HPU Welcomes Founding Dean of the Congdon School of Entrepreneurship
HIGH POINT, N.C., Aug. 26, 2024 – Lou Anne Flanders-Stec is returning to High Point University to serve as the founding dean of HPU’s new David S. Congdon School of Entrepreneurship, which will be North Carolina’s first private school of entrepreneurship when it opens in 2025. It will also be one of only two schools of entrepreneurship in the state.
Flanders-Stec served as an assistant professor and the director of HPU’s Center for Entrepreneurship from 2010-14. The number of students majoring in entrepreneurship grew significantly under her guidance. She will oversee the launch of the new school in her role as dean and professor of the practice.
With its interdisciplinary and business foundational approach, the Congdon School of Entrepreneurship will equip students with the life skills and mindset to start their own businesses and create economic opportunities and social value.
“As I return to HPU, I’m honored to have the opportunity to work with great students and an amazing faculty to build the David S. Congdon School of Entrepreneurship,” says Flanders-Stec. “With the solid foundation that has already been laid, I’m excited to expand experiential learning for students, add new program offerings and increase student exposure to an expanded network of mentors and opportunities on a regional and national level.”
Flanders-Stec most recently served as the vice president of strategic initiatives at Guilford College in Greensboro, North Carolina. She brings an extensive background in higher education, entrepreneurship and angel funding, in which clients invest their own money in small businesses and startup companies.
Flanders-Stec has real-world business experience, including serving as a fund executive in the Piedmont Triad and as the chief financial officer at Signature Capital in New York. As the executive vice president of entrepreneurship for Launch Greensboro from 2016-2023, she was responsible for programming for early-stage entrepreneurs.
During her previous time at HPU, Flanders-Stec created the university’s annual Business Plan Competition, where students compete for venture capital for their business plans and present their ideas to a panel of local business leaders for valuable feedback. She also managed HPU’s Entrepreneurship Club, its elevator pitch programs and speaker series.
In 2013, while teaching at HPU, Flanders-Stec was one of 18 women named to the Triad Business Journal’s annual Women in Business list. She also served as the director of the Center for Student Entrepreneurship at the City University of New York.
Plato S. Wilson Hall will be home to the School of Entrepreneurship. The new school will offer multiple undergraduate degree options, starting with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in Entrepreneurship, a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in Sales, a Bachelor of Arts in Event Management and a Bachelor of Arts in Hospitality Management.
In addition, HPU’s Access to Innovators program gives students the opportunity to be mentored by highly successful entrepreneurs who regularly visit campus.
Netflix Co-Founder Marc Randolph serves as HPU’s Entrepreneur in Residence. Bestselling author and internationally renowned leadership expert Dr. John C. Maxwell works with students as HPU’s Executive Coach in Residence. Dr. Sue Downes, CEO and co-founder of MyEyeDr., joined as HPU’s Health Care Expert in Residence in 2022.
The School of Entrepreneurship is part of HPU’s $400 million academic expansion that is expected to be completed by the end of the 2024-25 academic year. The number of academic schools has increased from three to 14 since Dr. Nido Qubein became president of HPU, his alma mater, in 2005.