July 8, 2003
BRYANT CHOSEN TO FILL $1 MILLION CHAIR AT NICHOLLS STATE
THIBODAUX
– Nicholls State University recently announced its selection
of Canadian-born Dr. Thomas A. Bryant to fill the university’s
$1 million Bollinger Family Endowed Chair in Business Administration.
Bryant will begin work at the university Aug. 19 when the fall semester officially begins. He comes to Nicholls from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, where he was an associate professor, director of Entrepreneurial Management Programs, co-director of the Rutgers Center for Entrepreneurial Management and holder of The State of New Jersey Chair in Small Business and Entrepreneurship.
“I plan to listen carefully in the business community and work to build a strong entrepreneurship program in the business school so students can be exposed to the business world as undergraduates and graduate students,” Bryant said. “We also plan to develop a program in family business and work with the Chef John Folse Culinary Institute to develop a program for the agricultural and food sectors.”
Dr. Ridley J. Gros, dean of the College of Business Administration at Nicholls State, said, “We’re elated to have a person of (Dr. Bryant’s) caliber lead us in the development of entrepreneurship in our region.”
A native of The Pas, Manitoba, Bryant earned his bachelor’s degree in Political Science in 1974 from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. His master’s and doctoral degrees, also in Political Science, came from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1977 and 1982. His expertise is primarily in the areas of entrepreneurship programs, intellectual property management, technology management, innovation and change management, business strategy, evaluation methodology and political economy.
His vast amount of business experience has included serving as president and CEO of four different companies, founding two firms, helping to found or turn around two others, and serving as executive director for two not- for-profit organizations. Bryant is also a well-known consultant with clients such as the Ontario Ministry of Energy, the governments of Yukon and Saskatchewan, Pioneer Computer Ltd. and the American Management Association.
In his academic career, Bryant has worked as an associate professor of Business and director of the Burgoyne Centre for Entrepreneurship at Brock University in Ontario and has held teaching positions at Wilfrid Laurier University, the University of Guelph, the University of Waterloo, all in Ontario, and at the University of Regina in Saskatchewan.
Bryant is a licensed private pilot and enjoys canoeing, kayaking, gardening, refereeing rugby and reading historical and science fiction. He and his wife, Robin, have three children.