Quinnipiac University Trustee Donates $1 Million to Create the Carlton Highsmith Chair in Entrepreneurship

HAMDEN, Conn., May 29, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The vice chairman of Quinnipiac University's Board of Trustees has donated $1 million to accelerate the School of Business' innovations in entrepreneurship.

The university today announced that it has established the Carlton Highsmith Chair in Entrepreneurship. Quinnipiac will match Highsmith's gift, creating a $2 million fund in perpetuity.

"The Carlton Highsmith Chair in Entrepreneurship will provide the School of Business with sustainable leadership and ensure the long-term success of our entrepreneurship program," said Matthew O'Connor, dean of the School of Business. "This is a remarkable gift for the School of Business that instantly raises our program to a new level." 

Highsmith is the retired vice chairman of PaperWorks Industries of Philadelphia. Highsmith was the founder, president and chief executive officer of the Specialized Packaging Group, Inc., which merged into PaperWorks in 2009, according to Forbes. PaperWorks is the third largest integrated recycled paperboard company in North America.

Quinnipiac also announced that it will partner with the Connecticut Center for Arts and Technology (ConnCAT), to establish the ConnCAT Entrepreneurial Academy, where inner city youth will learn how to launch their own businesses.

"Helping to spread the word about free enterprise to young, aspiring students at ConnCAT will help an entire generation of inner-city youth gain an appreciation for entrepreneurship," Highsmith said. "Students will learn what it takes to build a business – from that first great idea to the birth of a successful company- from business leaders in the Greater New Haven area and Quinnipiac faculty. Quinnipiac students will serve as mentors, sharing their knowledge of finance, management, marketing and advertising while also serving as role models that are essential to youth at ConnCAT."

Quinnipiac is a private, coeducational, nonsectarian institution located 90 minutes north of New York City and two hours from Boston. The university enrolls more than 6,000 full-time undergraduate and more than 2,000 graduate students in 53 undergraduate and more than 20 graduate programs of study in its School of Business and Engineering, School of Communications, School of Education, School of Health Sciences, School of Law, Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine, School of Nursing and College of Arts and Sciences. Quinnipiac consistently ranks among the top regional universities in the North in U.S. News & World Report's America's Best Colleges issue.

SOURCE Quinnipiac University

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