Len Heller was part of College of Communications & Information Studies Colloquium on Entrepreneurship

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 5, 2011)—Len Heller, UK vice president of Commercialization & Economic Development, was part of the first College Colloquium on Entrepreneurship on Oct. 20, 2011. Sponsored by the College of Communications & Information Studies and moderated by Dean Dan O' Hair, the colloquium focused on what it takes to be an entrepreneur and how entrepreneurs get started. Speakers also looked at what UK is doing to foster entrepreneurship and what the university can do in the future to create an entrepreneurship friendly enviroment. Michael Speaks, dean of the UK College of Design; Brian Raney, UK graduate and Lexington entrepreneur; Wes Brooks, UK student entrepreneur and president of UK’s Entrepreneurship Club, and Heller participated.

College Colloquium on Entrepreneurship: Program 12 from UK College of Comm & Info on Vimeo.

Colloquium Moderator: Dan O’Hair, Ph.D., is the dean of the UK College of Communications & Information Studies and a professor of Communications. He is the former President of the National Communication Association and has published numerous articles in risk and health communication, public relations, business communication, media management, and psychology.

Wes Brooks is a 21-year-old entrepreneur studying Materials Engineering at UK. Born and raised in Bowling Green, Ky., Brooks co-founded his first company in November 2009. The company, WeddingCaption, is a mobile-phone wedding photography company. He is also president of the UK Entrepreneurship Club.

Leonard Heller, Ed.D., is vice president of the UK Office for Commercialization & Economic Development and president & CEO of Kentucky Technology Inc.  Len Heller is a former business owner, angel investor, entrepreneur, and Kentucky state government cabinet secretary. Len Heller biosketch.

Brian Raney is UK graduate and an entrepreneur. He began his entrepreneurial career while in college by building BookExchange.com. Raney went on to start APAX Software, which specializes in mobile and web applications. APAX stimulated the launch of Awesome Inc, a business accelerator in downtown Lexington, Ky. Raney currently works with an Awesome Inc. spinoff called BuildingLayer, an indoor map company.

Michael Speaks, Ph.D., is the dean of the UK College of Design and a professor of Architecture. He previously has directed the Graduate Program at the Southern California Institute of Architecture in Los Angeles and taught at the Yale School of Art, Harvard University, Columbia University, the University of Michigan, UCLA, Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, Calif., and the Berlage Institute and TU Delft, in the Netherlands.