Academics, career exploration highlighted as Business & Entrepreneurship Center opens

Lawrence University’s Business & Entrepreneurship Center at Fox Commons officially opened Wednesday as Lawrence leadership, faculty, and students joined with Fox Cities community members to celebrate new partnerships that will elevate academic experiences across the disciplines.

“What you see today is a wonderful example of how Lawrence is being intentional in strengthening that student experience, in extending the reach of the classroom,” President Laurie A. Carter said at a ribbon-cutting in the center, located on the second level of Fox Commons in downtown Appleton.

Lawrence is a tenant in the ongoing redevelopment of City Center Plaza, known as Fox Commons. It is joining gener8tor, a business startup accelerator, Mosaic Family Health, Prevea Health, and other business ventures in the reimagined space being developed by Dark Horse Development. Lawrence’s B&E Center includes a large multipurpose room with configurable furniture and a stage for lectures, performances, and pitch competitions; a finance lab equipped with data analysis and finance terminals; and a group meeting space for students, faculty, and community collaborators. It is part of Lawrence’s investment in Fox Commons, which also includes student apartments and a Pre-Health Commons. The second-floor apartments are already in use; the Pre-Health Commons and apartments on the third level will open next summer.

In addition, Lawrence is preparing to open a state-of-the-art Humanities Center next summer in the West Campus building that is rising at the corner of E. College Avenue and Drew Street. The B&E Center, Pre-Health Commons, and Humanities Center are all investments in growing the student experience. Each will “bring Lawrence into the community and the community into Lawrence,” said Provost and Dean of Faculty Peter Blitstein.

“Together, these three centers represent our commitment to a contemporary education in the arts and sciences that draws on the best traditions of liberal education to prepare students to thrive in an uncertain and changing world,” he said.

The B&E Center will facilitate deeper collaborations between faculty, students, and community partners, deliver real world investment experience for students, and provide interactive space for workshops, lectures, and seminars that span the disciplines.

“Our vision for the B&E Center is to create learning experiences through connecting the campus and the business community,” said Adam Galambos, the Dwight and Marjorie Peterson Professor of Innovation and associate professor of economics and the inaugural director of the B&E Center. “This space would be wonderful anywhere, but I especially love that it is right in the middle of downtown Appleton.”

Galambos noted that the business & entrepreneurship major, launched two years ago and designed through the lens of the liberal arts, is already one of the most popular majors on campus. Planning for the major—and the B&E Center—involved faculty from across the university. He highlighted faculty contributions from Mike Clayville in the Conservatory, Claudena Skran and Bill Hixon in government, David Gerard and Jonathan Lhost in economics, Martyn Smith in religious studies, Karen Bussone in Business & Entrepreneurship, and Timothy Troy in theatre arts.

“A broad coalition of faculty from a variety of fields in the social and natural sciences, humanities, and arts are developing new courses for our business and entrepreneurship program,” Galambos said. “Many of these courses will aim to connect more meaningfully with the business community through events right here.”

To highlight that inter-disciplinary programming, four student musicians provided beautiful music before Wednesday’s ceremony and during an open house that followed—Charlie White, Owen Finch, Cooper Luedtke, and Tyler Donnelly.

Nico Manzanera, a junior business & entrepreneurship major from Bogotá, Colombia, spoke at Wednesday’s gathering, calling the B&E Center a pathway to the next chapters of students’ lives.

“As an entrepreneur, you are constantly changing your career path, you are constantly changing your perspective on the world, and you are constantly trying to change the world,” Manzanera said. “And the most effective way to do that is if you are constantly learning. And, of course, the best way to learn is through experience.”

Lawrence is focused on strengthening career readiness for all its students. Carter called the B&E Center, along with the Pre-Health Commons and the Humanities Center, avenues to deepen the career discernment conversation.

“At Lawrence,” Carter said, “we believe deeply in the value of a liberal arts education, one that focuses on critical thinking and engaged learning across the disciplines. We have been building a deeper exploration of business and entrepreneurship within the context of a liberal arts education for a number of years now. … That is happening whether they are studying in business and economics, the arts, the humanities, social sciences, or physical sciences. In all cases, important partnerships are being strengthened.”