Henley has served in her current role since 2018. Prior to coming to North Dakota, she was executive director of MBA programs and associate professor in the Department of Management and Entrepreneurship at the Coles College of Business at Kennesaw State University.

Henley held other positions at Kennesaw State and has taught management courses there and at the University of Southern Mississippi and University of Texas at Arlington. Before entering academia, she worked in transportation logistics and financial analysis in Dallas.

“Dr. Henley has extensive leadership experience, is adept at building alumni relationships, strongly supports academic research and has a history of building ties with the business, government and nonprofit communities,” said UofL interim Provost Katie Cardarelli. “I believe she will be a great fit here and will take the College of Business to an even higher level.”

Henley earned a doctoral degree in organizational behavior and psychology from the University of Texas at Arlington. She holds an MBA and a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Southern Mississippi.

“It is an honor to be named as the next dean for the University of Louisville College of Business,” Henley said. “Having the opportunity to serve at such a prestigious university, back in my southern roots, is truly a privilege. I look forward to helping propel our college into the next phase of innovation, entrepreneurship and thought-leadership as we inspire the future generation of business leaders.”

Ten second-year MBA students��from the two��universities were selected to participate in the intensive five-month��fellowship where two participants��will have the opportunity to become future franchisees of��Yum! Brands, the owner of��KFC, Pizza Hut,��Taco Bell��and��The Habit Burger Grill. The debut of��the��Yum!��Franchise Accelerator follows last year’s launch of the ,��within UofL’s College of Business.��

“Yum! Brands is proud to work with both the University of Louisville and Howard University on this groundbreaking partnership to train and advance��underrepresented people of color and women��entrepreneurs interested in��building��a career in the franchise��restaurant��industry,” said Scott Catlett,��chief legal and franchise officer of Yum! Brands.��“The��fellowship is a win-win as the students will receive educational experiences, mentoring��and hands-on training unlike any other, while Yum! has the opportunity to welcome two��talented��business leaders and��aspiring, diverse��franchisees to our U.S. system.”����

The participants – six MBA students from Howard University and four from UofL – receive scholarships and extensive education on the franchise business model through the Yum! Center for Global Franchise Excellence’s franchising curriculum, along with one-of-a-kind mentorship from some of Yum! Brands’ top franchisees in the U.S., in-restaurant training, a sponsored trip to Yum! Brands’ Louisville��Restaurant��Support��Center and��a number of��unique curated franchising professional experiences��during��the semester. The��Yum! Franchise Accelerator��provides��each student with��learning focused��on scholarship, mentorship and entrepreneurship��that��culminates in a pitch competition where two��grand prize��winners will receive��seed money, additional training and mentorship, as well as��an opportunity to become a future Yum! franchisee.����

“I am thrilled for the University of Louisville to partner with Howard University and Yum!��Brands on this exciting, synergistic fellowship to create exceptional opportunities for underrepresented people of color and women,” said Lori Stewart Gonzalez, interim��president��of UofL. “This program of the Yum! Center for Global Franchise Excellence exemplifies our commitment to enhanced student experience��and upholds our antiracism promise. I am certain it will have life-changing impact not only on participating students but far beyond, through their future entrepreneurial success and with those they mentor and inspire.”��

“Howard students have always been passionate about entrepreneurship because of the potential it has to impact not just their own lives, but the lives of people in their communities. The��Franchise��Accelerator is��an incredible opportunity for Howard students to gain training in and access to a sector that has served as a wealth-building engine for so many communities,” said��Yuvay��Meyers Ferguson, assistant dean of impact and engagement and associate professor of marketing at Howard University. “We are so grateful and excited about our partnership with UofL and Yum! Brands and what it will mean for increasing representation of women and people of color in the franchise industry.”��

