On March 8, Kent State University celebrated a historic milestone as we broke ground for Crawford Hall, the new home for the Ambassador Crawford College of Business and Entrepreneurship. The ceremony was attended by more than 400 people, including university officials, donors, alumni, students, elected officials and special guests.
I am truly grateful for Ambassador Crawford, his family, and the many donors who made Crawford Hall possible. You can watch a recap video of the groundbreaking ceremony and read more about the event below. I look forward to sharing more updates on this project with you in the months to come.
Deborah F. Spake, Ph.D. Dean Ambassador Crawford College of Business and Entrepreneurship
A New Home for the Ambassador Crawford College of Business and Entrepreneurship
The Ambassador Crawford College of Business and Entrepreneurship and Crawford Hall have been named in honor of Ambassador Edward F. Crawford, who provided the largest philanthropic gift in Kent State history to complete the capital campaign for this state-of-the-art building.
Once completed, Crawford Hall will be a four-story building that includes active learning classrooms, an entrepreneurship lab, a business analytics lab, behavioral research hub, sales labs, trading lab, global forum, business theater and student success center. Crawford Hall will be one of the largest buildings on any Kent State campus to house an academic program.
“My fellow students are bright, innovative and creative Crawford Hall will contain all the necessary tools to develop our skills and become the students, businesspeople and entrepreneurs we strive to one day become,” said Juliana Buonaiuto, ’24, a Kent State marketing student and senator with the university’s Undergraduate Student Government who spoke at the groundbreaking ceremony.
Ambassador Edward F. Crawford
The son of Irish immigrants, Ambassador Crawford began his career as an entrepreneur in 1962, starting his first manufacturing business while attending college classes at night. Beginning in 1992, he built Park-Ohio Holdings Corp. through a series of more than 100 transactions, growing from a small local manufacturer into a successful international corporation. Under his leadership as Chairman and CEO, Park-Ohio became a publicly traded $1.6 billion industrial supply chain logistics and diversified manufacturing business, employing more than 7,000 people in 125 locations worldwide. After serving the country as U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Ireland from 2019-2021, he returned to America in his current role as Chairman of Crawford United Corporation, CEO of The Crawford Group and Director of Park-Ohio.
ASPIRE Entrepreneurial Workshop Series
Ambassador Edward F. Crawford was the featured speaker at Kent State’s first ASPIRE Entrepreneurial Workshop Series held on March 8. The program featured an interview of Ambassador Crawford by Cleveland radio personality Thomas Kelly. Students, faculty, university administrators, donors and special guests were in attendance to hear Ambassador Crawford discuss his experience as an entrepreneur and the importance of being able to overcome rejection. Watch Ambassador Crawford’s talk at the link below.
Serena Loftus, Ph.D., Selected as a Poets&Quants 2021 Top 50 Best Undergraduate Business Professor
Serena Loftus, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Accounting in the Ambassador Crawford College of Business and Entrepreneurship, was recently selected as a 2021 Top 50 Best Undergraduate Business Professor by Poets&Quants.
“We are delighted to be able to recruit top talent like Dr. Loftus to the Ambassador Crawford College of Business and Entrepreneurship,” said Deborah F. Spake, Ph.D., dean of the college. “This recognition showcases her commitment to excellence in teaching and modern pedagogy.”
2022 CEBIpitch Finalists Announced for April 21 Event
Seven finalists will compete in Kent State’s John S. and Marlene J. Brinzo Center for Entrepreneurship’s annual CEBIpitch competition for a chance to win a share of $20,000 in cash prizes. The annual CEBIpitch event helps Kent State entrepreneurship students launch and grow their startup companies and earn funds to support it. The virtual event will take place on April 21 at 4 p.m.
Kent State University Ambassador Crawford College of Business and Entrepreneurship
