To better reflect its educational mission and strengths, the Department of Management in the Auburn Harbert College of Business is being renamed the Department of Management and Entrepreneurship.

“The new name reflects our department’s commitment to developing highly capable business managers who possess entrepreneurial vision and competency,” said Christopher Reutzel, chair of the Department of Management and Entrepreneurship. “The addition of entrepreneurship to our name reflects our desire to foster entrepreneurial activity amongst our students and stakeholders as well as our desire to play a prominent role in the scholarly conversations on entrepreneurship.”

With endowed professorships and eminent scholars, the department is led by some of the elite minds in management and entrepreneurship.

The department also supports a robust entrepreneurial ecosystem that includes the Tiger Cage Business Idea Competition, which awards more than $50,000 in prize money to the top three Auburn student start-up ideas each year; the New Venture Accelerator, which provides student and faculty startup companies with the space and professional expertise to develop their businesses; the Innovation Lab, a collaborative space where students develop their business ideas; and the Lowder Center for Family Business and Entrepreneurship, which facilitates the formation and success of student- and community-based startups.

In addition to the long-standing management PhD program, the department will continue to offer a bachelor's degree in management with three focused minor options in entrepreneurship and family business, human resource management, and organizational leadership.  

“The name change reflects the importance of entrepreneurship both within the department and at Auburn University, in general,” said Lowder Eminent Scholar in Entrepreneurship Franz Lohrke. “Students from across campus participate in our program, so we are working with other colleges, like the College of Sciences and Mathematics (COSAM), to expand the number of non-Business elective courses in our undergraduate entrepreneurship minor."

In addition, the department’s 300+ undergraduates can hone their leadership and professional development skills by participating in student organizations such as Entrepreneurs at Auburn and the Auburn University Society for Human Resource Management.

The name change will take effect September 16, 2022, pending approval from the Auburn University Board of Trustees.