The United States Association of Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE) named Bill Aulet its Entrepreneurship Educator of the Year during its 2021 Virtual Conference. Aulet is the managing director of the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship, a role he has held since 2010, and is also a professor of the practice at the MIT Sloan School of Management.
The USASBE Entrepreneurship Educator of the Year is given to an individual who has provided distinguished leadership over a number of years within the field of entrepreneurship education. Each winner has contributed substantive advancements to the way in which scholars think about and approach entrepreneurship teaching and learning.
“Entrepreneurship education matters more than ever in a world that regularly faces drastic changes,” Aulet says. “In a disruptive world, one needs the mindset, skill set, and way of operating that we focus on when educating our students to be entrepreneurs and not just survive, but thrive in times of change, adversity, and ambiguity. Entrepreneurship will be a fundamental skill incorporated into all facets of education, and, as global leaders, we must be ready to meet this challenge.”
“Bill Aulet is unique because he is not only a beacon of inspiration for his own students, but also a luminary for his peers, teaching and pushing educators to approach their classes and coursework with innovation and passion,” says Julienne Shields, USASBE’s chief executive officer. “Without a doubt, Bill is one of the most impactful thought leaders in entrepreneurship education, and his efforts have furthered the discipline of entrepreneurship. We are thrilled to recognize Bill as our educator of the year for 2021.”
Aulet is being honored, in part, for his 2013 book “Disciplined Entrepreneurship,” which has impacted a new generation of entrepreneurship faculty, specifically those who were set on looking at entrepreneurship as a way of not just creating new ventures, but also recreating effective education. The book has been published in over 20 languages, inspired a second volume that is a practical manual for the 24-step framework presented in the original title, and is used as a basis for curriculum at more than 250 universities and colleges around the globe.
Shields continues, “Bill has developed time-tested tools and techniques for entrepreneurship, plus mentorship and consultation for entrepreneurs at MIT, and individuals around the United States and the world. He is a tireless advocate for entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship education and has positively influenced scores of successful entrepreneurs and their companies.”
The USASBE award is the third major recognition for the Trust Center in the past two years. Last November, Edward Roberst, the MIT Sloan David Sarnoff Professor of Management of Technology and founder and chair of the center, received the Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers Legacy Award for his “pioneering work in advancing entrepreneurship.” In 2019, the Deshpande Foundation recognized Aulet with its Outstanding Contributions to Advancing Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Higher Education Award during its annual symposium.
“To be recognized by the three largest and most important entrepreneurship education organizations in the world, all in the last 18 months and with their highest honors, is unprecedented,” Aulet says. “We are grateful for the recognition that our ‘operating system’ of how we educate students is clearly working.”
