Pure Gold!

May 14 2008 by Andrew Hebden, The Journal

Today The Journal launches the search for an outstanding entrepreneur to become the next holder of a coveted professorship at the Newcastle University Business School.

AS founding chief executive and chairman of software company Sage, David Goldman came to embody the entrepreneurial flair, dynamism and creative spirit of the North East.

The Sunderland-born businessman left school at 16 and pursued a career in accountancy, sales, advertising and public relations before spotting a niche in the market for business software.

In 1981, he teamed up with Newcastle University computing graduate Graham Wylie to devise a hardware and software package that was the best on the market. The rest, as they say, is history, and today Sage is not only one of the biggest listed companies headquartered in the North East, but a global success story.

So, it seemed fitting that after his untimely death at 63 in 1999, David Goldman’s legacy should live on.

It was with that in mind that his family established The Goldman Endowment at Newcastle University Business School in 2003. Since then, it has had a major impact on the academic fraternity and the business community.

David Goldman’s son Daniel, managing partner of Goldrock, a growth capital fund and chairman of Invu, an AIM-listed software company, explains the significance of the post. “The Goldman Endowment at Newcastle University Business School was created not only as part of an enduring legacy to the memory of my father but more importantly to effect real change,” he says.

“He felt strongly that education and business could powerfully combine to make the North East a region that could sustain healthy economic growth. Led by mother, we feel strongly about effecting real change on the ground. By providing a platform for an experienced entrepreneur in the form of the annual visiting professorship we can provide a valuable portal between the two worlds of business and academia for the benefit of both.”

The post of David Goldman Visiting Professor of Business Innovation at Newcastle University Business School is now well established.

The role involves working in the school to provide leadership and mentoring to its students and faculty, as well as delivering the David Goldman Business School lecture at the annual dinner.

“This post combines very well with the Goldman Endowment permanent position of Chair of Business Innovation occupied by distinguished academic Professor David Charles and certainly fits with the philosophy of Newcastle University in general as it looks beyond the walls of academia in an effort to inspire and be inspired by the wider community,” explained Mr Goldman.

Current visiting professor is Fiona Cruickshank, managing director of Prudhoe pharmaceuticals business The Specials Laboratory. The company is a success story in its own right and the only firm in the North East to break into the Sunday Times Fast Track 100 listing.

She follows a succession of excellent thought leaders in the post who have conveyed hard fought experiences and beliefs at the Annual Goldman Business Lecture. “Now we are seeking the next visiting professor and need an individual who will possess the right balance of business acumen, entrepreneurial flair and leadership,” says Mr Goldman.

“The Goldman family feel passionately about the region and know that it contains the talent and ability necessary to secure a prosperous future. By providing inspirational leadership combined with effective research, the future of the region can be safeguarded through sustainable economic growth.

“Entrepreneurial endeavour is a state of mind and by leading through example my father had a hand in creating a company that has become the biggest of its kind in the UK whilst still being firmly rooted in the heart of the North East. His business became a beacon of light for the whole region, clearly demonstrating that when applied correctly the only limit on a business’s ambition is the imagination of those who work within it.

“In a similar way, thought leadership through the David Goldman Visiting Professor of Business Innovation can be used to stimulate minds and provoke action making a real impact on the region. Through this type of knowledge exchange the region can be safeguarded against the natural booms and slumps of the global economy.

“By inviting the region’s top business performers to share their invaluable experiences with the academic fraternity, both at grassroots level in terms of the student body as well as their academic masters, has proved an excellent way to disseminate information inspiring others to strive to achieve their own goals.

“Traditionally the worlds of business and academia have been separated by their own very different dynamic. But this is changing with both groups recognising they have a responsibility to look beyond their own worlds and incorporate the learning and experiences of others in a world evolving at an increasingly frenetic pace.”

HOW TO APPLY:

THE Goldman Visiting Professor will possess:

15 years of business experience;

Start-up experience;

Demonstrably innovative approach;

Proven track record;

Regional / national / international impact;

Contribution to the regional economy.

IF you think you have what it takes to inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs and are sufficiently accomplished in the business world and connected to the North East, send an expression of interest, including a detailed CV and a covering letter, to Newcastle University Business School’s director of marketing and development Kay Jones. Explain why you think you have the capability to shape the region’s economic future.
For further information, click here to visit Newcastle University Business School's website.