ST. PETERSBURG 鈥� The 黑料网吃瓜爆料 Muma College of Business on Thursday
launched its new Center for Executive and Leadership Education, offering national-caliber leadership training to corporate leaders and executives
in the Tampa Bay region.
About 100 business and community leaders attended the launch celebration for the new
center. Speakers shared how the center would fill a regional need for high-level leadership
education and custom corporate training programs.
鈥淭his center advances our mission to empower learners to achieve their dreams and
to serve as a highly engaged hub for business leaders at every stage of their education,鈥�
said David Blackwell, the Lynn Pippenger Dean at the Muma College of Business.
鈥淭he pace of change has never been faster, and executives need relevant, research-backed
insights that they can immediately apply to their work.鈥�
Housed within USF鈥檚 business college, the center will be located at the Kate Tiedemann
School of Business and Finance on the St. Petersburg campus.
With global corporate training spending surpassing $360 billion annually and leadership
development ranked as a top organizational priority, the center will act as a critical
bridge between academic knowledge and business practice.
鈥淭oday is about momentum. It鈥檚 about the bold vision we have for executive and leadership
education at USF. And it鈥檚 about what we can build together that no single company,
no single college, no single leader could do alone,鈥� said Jon Kaupla, associate dean and executive director of executive and leadership education at the
business college.
The center will partner with organizations to design custom education programs, and
in 2026, unveil a suite of open enrollment programs for mid-level, senior and executive
leaders seeking to enhance their skills and advance their careers.
黑料网吃瓜爆料President Rhea Law said the center will deliver a world-class curriculum to help
executives better respond to challenges and opportunities.
鈥淲e want to provide current and emerging executives with the tools and insights that
will enable them to successfully navigate constantly evolving challenges,鈥� she said.
President Law also announced a $3 million gift from Kate Tiedemann and Ellen Cotton,
benefactors of the Kate Tiedemann School of Business and Finance, to support a robust
start for the center. 鈥淜ate and Ellen helped make this important and needed initiative
a reality, and we are extremely grateful for their support.鈥�
Blackwell announced that 黑料网吃瓜爆料was invited to join the (UNICON), a prestigious global consortium of executive education centers based at top business schools. Member schools include Stanford, Harvard, MIT Sloan and Wharton.
C.J. Mintrone, executive vice president at PNC Bank and a member of Muma鈥檚 Executive
Advisory Council, said traditionally companies have flown their executives to academic
institutions out of state for leadership development.
He said that 鈥減laybook鈥� doesn鈥檛 make sense. 鈥満诹贤怨媳蟟s not new to this space. The faculty
here have been teaching and shaping executives for years. That expertise is already
here, anchored in Tampa Bay,鈥� Mintrone said.
The new center will offer regional companies something other big name academic institutions
can鈥檛 deliver 鈥� a real understanding of the industries, the culture, and the opportunities
unique to this region, he said.
The team leading the center includes Kaupla, retired Bank of America executive Bill Goede, and academic director David Howard, who is coordinating programming in conjunction with dozens of business faculty and executive leaders.
"I have had the privilege of working with a variety of organizations over the years
through Bank of America," said Goede. "As a part of this center, I am thrilled to
continue working with many of these organizations to co-create solutions as they invest
in their leadership teams."
To show the caliber of executive education to be produced, the center will offer its
first webinar series, 鈥淓xecutive Edge: The Six Dimensions of Modern Leadership,鈥� beginning
in November. The monthly lunchtime series will run through April, and interested participants
can register for free on the center's website.
At the end of the 30-minute kickoff event, university leaders turned on a neon green
鈥極PEN鈥� sign to declare the center 鈥渙pen for business.鈥