2012 Award Winner

Gerald Hills

Gerald Hills holds the endowed Turner Chair in Entrepreneurship and is professor of entrepreneurship at Bradley University and is a pioneer in the development of the entrepreneurship discipline. Hill has helped found numerous organizations throughout his career. In 1982 he became one of the first endowed chairholders in the discipline of entrepreneurship. In addition, Hill has served as president of the International Council of Small Business. In 1981 he launched a second Affiliate. In 1982, Hill co-Founded and became the 1st President of the U.S. Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE). For over 25 years, Hill served as Chair of the Research Symposium on Marketing and Entrepreneurship, and organization he founded. Additionally, Hill co-founded and served as the 1st President of the American Marketing Association Academic Council (all AMA marketing professors). Additionally, he is the co-founder of the Journal of Research in Marketing and Entrepreneurship, the Panel Study of Entrepreneurial Dynamics (ERC/PSED) and is the Founder of Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization (CEO), an organization that serves students at 240 universities. Hill is responsible for some of the earliest research into Opportunity Recognition, as well as the first empirical study of Marketing/Entrepreneurship. He has more than 100 journal publications and has written and/or edited 25 books. Hill served as a team member of a U.S. Congressional Committee in Poland, working on three entrepreneurship projects after the fall of the Berlin Wall. He is responsible for teaching some of the earliest Ph.D. Seminars in Entrepreneurship and helped develop an award winning program at the University of Illinois at Chicago (1982-2009). He has received numerous awards and recognition including; Lifetime Award, Babson (2011) Entrepreneurship Research Conference; Academy of Management, Entrepreneurship Division, Advocacy/Leadership Award; U.S. Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship, Hughes Advocacy Leadership Award; 1st Academic Chair, U.S./SBA Small Business Development; Center Advisory Board, Washington (Reagan Administration); Wilfred White Fellows Award, International Council for Small Business.