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Best of 2013: Alumnus Gift to CBA

John Morgan

CBA Dean Louis Pol and alumnus John Morgan.

Omaha – It was a special year for UNO in 2013 with countless events, achievements, special guest visits and national recognitions for students, faculty, staff and alumni.

One alumnus, in particular, made it that much easier for UNO to stand tall as a center for excellence in the fast-growing field of entrepreneurship with a $1 million gift to establish an endowed chair for entrepreneurship within the College of Business Administration at UNO.

The John Morgan Chair in Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Franchising was created in honor of John Morgan, a 1969 graduate and former Omaha businessman, becoming the sixth community chair at UNO.

The holder of the John Morgan Community Chair in Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Franchising, which should be decided prior to the Fall 2014 semester, will lead UNO in engaging the community by connecting with school-aged students in local schools and generating interest in these fields. The chair holder also will oversee the UNO Center for Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Franchising, its academic and research programs and the college’s new summer entrepreneurship camps.

“The community chair that John Morgan has kindly made possible steepens the trajectory of an already successful Center of Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Franchising,” said Louis Pol, the John Becker Dean of the UNO College of Business Administration. “Students, local entrepreneurs and our faculty will benefit greatly from the resources generated by this gift.”

Morgan spent his early business career in the computer industry. In 1982, he was one of the founders of Winthrop Resources Corp., a technology leasing company. Morgan took the company public in 1992 and merged it with TCF Financial Corp. in 1997.

In 2000, Morgan became CEO and chairman of Minneapolis-based Grow Biz International Inc., now Winmark Corp. Winmark creates, supports and finances business and has more than 986 stores in North America. Specializing in developing franchises for retail stores that buy, sell and trade new and used merchandise, it is the parent company of Play It Again Sports, Once Upon a Child, Plato’s Closet, Music Go Round, Wirth Business Credit and Winmark Capital.

Related Links:
Omaha World-Herald Story on John Morgan Gift
Website for UNO's Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization
KETV Feature on UNO's Entrepreneurial Program

Previous 'Best of 2013':
UNO Gets a Barn