Since June, more than 200 students have��participated��in programs at the Yum! Center for Global Franchise Excellence, including��more than 100 undergraduate students, 55 graduate students and more than��75 participants in the��executive-level Franchise Management Certificate program.��The��center��is��the first business program of its kind at a public university to provide existing and potential franchisees multiple levels of online education focused on the franchising model across industries.��It��focuses��on recruiting and educating underrepresented people of color and women on the possibilities of franchising as a pathway to entrepreneurship.��

“From the beginning, the goal of the Yum! Center for Global Franchise Excellence was to amplify our world-class franchising model and give more underrepresented��people of color��and women access to��franchise ownership��and the ability to create generational wealth and a legacy,” said��Wanda Williams, head of Yum! Global Franchising. “This program is consistent with��our��goal��of��becoming��the world’s��multi-brand��franchisor of choice��which strives to create a global franchise system as diverse as the communities we serve.��Adding��the faces and voices of underrepresented people of color and women��leads to diversity of ownership and thought,��builds on our legacy of developing and growing franchising and creating jobs and��broadens��the reach of��Yum!’s��world-class franchising model.”����

During��the semester, each student will take part in sessions that allow them to learn directly from Yum! Brands executives,��successful��franchisees and restaurant operators, as well as��interacting with��brand��franchise recruiters.��Each student participating in the Yum! Franchise Accelerator will be paired with a current Yum! Brands franchisee who will��serve as a mentor��and thought partner��during the semester-long program.����

“Franchising is a proven model to empower communities to build and sustain generational wealth,” said Kathleen Gosser, assistant��professor��of��franchise��management��and��director��of the UofL Yum! Center for Global Franchise Excellence. “This pilot program will accelerate this process for our deserving cohort of talented MBA students, allowing them to become the future of franchising success within underrepresented populations.��And when this success occurs, the entire community benefits.”��

The creation and funding of the��UofL��Yum!��Center��for Global Franchise Excellence��is part of Yum! Brands’ global Unlocking Opportunity Initiative, in which��the company committed $100 million over five years to promote equity and inclusion, education and entrepreneurship for employees, frontline restaurant teams and communities around the��world.��Across KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and The Habit Burger Grill, and in close collaboration with��Yum!’s��franchisees, the Unlocking Opportunity Initiative builds on more than 20 years of investing in the Company’s people-first culture.����

The franchising model is strong in the U.S. and globally and makes business ownership accessible to many individuals.��When 2021 year-end data is��finalized, the����projects the franchising industry will��have����in the U.S. alone.����

The startup, , was founded by soon-to-be UofL College of Business entrepreneurship MBA alumni Phillip Cupp, Ashley Krems and Chiraag Bhimani, who will pitch at the Rice competition from June 18-20. The competition will be held virtually, given current coronavirus restrictions.��

“We’re treading in the footsteps of some great teams that have gone before,” said Cupp, RIZIN’s CEO. “We’re a little nervous, but confident. If you get into this, you’re in the big leagues.”

RIZIN is built around a UofL-born technology for detecting the THC psychoactive compound found in marijuana through the breath — something like a breathalyzer. The technology was invented by UofL chemical engineering professor, . RIZIN believes the technology could have a niche with law enforcement, human resources departments and others needing portable drug testing with fast, accurate results.��

“As legalization of cannabis expands in the United States, we are seeing increasing numbers of car accidents and fatalities where cannabis was a factor,” said Bhimani, who’s responsible for RIZIN’s financials, investment strategy, marketing and communications. “After speaking with multiple law enforcement organizations, we began to see a need for a product that could detect recent cannabis use quickly and accurately.”

The students plan to push forward with RIZIN after the competition and graduation. Right now, they said, the goal is to continue validating the technology.��

Cupp said his experience at UofL has well prepared him for this entrepreneurial journey with RIZIN. Aside from the UofL MBA program, Cupp is an intern with the and . There, he’s gotten to work with several , who are working to commercialize UofL technologies born from research.

“The MBA program has taught me a lot about this, and given me a good base to work from,” he said. “Working with the EIRs has helped me apply that, know how to approach this industry and communicate our vision in a compelling manner.”

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).

