Van Clouse, a 30-year UofL professor who co-founded the entrepreneurship MBA program, and Henry “Hank” Conn, a UofL alumnus who pledged over $20 million to create the J.B. Speed School of Engineering’s , were this year’s honorees at the Nov. 16 ceremony. 

Their names were inscribed on a plaque located just outside the college in Jane Goldstein Plaza.

Clouse, who will retire at the end of the academic year, is the Cobb Family Professor of Entrepreneurship and director of the . He has taught hundreds of students and coaches entrepreneurship MBA teams in regional, national and international .

“It saddens me that the time has come for me to retire,” said Clouse, who came to UofL in 1986. “I will continue to follow the program, but I feel like our current program is in really good hands. … I’ve told my colleagues if you ever have a question, give me a phone call and you may find me if I’m not out on a trail hiking somewhere.” 

Conn earned his undergraduate degree from the Speed School in 1966, an MBA from COB in 1969 and a Master of Engineering from Speed in 1972. Since 1983, he has been involved in more than 25 startups.

He said his MBA “was priceless for me all the way through,” and said he was honored to be recognized in the Circle of Fame.

Clouse and Conn bring to 16 the number of honorees in the Circle of Fame, begun in 2012.

Past honorees are W. Stewart Cobb, ’56 (2012); Thomas R. Davidson, ’62 (2012); Terry E. Forcht, ’59 (2012); David A. Jones, ’54 (2012); James A. Patterson, ’55 (2012); Daniel C. Ulmer, ’55 (2012); Kenneth C. Gardner, ’72 (2013); Kent Oyler, ’80 ’82 (2014); Thomas A. Wimsett, ’86 (2014); Randall J. Bufford, ’81 (2015); Sean O’Leary, ’95 (2015); Diane Medley, ’80 (2016); W. Earl Reed III, ’73 (2016); and William J. Ready, ’01 (2017).

Diane Medley, managing partner and co-founder of MCM CPAs & Advisors and a member of the UofL Foundation board of trustees, and W. Earl Reed III, founder of healthcare companies including Springstone and The Allegro Group, each received a crystal bowl during a reception in their honor. They bring to 13 the number of alumni who have been given the award since its inception in 2012.

Medley, who graduated from the College of Business in 1980 with a bachelor’s degree in accounting, has been practicing public accounting for more than 30 years. She has led MCM through several mergers and acquisitions, making the company the largest CPA firm in the region with more than 300 employees across five locations.

She called the award an “extreme honor,” and said that receiving it from acting COB Dean Alan Attaway – her favorite accounting professor when she was a student – brought her “full circle.”

She said throughout her career, she has been asked why she wanted to grow her company. Her reply was simple: “Because it’s fun.”

Medley added that her motto is “Do the right thing. Do it well.”

Reed, who earned an accounting degree from UofL in 1973, has been a member of the College of Business board of advisors for 20 years. He has a long history of managing health care companies and is the founder and chairman of Springstone, which operates a network of hospitals for mental health/substance abuse patients. He was also a founding partner of The Allegro Group, which provides healthcare financial and operating advisory services. 

During his remarks, Reed reminisced about starting his career at Humana when the insurance giant was in its infancy, and said he is a “firm believer in timing and just being in the right place at the right time.” Since leaving Humana, in the past three decades he and his business partner have made $6 billion worth of transactions.

Despite his success, Reed said when he looked at the names of previous winners, it was a “humbling experience.”

“I appreciate all the work everyone does here for the university,” Reed said.

The award ceremony began with remarks by Van Clouse, chair of the Forcht Center for Entrepreneurship.

Clouse said the Entrepreneurial MBA offered at the college is “our best-known brand,” adding that the program consistently ranks among the top in the nation. The program’s 24^th cohort began this year.

He said today’s entrepreneurial MBA students are collaborating with researchers across campus to turn their work into products that can go to market.

A granite monument with the names of Entrepreneurship Circle of Fame winners is located in Jane Goldstein Plaza just outside Harry Frazier Hall at the college.

The following is a list of past honorees:

2012: W. Stewart Cobb, ’56; Thomas R. Davidson, ’62; Terry E. Forcht, ’59; David A. Jones, ’54; James A Patterson, ’55; Daniel C. Ulmer, ’55.

2013: Kenneth C. Gardner, ’72.

2014: Kent Oyler, ’80 ’82 GB; Thomas A. Wimsett, ’86.

2015: Randall J. Bufford, ’81; Sean O’Leary, ’95 GB.