Adrian College Announces New Institutes posted 2/20/09
The Institutes for Health Studies and Entrepreneurial Studies established.

ADRIAN, Mich. - As Renaissance II rolls out across campus, Adrian College announces the formation of its Institute for Health Studies and Institute of Entrepreneurial Studies. These two Institutes are the first of many others to be established.

“We at Adrian College are very excited to announce this new initiative,” says President Jeffrey Docking. “Institutes will serve both a teaching and administrative support role to our faculty as well as guiding our students on a career path. The directors will work to find a multitude of ways to bring greater academic prestige to the campus.”

The Institute for Health Studies is under the directorship of Marcia J. Boynton, JD. The Institute will support and serve students and faculty with academic and professional interests in the health care field, drawing on majors and minors from across the campus.

Boynton is a health care executive who comes to Adrian from the University of Michigan Health System. Throughout her career, Boynton has provided oversight and mentorship to health professionals and trainees in both administrative and clinical disciplines.

She has provided business consulting support to multi-state physician groups and private physician practices and held a variety of executive positions at the University of Michigan Hospitals and Medical School. Adrian students seeking internships in health care settings will benefit from Boynton’s relationships with health service organizations across the state.

Boynton is energized about the opportunity to influence a new generation of health care professionals and administrators.

“Health care is one of the most dynamic employment markets in this country, and abroad,” says Boynton. “As a business sector, health care will show great stability over the career lifetime of current Adrian students. It’s simply a great sector to find a career niche.”

The Institute of Entrepreneurial Studies is under the leadership of Dr. Oded Gur-Arie.

Dr. Gur-Arie obtained his bachelor and master degrees in science as well as his Ph.D. from The University of Alabama. He has more than 20 years of experience in both academia and business. He was formerly on the faculty at the University of Michigan Business School in Ann Arbor. In his academic research, Dr. Gur-Arie had focused on research methodologies and the application of analytical tools to business strategies. His work has been published in leading academic journals such as The Journal of Marketing Research and The Journal of Psychology.

Dr. Gur-Arie spent several years with Bain & Co., an international consulting firm, where he helped design and implement business strategies for key clients in Europe and the United States. Subsequently, he served as CEO of a manufacturing company and as a founder of several entrepreneurial ventures. Over his career he has served on a number of corporate boards and is presently a director of Safe Auto Insurance Co.

According to Dr. Gur-Arie, until recently, “emphasis in business education has been placed mostly on the traditional corporate models with relatively little attention given to entrepreneurial and start-up ventures. While it is true that most new ventures fail, we would like to think that with proper training, exposure and guidance, we can help would-be entrepreneurs improve their chances for success”.

The mission of the Institute, stresses Gur-Arie, is not to just help business students become entrepreneurs but rather help address some of the disconnect between ideas and business creation.

“We would like to provide a forum and an opportunity for students from different fields, no matter what their major is, who may be interested in bringing an idea, a product, or even just talent to the market, to share those ideas and built the necessary required foundations,” says Gur-Arie.

The work of the Institutes will go far beyond merely "picking a major" and assistance in preparing applications for graduate school. They will provide students with comprehensive academic and career advising, as well as strategies for integrating undergraduate work, experiential learning and professional preparation.

Students will continue to benefit from the counsel of faculty advisors, but may now look to Boynton and Gur-Arie for expanded assistance in academic and career planning, as well as development of applications to professional schools and elsewhere.

“We are pleased to have recruited Marcia Boynton and Oded Gur-Arie as directors for these critical initiatives,” says Docking. “Their experiences are vast, ranging from academia to corporate life. We are confident that Adrian students will find their wealth of knowledge in health and entrepreneurial careers to be fascinating and informative. These Institutes are another important enhancement at Adrian College. They will not only serve to provide students with the best education available, they will position Adrian College as a pioneer in private education and an innovative leader in the Midwest.”