Faculty Spotlight:  Professor John Hodgman

In 2002, the idea to infuse entrepreneurship into the undergraduate experience gained approval from Tufts University. The Entrepreneurial Leadership Program (ELS) began with only a few professors and classes of less than 20 students. However, less than six years later, the program has classes packed to capacity, close to 50 students annually completing the minor, and a cadre of part time faculty who are actually entrepreneurs in their own right. John Hodgman, who teaches ELS 101 this semester, is one of these experienced professors who helped make the courses popular. He has taught an entrepreneurship course at Tufts since 1997. This year marks his 10th year anniversary with the university.

Before beginning to teach at Tufts, Professor Hodgman was the president of Massachusetts Technology Development Corporation (MTDC), the state's venture capital arm, for 17 years. His job was to help innovators/entrepreneurs who were knowledgeable in the technology field, but had little business experience. He was interested in teaching these technology leaders how to become successful entrepreneurs because he believed that they had the skills but needed some guidance. When he retired from MTDC, he wanted to bring his values to the classroom, but did not want to teach at a business school. A friend of his in Tufts American Studies Department suggested that he come to Tufts and in 1997, he taught the first entrepreneurship class, American Entrepreneurship, in that department. This marked the beginning of Professor Hodgman's career with Tufts. However, there was an increase in students' interest to have practice-oriented business classes, and as a result, the existing Entrepreneurial Leadership Program was created in 2002. He continued to teach and the course in American Studies got cross-listed with Entrepreneurial Leadership. The course has since been an integral part of the program's success.

Professor Hodgman has been a steady part of the continued growth of the program. He strives to maintain the genuine entrepreneurial values of the program by also promoting social responsibility which has attracted more students. He believes that entrepreneurial drive comes naturally, but some people need to learn how to effectively use their skills and learn new skills toward creating an enterprise. Consequently, he gains inspiration from the many students who start the semester illiterate with financing terms or cannot write business plans, but by the end of a semester in an ELS class, develop a clear understanding and create elaborate business models. It is no surprise that his best experiences come from seeing students with no previous experience in writing business plans compose brilliant and creative plans by the end of each semester.

The acquisition of experienced faculty in financing, marketing, and leadership, as well as the increased funding and visibility of the ELS Program has strongly encouraged Professor Hodgman. He serves as a seasoned leader and an inspiration to all his students in ELS 101 and ELS 193. He currently teaches ELS 101 and is on the advisory board of Young Entrepreneurs at Tufts (YET) along with Professor Goldberg, which demonstrates his commitment to this increase of young talent into the program. His dedication to teaching is evident, which merits him this year's faculty spotlight.