March 16 2009

First Business School Director's enterprising approach

Southampton Solent University's first Business School Director, Simon Brown, aims to put his infectious energy into entrepreneurship and innovation in his new role.

Simon – who puts graduate employability, enterprising curriculum development and graduate entrepreneurs at the core of his activities - said: 

"I have always been keen to develop graduates who were enterprising and employable – and that will be my ethos here at Southampton Solent. I want our courses to produce oven-ready graduates who can hit the ground running, not only in business skills, but also in enterprise.

In his early days in business, Simon's indefatigable spirit helped him turn his unusual vision for mass producing holograms into an unlikely multi-national industry. He went on to advise on the use of holograms in American and Australian currency as well as Charge Coupled Device (CCD) camera production.

Simon moved into lecturing in Physics at Sheffield City Polytechnic (later, Sheffield Hallam University) where he developed multi-disciplinary degrees, partnership working with businesses and increased graduate employability. In 2004 Sheffield Hallam was acknowledged as a Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning in the area of employability.

He is also keen to strengthen the University's position as a business-friendly and business-focussed university:

"I have a commercial approach and I want to develop external projects within the university. I want to send a strong message to the business world which says: 'If you want help and advice, come to Solent.' "

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