Hall of Fame

By Bob Cunningham

Four Bowling Green State University alumni were inducted into the 2016 Dallas-Hamilton Entrepreneurial Hall of Fame on April 6 at the Lenhart Grand Ballroom at the Bowen-Thompson Student Union during Entrepreneurship Week. 

The College of Business Administration celebrated entrepreneurship throughout the week. Dubbed as E-Week, alumni are invited back to campus to share their entrepreneurial journeys with students. 

This year, alumnus Steven Hanson ‘75 kicked off the week with a viewing of the movie “The Prophet.” Hanson produced the movie and followed the showing with a Lunch and Learn session focusing on digital entrepreneurship.   

Two alumni from 1983, Michael Hart and David Hainline, presented at Lunch and Learns sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively. Hart is president, CEO and owner of Hart, an advertising agency based in Maumee, Ohio, that serves clients in Ohio, the Midwest and nationwide. Hainline is the owner and CEO of CSI DMC, a destination and event management company with offices in Washington; Orlando, Fla.; Miami; Dallas; Nashville, Tenn., and in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Dallas-Hamilton Entrepreneurial Hall of Fame recognizes BGSU graduates, honorary degree holders and members of the regional community who have achieved distinction for founding, leading or building a new business enterprise for five years or more. These individuals have demonstrated an entrepreneurial spirit that has helped shape our economies and improved our quality of life.

The 2016 recipients (pictured above from left to right with President Mary Ellen Mazey) are as follows:

Michael Golden, a 1969 alumnus, is CEO and chairman of the Stephen Gould Corp. in Whippany, N.J. He joined the company in 1971 as a sales agent and took over as president in 1975, growing the company from seven offices to 42, with $640 million in sales in 2015.

Dr. Laurence (Larry) Benz, a 1984 graduate, is president and CEO of Confluent Health, a private physical therapy company headquartered in Louisville, Ky., with related businesses in education and occupational medicine. Among the holdings of Confluent Health are Texas Physical Therapy Specialists, Fit For Work LLC, ProRehab, Evidence In Motion, Dunn Physical Therapy, Breakthrough Physical Therapy, PT Central of Oklahoma, Groves WorkReady, ProRehab Louisville and International Spine and Pain Institute.

Bruce Tucker, a 1970 graduate, is the owner and CEO of General Plumbing Supply Inc. Tucker moved the business into a 30,000-square foot warehouse in New Jersey in 1976. He opened a branch in Morris Plains, N.J., in 1983, followed by the opening of a distribution center in 1986. General Plumbing Supply Inc. employs about 300 people in its 13 locations. During the past 30 years, Tucker has opened 11 additional branches and showrooms throughout New Jersey.

Lisa A. Clayton, who graduated in 1975, is founder and president of Source Potential, a human development company in Half Moon Bay, Calif. She has more than 30 years of experience in the professional training and consulting industry. Acting as an independent consultant, she has provided training, consulting services and learning solutions to clients such as Johnson and Johnson, Cornerstone and American Express. 

“I’d like to congratulate our newest inductees into the Dallas-Hamilton Entrepreneurial Hall of Fame,” said Mary Ellen Mazey, Ph.D., president of BGSU. “You have made us proud and demonstrated the contributions our alumni are making throughout the world with your extraordinary accomplishments. BGSU is a better place because of you.” 

Experts advise how to navigate world of digital entrepreneurship

Sponsored by J. Robert Sebo ’58, ’13 (Hon.), the Sebo Series in Entrepreneurship provided a grand finale to E-Week. The world of entrepreneurship has grown exponentially, and the Sebo Series has followed those trends since its inception 13 years ago. 

This year’s event featured experts who offered their insights on how to excel in a digital world Friday (April 8) in the Lenhart Grand Ballroom at the Bowen-Thompson Student Union.

The keynote speaker was Dr. John E. Kelly III, senior vice president at IBM, who oversees Watson, the IBM supercomputer that answers questions using artificial intelligence to accept and process natural language queries. 

Kelly gave an engaging presentation called “Transforming the Workplace and Economy.”

In addition to Kelly, there were four other featured presenters: William Amurgis, intranet and internal communications specialist; Mark Hosbein, managing director, Accenture; Lisa Mitnick, managing director, Accenture Digital; and Dr. Gene Poor, the Scott Hamilton Endowed Professor of Entrepreneurship at BGSU.

The Sebo Series is sponsored by 1958 alumnus J. Robert Sebo. Recipient of a 2013 honorary degree from BGSU, Sebo is the retired senior vice president of Paychex Inc. The annual series is hosted by the Dallas-Hamilton Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership and the College of Business Administration.

“E-Week is a special time in the College of Business,” Dean Ray Braun ’80 said. “There is an energy throughout the week, and our students are provided very unique opportunities to learn about entrepreneurship. The Hatch is touted as a best practice by our accreditation team. Nearly $500,000 has been committed to student start-ups by alumni investors. Alumni return to campus to share their entrepreneurial journeys with our students, and world-renowned entrepreneurs present at our Sebo Series in Entrepreneurship.”