Public Lecture by Prof. Ken O`Neill, Doctor Honoris Causa of UNWE

Tuesday, 19 April 2016 18:35

In the Large Conference Hall of the university Prof. Ken O`Neill, Doctor Honoris Causa of UNWE delivered a public lecture on the Role of Universities for Building an Entrepreneurial Community. At the event attended the Rector of the university Prof. D.Sc.(Econ.) Statty Stattev, Prof. D.Sc.(Econ.) Kiril Todorov, Director of the Entrepreneurship Development Institute and Head of the Entrepreneurship Department, H.E. Temirtay Izbastin, Head of Diplomatic Mission of the Republic of Kazakhstan to Bulgaria, lecturers and students.

Prof. Stattev, Prof. O`Neill, Prof. Todorov, H.E. Izbastin (from the right to the left)

Prof. Todorov presented briefly to the audience the most important facts about the career development and positions occupied by Prof. Ken O`Neill. He thanked to Prof. O`Neill for his annual participation in the Scientific Conference on Entrepreneurship and expressed his gratitude to the UNWE Managing body for the organization of the Forum. He also greeted H.E. Temirtay Izbastin as “a long-standing partner of the university”.

During the public lecture

Prof. Stattev outlined that Prof. Ken O`Neill as Doctor Honoris Causa of UNWE has strictly observed the rule to deliver annually lectures at the university. The Rector greeted him for his great efforts in assistance of education in entrepreneurship at the UNWE.

Prof. Statty Stattev awarded to Prof. Ken O`Neill the Commemorative Medal of Prof. Stephan Bobchev – Founder and First Rector of UNWE (in the picture below).

Prof. O`Neill read the epistle he had written in the Golden Book of UNWE: “It is my great pleasure to be an associate for over 20 years of such an innovated and dedicated university. It is led the way into development of entrepreneurship in Bulgaria and is recognized as the first mover in many parts of the world. Being honoured by the University of National and World Economy is a privilege for doing excellent work continued trying to facilitate and develop the young people of Bulgaria for the wealth of the nation.”

Prof. Ken O`Neill is reading his epistle in the Golden Book of UNWE.

In his academic lecture Prof. Ken O`Neill defined the university contribution for building an entrepreneurial community. “The great contribution of universities to the economic growth and building the society should be correctly formulated”. The issues related to the process should be solved, declared the lecturer. He examined chronologically the small business development over the past century, its impact on the unemployment and the necessity of entrepreneurship as a science.

The lecturer also commented on the research focused on the small firms providing lots of workplaces and assisting to reduce the unemployment. The results have led to the entrepreneurial community and culture development and then comes up the universities role as a place where the objective laws in development of enterprises and entrepreneurship are studied, pointed out Prof. Ken O`Neill. The universities contribute to the expansion of entrepreneurship through the research implemented by them – from defining the concepts and terminology to the impact on the society and economic growth, determined the lecturer.

In the Large Conference Hall

Forming an entrepreneurial culture in young people and turning them into individuals having the qualities required for the success of an entrepreneur is also an important part of the great contribution of universities to the entrepreneurial community development, pointed out Prof. O`Neil. He emphasized on the fact that for the rapid progress of business in all spheres of life it is especially important for universities to perceive the necessity to educate the young people for professions which haven`t existed yet.

Prof. O`Neill

“The universities should be incubators for students, agents of change and opportunities. They should become again the same inspiring and magical place they have been in the past. We know how to achieve it but our task is to engage the universities to this goal”, outlined Prof. O`Neill.

Professor Ken O’Neill is Professor Emeritus of Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development at the University of Ulster. He is currently a member of the Academic Advisory Council of the Chartered Management Institute, and the Governing Body of Belfast Metropolitan College as well as a Director of the Genesis Initiative.

He has been a President of the International Council for Small Business, President of the UK Institute for Small Business Affairs, Board member of the UK’s CBI SME Council, UK Vice-President of the Institute of Business Advisors, and Chairman of Young Enterprise in Northern Ireland. He was the first person to be awarded the Queen’s Award for Enterprise Promotion – Lifetime Achievement Award (2005). Professor Ken O'Neill is one of the world pre-eminent authorities on small and medium business.

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