Newswise — The Babson College Alumni Entrepreneur Hall of Fame’s newest members are:
• Mir Ibrahim Rahman ’00, co-founder and CEO of GEO TV Network, and
• Stephen Spinelli Jr. M’92, president of Philadelphia University and co-founder of Jiffy Lube.
Established in 2008, the Hall of Fame welcomes alumni who distinguish themselves in entrepreneurial endeavors in all types of enterprises.
They will be honored during the Hall of Fame Dinner on October 14th. The celebration is part of Babson’s Family & Friends Weekend 2011.
Also honored will be 8 alumni “Rising Stars” entrepreneurs:
• Richard B. Bottner ’07 • Intern Bridge• Jill H. Cartwright M’07 • Go Gaga• Seth D. Ginsberg ’03 • Global Healthy Living Foundation• Jason Jacobs M’05 • RunKeeper• Christine S. Mosholder M’03 • The Furniture Trust• Amma Sefa-Dedeh M’09 • One Hen Inc.• Joseph B. Schneider M’05 • P’kolino, LLC• Antonio Turco-Rivas M’05 • P’kolino, LLC
Mir Ibrahim RahmanCo-founder and CEOGEO TV Network
Mir Ibrahim Rahman is co-founder and CEO of GEO TV Network, Pakistan’s most popular and largest media brand. A former Goldman Sachs investment banker specializing in media and telecom, Rahman has overseen the launch and growth of GEO from a five-member operation out of a hotel to a more than 2,500 strong South Asian content producer and broadcaster with 10 channels globally. GEO’s mission is to create an enabling platform for thinking and questioning in Pakistan. The New York Times has noted that “GEO has changed the media landscape” of the country.
Rahman graduated summa cum laude with honors from Babson College with concentrations in economics, finance, and entrepreneurship in 2000, and co-founded GEO by age 25. While at Babson, he was a John H. Muller Jr. Business Plan Prize finalist, won The Wall Street Journal Award for finance, and started the Investment Banking Club.
Recently, Rahman took a sabbatical from GEO to earn his master’s degree in political administration from Harvard University, where he received the Robert F. Kennedy Award for Excellence in Public Service. The award recognized his and his team’s contribution in the historical lawyers’ movement that brought independent judiciary to Pakistan, a historical peace campaign between India and Pakistan, and other groundbreaking work that helps the overcoming of differences in religion, culture, and ethnicity.
Rahman is a World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders for 2011, the youngest member of the Young Presidents Organization in Pakistan, and a founding director of Mir Khalil ur Rahman Foundation, an NGO that raised more than $17 million for the devastating flood in the beginning of 2011. In addition to his responsibilities at GEO, Rahman has started Pakistan’s largest record label, as well as GEO Films. GEO Films’ second film project, Bol, launched mid-2011—about women and minority rights—has broken the country’s box-office record. The previous record was held by GEO’s first film, In the Name of God, a film about the difference between fundamentals and fundamentalism.
Stephen Spinelli Jr.PresidentPhiladelphia University
Stephen Spinelli Jr. became president of Philadelphia University on September 1, 2007, and has many years of leadership experience in academia and business. Under his leadership, Philadelphia University is implementing a bold strategic plan to bolster the university’s position as a transformative force in professional higher education through an innovative curriculum based on transdisciplinary,active-and real-world learning that is infused with the liberal arts.
Previously, Spinelli held a variety of leadership positions at Babson College, including vice provost for entrepreneurship and global management, chair of the entrepreneurship division, and director of The Arthur M. Blank Center for Entrepreneurship. As vice provost, Spinelli was instrumental in strengthening and growing important initiatives, including the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, the world’s largest collaborative research project studying entrepreneurship.
Spinelli co-founded Jiffy Lube International and was chairman and CEO of the American Oil Change Corporation, helping to pioneer the quick lube industry nationwide and turning Jiffy Lube into the nation’s dominant competitor with more than 1,000 service centers. He has consulted for major corporations such as Fidelity Investments, Intel Corporation, IBM, and Allied Domecq. He has served in leadership roles for a number of community, business, and professional associations and, as a dedicated professor, has provided countless hours of mentoring, coaching, and support to students through the entrepreneurial process.
The author of many publications, Spinelli’s work has appeared in journals such as the Journal ofBusiness Venturing, the British Management Journal, and Frontiers of Entrepreneurship. He also has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, The Boston Globe, and Entrepreneur magazine. He has authored numerous business cases and co-authored Business Plans That Work, Franchising: Pathway to Wealth Creation, How to Raise Capital, Never Bet the Farm,Entrepreneurship: The Engine of Growth, and New Venture Creation for the 21st Century.
Spinelli earned his PhD in economics from The Management School, Imperial College, University of London; his MBA from Babson College; and his BA in economics from McDaniel College.
About Babson
Babson College is the educator, convener, and thought leader for Entrepreneurship of All Kinds®. The College is a dynamic living and learning laboratory, where students, faculty, and staff work together to address the real-world problems of business and society -- while at the same time evolving our methods and advancing our programs. We shape the leaders our world needs most: those with strong functional knowledge and the skills and vision to navigate change, accommodate ambiguity, surmount complexity, and motivate teams in a common purpose to create economic and social value. As we have for nearly a half-century, Babson continues to advance Entrepreneurial Thought and Action® as the most positive force on the planet for generating sustainable economic and social value. For information, visit www.babson.edu.
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