UT’s Rebecca White Named President of National Entrepreneurship Organization

Rebecca White, professor of management and the James W. Walter Distinguished Chair of Entrepreneurship at The University of Tampa, was recently elected president of the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE).

White was most recently president-elect of the organization, and has served the USASBE as chair of its largest and most active division (pedagogy), as a board member, as a liaison to the association’s interest groups and as a program chair. In 2010 USASBE awarded her the President’s Distinguished Service Award.

Michael Morris, a past president of USASBE and N. Malone Mitchell Jr. Chair of Entrepreneurship and Head of the School of Entrepreneurship at Oklahoma State University, praised White’s leadership skills.

“Our experience is that Rebecca brings a high level of professionalism and a strong standard of excellence to every activity in which she is involved,” Morris said.

White has been on the faculty at UT since 2010, and has achieved such initiatives as a bio entrepreneurship partnership with Moffitt Cancer Center, a student entrepreneur pitch program (CREATE) and an entrepreneurship accelerator program for UT students and alumni with startup companies.

White, who also is the director of UT’s Entrepreneurship Center, was most recently selected for the founding board of Startup Florida. This program, initiated by the Obama administration, was developed to boost innovation and entrepreneurship by encouraging private investment in startups.

White received an MBA and a doctorate in strategic management, marketing and entrepreneurship from Virginia Tech University.

Amy Brownlee, UT assistant professor of management, will serve in a presidential appointment as the USASBE associate vice president for social media.