UHD recently named William G. Dudley Jr. as the new director of the University of Houston-Downtown College of Business’ Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.
Dudley has a background in computer information systems, real estate, business search and acquisition, business management and long-range business development. He has also owned his own business, which he sold in September after 10 years before coming to UHD to teach entrepreneur business courses as an adjunct lecturer.
“I’ve always had an interest in teaching. I thought I’d try my hand at it,” he said. His experience and entrepreneurial background, along with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Texas and a Master of Business Administration degree from Rice University, seemed to fit the bill perfectly.
In the classroom, Dudley uses case studies and guest speakers for his first class rather than just textbooks and lectures.
For his first class, he started with the “Outliers” by Malcolm Gladwell which also was the book chosen for use in the Freshman Common Reading Experience program for the 2011-2012 academic year. The concepts fit well with the entrepreneurism course he taught for individuals seeking to build their own businesses or to build success within corporations.
As the new director, Dudley will provide leadership for the Center that has been without a director for some time. “I want to teach, be involved in the community, promote the center and UHD and talk to any group I can get into,” he said.
The Center for Entrepreneurship offers two courses and students can receive a certificate in Entrepreneurship. “It’s one of the ways to achieve a level of income and a degree of autonomy you can’t achieve another way,” he said. Dudley said he hopes to add more courses and options for students interested in business and entrepreneurship.
For information on the Center for Entrepreneurship, contact Dudley at 713-222-5368 or email dudleyw@uhd.edu.
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