UA Eller College Announces Holders of Anheuser-Busch Chair in Entrepreneurship Studies

TUCSON,  Ariz. – April 4, 2013 – Sudha Ram, a professor of MIS, and Sandy Klasa, an  associate professor of finance, both at the UA Eller College of Management,  have been named co-holders of the Anheuser-Busch Chair in Entrepreneurship  Studies.

“The Anheuser-Busch Chair  in Entrepreneurship Studies presents us the opportunity to have exceptional  faculty in the Eller College become even more engaged in our top-ranked McGuire  Center for Entrepreneurship,” said Len Jessup, dean of the Eller College. “We  are thrilled to have Sudha and Sandy, both top entrepreneurial faculty  in their own right, helping us to take the McGuire Center  to even greater  heights.”

“Since  its inception from the generous gift from the Busch Family and the  Anheuser-Busch Foundation in 1988, the Anheuser-Busch Chair in Entrepreneurship  Studies has featured some of the best minds and teachers at the University of  Arizona,” said Chris Clements, CEO of Golden Eagle Distributors., Inc. “This  year is no different with the selection of Sudha Ram and Sandy Klasa.   Golden Eagle Distributors, Inc. is proud to join our friends and partners at  Eller in recognizing their fantastic achievements.”

The  chair supports an active research agenda in innovation, as well as engagement  with entrepreneurship students at the undergraduate and graduate level. “I am very excited about Sandy and Sudha as the  recipients of this prestigious endowed chair,” said Bob Lusch, executive  director of the McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship. “Sandy brings exceptional  expertise in venture finance and IPOs and Sudha is a renowned scholar in MIS,  business analytics, and big data. The McGuire Center and its entrepreneurship  students will benefit immensely from their active participation in the McGuire  Center.”

Ram’s  research spans enterprise data management, business intelligence and predictive  analytics. She is director of both the Advanced Database Research Group and  INSITE: Center for Business Intelligence and Analytics at the Eller College.  The latter seeks to harness exploding amounts of data online – including  through social media – for better decision making. Among her many honors  include a 2012 IBM Faculty Award. Her research has been highlighted in several  media outlets including NPR news. She has received more than $50 million in  research funding from several different agencies including the National  Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, and NASA.

Klasa  teaches new venture finance at the undergraduate and graduate levels. His  research interests include entrepreneurial finance, mergers and acquisitions,  and corporate governance. He has also investigated succession issues for firms  run by entrepreneurial founding families. In 2009, he was honored with the  Scrivner Teaching Award by the University of Arizona Foundation.

Ram  and Klasa were co-awarded the Anheuser-Busch Chair following a rigorous  internal nomination process helmed by senior Eller faculty.