Innovation For All: McFerrin Center Becomes Campus-Wide Engine For Entrepreneurship

Texas A&M University is elevating its commitment to entrepreneurial excellence with the establishment of a university-wide initiative housed in the Office of the Provost. The McFerrin Center for Entrepreneurship will be moved from the Mays Business School to the Office of the Provost — broadening the impact of the McFerrin Center and ramping up resources for all Aggies ready to turn innovative ideas into action.

The transition to a university-level effort will connect entrepreneurship initiatives across all colleges and schools into a powerful interdisciplinary network with wide reach and deep impact. Mays will use this opportunity to create a newly reimagined entrepreneurship and innovation center in the business school, complementing the broader interdisciplinary university mission.

For over a year, a development committee of entrepreneurial faculty from across Texas A&M has laid the foundation for this endeavor. Its efforts include rigorous curriculum evaluation, benchmarking national leaders in the field and envisioning spaces designed to spark interdisciplinary collaboration.

“Texas A&M should be a leader in producing the entrepreneurs of the future,” said Dr. Alan Sams, executive vice president and provost. “This elevation of the McFerrin brand represents a critical investment in our students and their ability to transform ideas into economic and societal impact. We are connecting all colleges and schools and reaching out into the entrepreneurial world that is ready to support our students’ experience.”

Today, fewer than four percent of Texas A&M students engage with formal entrepreneurship programming — an enormous opportunity as 60 percent of Generation Z expresses interest in starting their own business. This initiative aims to meet that demand through four key strategies:

• Organizational Integration: Connecting and expanding existing entrepreneurship efforts across colleges while providing new resources accessible to all students.
• Academic Expansion: Developing interdisciplinary coursework that complements students’ majors while building entrepreneurial competencies.
• Co-Curricular Opportunities: Providing hands-on experiences, mentoring and collaborative projects with internal and external partners.
• Central Hub Facilities: Creating a university-wide home for entrepreneurship featuring makerspaces, incubators and accelerators.

“This initiative carries forward my father’s belief that grit, curiosity and optimism can change the world,” said Jennifer McFerrin Bohner. “Innovation doesn’t happen in silos. This new programming will unite engineers, designers, scientists, storytellers and entrepreneurs to tackle the world’s toughest challenges together. It’s exciting to see that entrepreneurship at Texas A&M will now include collaboration across disciplines — where engineers, policy thinkers, communicators and problem-solvers work side-by-side to build what’s next.”

This transition seeks to connect all the programs in colleges and schools while enabling each to have discipline-specific courses and activities. It is creating a hub at the center and an ecosystem for students and faculty to work across our many disciplines.

“This initiative reflects the Aggie Spirit at its core — bold, inclusive and committed to impact,” said Sams. “We are not only empowering students to launch ventures; we’re preparing a new generation of Aggie leaders who will shape the future of Texas and the world.”

Learn more about Provost initiatives.