation. The institute is a “think” and “do” tank dedicated to contributing to society through enhanced understanding of science and technology.
The institute’s activities consist of applications research, pioneering educational programs as well as activities to foster development of technology-based businesses in Austin and globally.
The institute also conducts national and international executive education programs. It has pioneered the “Global Classroom” through its Executive Master of Science in Science and Technology Commercialization (MSSTC) degree program. The MSSTC program offers classes simultaneously in Austin and the Washington, D.C. area as well as Europe through the Instituto Superior Tecnico, Lisbon, Portugal. Included in the institute’s global activities is the six-year old Japan Industry and Management of Technology Program (JIMT) which trains U.S. scientists, engineers, and managers in Japanese technology development, business practices, language and culture.
The institute currently has academic, business and government partnerships with 58 institutions in 15 countries.
For further information, contact Joel Wiggins at (512) 305-0033 or refer to the web page http://www.utexas.edu/depts/ic2.
