Two Minutes

An entrepreneurship evangelist

The old cliche "thinking outside the box" is one way to describe entrepreneurship. Howard Van Auken's definition is "thinking without the box." He ought to know. The professor of management and former small business owner has been teaching entrepreneurship at Iowa State since 1995.

It's not just for business: Entrepreneurship isn't just about starting a business. It's using critical thinking to recognize opportunities, Van Auken says, and acquire resources to pursue them. Those talents come in handy anywhere, and that's why Van Auken shows non-business faculty how to teach entrepreneurship in their classes.

Spreading the word at home: Van Auken came up with the idea of introducing entrepreneurship across the university two years ago. He enlisted help from the Pappajohn Center for Entrepreneurship and college deans, who agreed to explore integrating entrepreneurship across their curricula.

And abroad: Van Auken has lectured and developed entrepreneurship programs in Mexico, Russia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine, Malaysia and Canada. He's also served as vice president for four different divisions of the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship.