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).

The University of Arkansas team won first place with a plan for Lapovations LLC, a medical device company. WeavAir of the University of Toronto took second place, while UofL’s team, Mindful Mix, came in third. Fourth place was won by Hansel of UCLA.

, maker of medical devices for laparoscopic procedures, was awarded the grand prize of $15,000 and the chance for $100,000 worth of services if it locates in Louisville through the “Launch in Louisville” program.

The “Launch in Louisville” package is provided in conjunction with Greater Louisville Inc. To be eligible for the services, the winning team must locate and operate its business in Louisville within a year of the award. Among the contributers are Business First (an advertising package), UofL’s Forcht Center for Entrepreneurship (consulting), Frost Brown Todd (legal services) and Mountjoy Chilton Medley LLP (tax services).

The second place prize of $5,000 was awarded to , maker of sensors for heating and air conditioning systems that reduce energy consumption and improve indoor air quality.

UofL MBA students Eric Wentworth and JD Mitchell won $3,000 for third place for their  business plan. The startup makes all-natural, vitamin- and electrolyte-infused cocktail and mocktail mixers. 

Van Clouse, director of the Forcht Center for Entrepreneurship and associate professor of entrepreneurship, and Suzanne Bergmeister, assistant professor of entrepreneurship and entrepreneur-in-residence, are the team’s UofL advisors.

In fourth place for business plans, travel advice app team members took home $1,500.

The Cardinal Challenge, first held in 2008, features 12 teams of students from the world’s leading university entrepreneurship programs. It is one of eight regional or national competitions in which UofL participates each year.

The competition took place Feb. 16-17 at the Louisville Downtown Marriott. Other universities participating were the University of Kentucky (two teams), University of Oregon (two teams), University of Manitoba (Canada), University of Delaware, University of Notre Dame and the University of Michigan.

In addition to the business plan competition, the Challenge includes a 1-minute Fast Pitch competition. SalvePeds of Notre Dame won the first place prize of $1,500, with Sustainable Products Co. of UK coming in second with a prize of $1,000.

Photos from the competition are .����

Finals for the Idea State U competition, sponsored by the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development’s Office of Entrepreneurship in partnership with the Kentucky Innovation Network, were held April 22-23 in Lexington. The win marked the seventh time that a UofL College of Business team placed first for its business plan at the competition.

“We have always done really well at Idea State U and have come away placing in the competition every year,” said Van Clouse, entrepreneurship director of the Forcht Center for Entrepreneurship in the College of Business. “We won the business plan division seven times and the business concept/business model division six times since 2009. We have an outstanding program for entrepreneurship here at the University of Louisville partly because we create unique partnerships on and off campus to support our student teams.”

The MoveMe app matches users with potential workout partners based on fitness activities, levels and goals. The team will continue to work with the Kentucky Innovation Network, which has 13 offices across the state to help entrepreneurs and small business owners.

The competition this year had a record 51 entrants from 18 Kentucky colleges and universities.

Here are all UofL’s victories at Idea State U:

• 2009 Business Plan Division 1^st place PackStream, Business Concept Division 1^st place Fenix Group.
• 2010 Business Plan Division 1^st place CALMsenior, Business Concept Division 1^st place Cuddle Clones.
• 2011 Business Plan Division 1^st place Cuddle Clones, Business Concept Division 1^st place KY Chia.
• 2012 Business Plan Division 1^st place KY Chia, Business Concept Division 1^st place VOC Diagnostics.
• 2013 Business Concept Division 1^st place PDM Pharmaceuticals.
• 2014 Business Plan Division 1^st place Trifecta Cooking Equipment, Business Concept Division 1^st place Cypress MD (now Inscope Medical Solutions).
• 2015 Business Plan Division 1^st place Engagely.
• 2016 Business Plan Division 1^st place MoveMe.