Dr. Audrey Murrell, Associate Dean at the University of Pittsburgh College of Business Administration joins Greg Coticchia, Director of the Pitt Blast Furnace Student Accelerator, to discuss student entrepreneurship in the Pitt Blast Furance Podcast.
Dr. Murrell has taught organizational behavior and entrepreneurship in the undergraduate, MBA, Executive MBA, and Executive Education programs. She holds secondary teaching appointments from the University of Pittsburgh’s Department of Psychology and Graduate School of Public and International Affairs.
In addition to her administrative duties at the College of Business Administration, Dr. Murrell is also director of the David Berg Center for Ethics and Leadership and works tirelessly to help students build a strong foundation in business fundamentals, including communication skills and their global and cultural awareness.
Dr. Murrell shares with Greg her experiences over her long tenure at Pitt working with student entrepreneurs. She describes what most students think about when they say they want to pursue entrepreneurship and highlights the many opportunities available through the College of Business Administration, which last year added Blast Furnace as a for-credit course for aspiring student entrepreneurs.
Dr. Murrell and Greg discuss how the demand for entrepreneurial experience throughout the business world is increasing and what students can do to prepare for this new world, giving themselves a competitive advantage in the job market. They review some of the many resources at Pitt for student entrepreneurs, including Enactus, the international community for social entrepreneurship, and the Blast Furnace Student Accelerator. Finally Dr. Murrell talks about what it’s like being an entrepreneur in Pittsburgh and highlights the advantages that the Pittsburgh entrepreneurial scene has over other cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, or Boston.
The next cohort of the Blast Furance begins on October 4. If you are a Pitt student with an idea for a new product, service, nonprofit or social enterprise, consider enrolling in this free program offered by the Innovation Institute. Using the Lean Launchpad methodology for new enterprise development, the Blast Furnace will help you develop your idea with guidance from experienced mentors, and with access to a dynamic co-working space. Applications are due September 18, 2017.
