The Dean honored with award

In April, our School of Management Dean, Gerhard Apfelthaler, was honored as Educational Leader of the Year by the Ventura County Leadership Academy (VCLA) at the Journey to Leadership luncheon. The Dean passed on his thanks to all students and faculty, as he honors the hard work of others, in making the award even more humbling. VCLA honored him for his vast impact as a leader locally as well as globally. Quoted from VLCA, “He has spearheaded numerous initiatives including the creation of Hub101, a successful community startup space in Westlake Village, and the expansion of the Center for Economic Research and Forecasting (CERF) into one of the nation’s top forecasting houses. He has held leadership positions at a number of universities in his native Austria, and he served in Austria’s diplomatic service as Austria’s Deputy Trade Commissioner in Los Angeles, and as Commercial Attaché at the Austrian Embassy in Singapore. He has published several books and articles in leading academic journals and helped start a number of early-stage companies including Oxnard-based Cure Pharmaceutical. The Dean also volunteers a significant amount of time with non-profit organizations, including founding Startup Kids, an organization that brings entrepreneurship education to elementary & middle schools, and serving as a director on the boards of the California Museum of Art Thousand Oaks (CMATO), the Economic Development Collaborative Ventura County, and the Valley Economic Alliance. Congrats to our Dean.”