Wanted: An entrepreneur to dig out our pure gold

Jun 18 2008 The Journal

The brightest and best entrepreneurs are being sought for the coveted David Goldman Visiting Professorship at Newcastle University Business School.

The search is on to find an outstanding entrepreneur who can become the next standard bearer for successful commercial endeavour in the North East, honouring the memory of one of the region’s foremost business brains.

David Goldman, a founding chief executive and chairman of iconic software company Sage Group plc, came to embody the region’s entrepreneurial flair, dynamism and creativity.

He is credited as being instrumental in transforming the North East into a land of realistic economic opportunity and attainable prosperity.

Following David’s untimely death at 63 in 1999, his family established The Goldman Endowment at Newcastle University Business School, forming part of an enduring legacy.

Since its inception in 2003 it has already had a major impact on the academic fraternity and the wider business community.

David Goldman’s son Daniel, managing partner of Goldrock, a growth capital fund, said: "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 felt strongly that education and business could powerfully combine to make the North East a region that could sustain healthy economic growth.

"Led by our mother, the Goldman family 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 role of Visiting Goldman Professor involves working within the school to provide leadership and mentoring to its students and faculty for a 12-month period, 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.

It also 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.

The current visiting professor is Fiona Cruickshank, managing director of The Specials Laboratory – the only North East company to break into The Times Fast Track 100 – who has ably championed the cause of business, entrepreneurial flair and wealth creation.

She has followed a succession of excellent thought-leaders in the post who have all conveyed hard-fought experiences and beliefs at the annual Goldman Business Lecture.

Daniel Goldman said: "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.

"The Goldman family feels passionately about the region and we know 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 grass roots 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."

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 in the North East, send an expression of interest including a detailed CV and covering letter to Newcastle University Business School’s director of marketing and development, Kay Jones.

For further information visit www.ncl.ac.uk/nubs/business/goldman