As the twenty-four undergraduate entrepreneurship and business development majors received their bachelor of science degrees on May 14th in UNCW's Trask Coliseum, it provided an opportunity to celebrate the fifth graduating class of entrepreneurship students since the program's inception in 2006. And to appreciate how unique, motivated, and creatively minded these students are and how entrepreneurship has become one of the fastest growing majors at UNCW. 

One needs look no further than Heather Bailey who upon graduating in 2008 sailed around the world as a lead crew member aboard a luxury yacht. Or Nathan Snell who in 2009 joined a hi-growth startup, then subsequently started his own software company, and who now leads technology efforts at a well known and successful bank. Or Robbie Paul who calls New Zealand home and has become the Startup Funding Manager at the International Center for Entrepreneurship in NZ. Or Emily Nolan who took on a marketing and sales role at Condé Nast and is also the Director of the Beck Family Foundation.

It is these inspiring stories that remind us why education and entrepreneurship are so important to our future, and why those two components come together at UNCW, the Cameron School of Business and through the Entrepreneurship Center. For it is our entrepreneurship community that provides internship opportunities, helps mentor students, shares their entrepreneurial stories as guest speakers in the classroom, acts as judges at the business-plan competition and student rocket-pitch event, and helps finance scholarships and grants. So thank you to everyone who supports our students and to those involved in helping our future entrepreneurial leaders.

Sincerely, Jonathan Rowe