A new professorship was awarded Friday that connects engineering students to resources within the Center for Entrepreneurship at Brigham Young University's Marriott School. This is the first step in the center's move to promote entrepreneurship at a university-wide level.
"The center's goal is to advance entrepreneurship and the knowledge of starting and building successful companies into other schools and departments at BYU," said Donald Livingstone, director of the Center for Entrepreneurship. "We are looking forward to a great exchange of ideas and knowledge with the partnership of these two departments."
A. Brent Strong, a professor of manufacturing engineering technology, received the Lorin Farr Professorship in Entrepreneurial Technology at a special luncheon Friday. The luncheon was held in conjunction with the 1999 Fall Founders Conference, at which entrepreneurs and students were brought together to promote entrepreneurship across the university.
Through this professorship, Strong will coordinate measures to apply entrepreneurial training into the engineering curriculum. This will be accomplished through classes that teach basic entrepreneurial skills to engineering technology and engineering students, guest speaker forums, student seminars, Association for Collegiate Entrepreneurs (ACE Student Club) meetings and faculty exchanges.
Rick and Toni Farr endowed the professorship in honor of their great-grandfather, Lorin Farr, who was mayor of Ogden for twenty-two years. Lorin lived from 1820-1909 and also served as a member of the first Territorial Legislature for thirty-three years. Rick is assistant director of the Center for Entrepreneurship and president of C. Eric Farr and Associates.
Strong has taught at BYU since 1986 and holds a BA and PhD in chemistry from the University of Utah. Prior to his teaching career, Strong was president and chief executive officer of Hardie Irrigation, Co. Strong is the founding director of BYU's Manufacturing Leadership Forum and a former director of both the Advanced Composite Manufacturing and Engineering Center and the Rapid Product Realization Center.
The author of five books on plastics and composite materials, Strong served as the international president of the Society for the Advancement of Materials and Process Engineering from 1997 to 1998. He also received the Teacher of the Year Award in 1991 and 1998 and the Outstanding Professor Award in 1997 from the School of Technology.
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Writer: Peter Carr