The entrepreneurial influence

The financial rewards are also well-documented. What is often forgotten, however, is the societal impact of entrepreneurship. Its influence extends far beyond the borders of the business world to classrooms, community centers, hospitals, and homes.

Since becoming president of Kentucky University in July of 2001, I have continued to stress the importance of economic development and the New Economy to education.

One of my goals is to tie education to the economy. For instance, it is hard to have a strong theater department without strong financial support from the community. It is also near impossible to have a quality business program without successful businesses to serve as mentors.

Colleges and universities need to do a better job of incorporating entrepreneurs into higher education. We need to be the petri dish for fresh ideas, provide entrepreneurs with a fertile environment equipped with growth, and need to embrace their advancements and critique their failures.

Entrepreneurs allow us to move higher education forward. The next generation's textbooks will be filled with the theories and successes, ideas and imaginations of entrepreneurs. They are the building blocks for a new wave of thinkers and dreamers.

But, the entrepreneurial influence is not limited to the classroom and textbooks. Individuals with a vision change the medical field everyday. Through improved technological equipment, new treatment techniques, and pharmaceutical advancements, entrepreneurs are not only medical innovators, they save lives.

And as technology changes, entrepreneurs will play an even larger role in medicine. The cures of tomorrow are brewing in the minds of today's entrepreneurs.

Entrepreneurs also play an integral role in how we spend our free time. From television to music to movies to video games to computers, technological entrepreneurs have been making our lives more enjoyable.

When I visited Dubai and Abu Dhabi in May 2004, I admired the entrepreneurial spirit of the region. The United Arab Emirates is clearly on the road to make an important impact of the world community.