BSBA in Entrepreneurial Studies

Entrepreneurial Studies Faculty

Ron Morris
Director, Entrepreneurial Studies Program

For over thirty years, Ron Morris has been an entrepreneur and a pioneer in Pittsburgh's high-tech community. Describing himself as "a prospector, not a rancher," Morris founded and then sold, eight separate technology companies between 1973 and 1999. His strategy is to: 1) build the "biggest, smallest" niche possible; 2) build an infrastructure before sales to ensure profitable growth; 3) develop market leadership, and then; 4) hand the reins to seasoned professional managers.

As COO for Mastech Systems, Inc. (1989-93) and co-founder and CEO for Rapidigm (1994-95), Morris helped build two of the brightest lights in the Pittsburgh tech community. After creating and selling JDWarren, Inc., to a publicly traded company in 1999, he married, had two children, and began a new career as a "knowledge philanthropist."

Morris now seeks to share the wisdom he gained in the entrepreneurial trenches. He sits on the Board of eight companies and was named the Director of the Entrepreneurial Studies Program at Duquesne University in 2003. His passion for building businesses can be heard every Saturday morning when he hosts "The American Entrepreneur" radio talk show on WPTT 1360 AM from 9:00 am to 12:30 pm.

Chris Allison
Adjunct Instructor, Entrepreneurial Studies

Office: 915 Rockwell Hall
Phone: (412) 389-8888
Fax: (412) 396-1324
Email: chris.allison1@verizon.net
Secretary: Christine Koenig, (412) 396-6238

Office Hours: By appointment only

For 16 years, Chris Allison led Tollgrade Communications, Inc. from a start-up funded with $6 million in private equity investment to a publicly-traded company with sales that reached $114 million and a market capitalization of almost $2 billion in 2000. During his 9-year tenure as chairman and chief executive officer, the company was recognized on multiple occasions as one of the Best Small Companies in America by Forbes, as well as Fortune, Industry Week, Business 2.0, Electronic Business and Bloomberg Personal Finance.

In 2005, Chris was named Ernst and Young's 2005 Entrepreneur of the Year in the Networking and Communications category for the Upstate New York, Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia region. Last year Chris competed for Ernst and Young's National Award Competition in Palm Springs, California.

In addition to teaching Guerrilla Marketing and Financing, Exiting and Valuing Business at Duquesne University, Chris runs Upsight, LLC, a consulting practice and private equity investment company. He is also an Entrepreneur-In-Residence at Allegheny College, serves on the board of Chemdaq Corporation, and leads the Entrepreneurial Leadership Forum for executives at CMU's Tepper School of Business.