Tulane University announced that celebrated professor and entrepreneurship advocate Dr. John Elstrott will be retiring after 25 years at the Freeman School for Business. John remains the Chairman of the Board of Whole Foods Market but will be departing from his position as director of Tulane’s Levy-Rosenblum Institute for Entrepreneurship, which he was a founding member of in 1991.
While at Tulane, Dr. Elstrott taught the advantages of “conscious capitalism” and encouraged the co-existence of social and profitable ventures. A few years ago he joined Dr. Ralph Maurer and Jeremy Hunnewell in forming EMH Strategy, a New Orleans-based management consulting firm.
Tulane has appointed Dr. Ralph Maurer as the interim director of the Levy-Rosenblum Institute. According to the release, Maurer has served as a visiting assistant professor of strategy & entrepreneurship and an adjunct professor of management since 2009. He also currently serves as executive director of the Tulane Family Business Center, a program of the Levy-Rosenblum Institute focused on family-owned companies.
Through his work with EMH Strategy, from October 2010 to December 2011, Maurer served as executive director of the New Orleans Startup Fund, a nonprofit venture capital fund that provides local high-potential ventures with seed capital. His work and consulting experience also includes time with Apple, Daimler-Benz, Chrysler, Deluxe and multiple internet startups. Maurer earned a PhD from Stanford University, an MBA from the University of Florida, and a BS from Northwestern University.