Six of Louisville’s most influential female business leaders from a wide variety of careers and life experiences talked about those issues and more April 17 at the Women in Leadership Forum at the University of Louisville College of Business. All are members of the college’s board of advisors and several have served on the university’s board of trustees, as well as the board of the foundation.

Margaret Handmaker, who earned her law degree at UofL in 1978, noted that when she was in law school, she could not have a credit card in her own name. Later, her law income couldn’t count toward the mortgage.

“It wasn’t a century ago,” said Handmaker, who is president of Ellico, a consulting firm, had a 30-year career with Mercer, and served as Kentucky secretary of revenue and Louisville’s chief of economic development. “Don’t take it for granted.”

The other panelists were Diane Medley, COB alumnus and managing partner and co-founder of accounting firm Mountjoy Chilton Medley LLP, the largest CPA firm in the region; Nikki Jackson, regional executive and senior vice president of the Louisville branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis and a 2017 Business First “Woman of Influence;” entrepreneur Dana Bowers, founder of Venminder and iPay Technologies; Divya Cantor, MD, who earned three degrees at UofL and is regional vice president and senior clinical officer of Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kentucky; and Camilla Schroeder, UofL COB alumnus and president of Advance Ready Mix Concrete.

In discussing barriers to success, Schroeder cited balancing a career and children. “In my experience, you have to have a great support network for (children),” said Schroeder.

Cantor, who is an OB/GYN, said that babies don’t always arrive at the most convenient times. “It’s part of our lives to make it happen and make it work,” she said.

Medley said the conversation about women and work/life balance should focus on figuring out “how to do it all. Why do you have to choose?” Handmaker quickly added that women “don’t have to do it all at the same time. You can do some things consecutively,” and suggested options such as working three days a week when a woman has children.

When asked how they stave off health problems and burnout, Cantor cited her exercise routine, which she called her “sacred time.”

Schroeder also emphasized the importance of exercise and said she has been working with an executive coach. But she cautioned: “Some curveballs you can never prepare yourself for.”

Handmaker’s recommendation was to “take time for friendships. Friends take the pressure off everything.”

In a discussion about best and worst decisions, Jackson said her best decision was agreeing to join the first Beshear administration as secretary of the Kentucky Personnel Cabinet, even though she felt she was “arguably ill-prepared.” With a laughing nod to heat and tarantulas, she said her worst decision was leaving Kentucky to take a job in Arizona.

Later she said women do a disservice to themselves by not speaking publicly and honestly about their anxieties and imperfections. She also advised that women “watch what we breathe life into,” cautioning against turning small points into big issues.

Bowers told the audience not to be afraid to take on challenges and make mistakes along the way. “Just own it and fix it,” she added, saying women need to position themselves to be leaders. Make sure there isn’t any job you ask someone else to do that you wouldn’t do yourself, she said.

COB Dean Todd Mooradian closed the hour-long discussion in the college’s PNC Horn Auditorium, saying the college is focused on embracing, nurturing and investing in the success of all students.

The forum, sponsored by the student chapter of the Association of Women MBAs, was moderated by COB professors Beth Davis-Sramek and Kristen Lucas. The association plans to hold a similar program annually.

CEO Magazine has named it a Tier One Global EMBA program for 2016.

“This ranking is a wonderful recognition of the unique partnership forged between Kentucky’s two top research universities to serve the Commonwealth in our region,” said T. Vernon Foster, executive director, MBA Programs and Career Management at the University of Louisville College of Business.

The program’s first class graduated in December 2015.

The Executive MBA program is aimed at rising executives from regional organizations. Faculty from UofL’s College of Business and UK’s Gatton College of Business and Economics teach sessions that are split between the UK campus in Lexington and the UofL Campus in Louisville.

“It’s extremely gratifying to be ranked as an outstanding program that prepares seasoned professionals to advance in their careers and achieve their goals,” said Joe Labianca, co-director of the EMBA program at UK’s Gatton College of Business.

The full rankings .