History

HISTORY

• The Coleman Entrepreneurship Center was founded in 2003 through the generous support of the The Coleman Foundation.
  
• The Coleman Foundation was established in 1951 by Dorothy W. and J. D. Stetson Coleman, successful investors and entrepreneurs with a wide range of business interests, the best-known of which was Fannie May Candies.
  
• Among the educational programs supported by the foundation, the most active have been in entrepreneurship, which has also evolved into the foundation’s only national initiative. While this area clearly reflects the Colemans’ values, the architect of the foundation’s entrepreneurship programs is John Hughes, who continues to serve on the board of directors.
  
• As entrepreneurship has become more widely known and endorsed, the foundation’s activities have gone beyond promoting awareness to improving the quality and scope of entrepreneurship education. Foundation president Michael Hennessy has been actively involved in supporting programs that extend entrepreneurship beyond the business school to cross-campus collaborations.