Michael Bowers

Publisher & Editor

MICHAEL R. BOWERS

Michael R. Bowers is Professor and Founding Director of the Center for Entrepreneurship in the O’Malley College of Business at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU), in Daytona Beach FL.  In this role, Dr Bowers has created several programs/workshops employing the business model canvas with particular emphasis on customer discovery/value creation. Since 2014, over 100 ventures have gone through these programs resulting in several successful companies, including but not limited to Censys Technologies and Sensatek Propulsion Technologies.  The Center has sponsored three ERAU teams through regional I-Corps programs at University of South Florida and the University of Central Florida.

Mike currently serves on the business advisory boards for two early stage technology companies:1) Modularity Space a nascent orbital satellite servicing company and 2) GRD Biomechanics a medical device company.  Mike is an investor and advisor to Blue Orb, the maker of the Orbitouch, the keyless key board and a software company competing in the gaming industry.  In 2019, Dr. Bowers is serving as mentor to the ERAU Soni-X team participating in the national I-Corps program.

In the winter of 2018 Dr. Bowers visited the Munich University of Applied Sciences (MUAS), giving lectures on entrepreneurship and consulting with the MUAS Center for Entrepreneurship. In the spring of 2012, Dr. Bowers served as the J.A. Valentine Fellow at the University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.  During the summer of 2010, Mike gave a series of lectures on entrepreneurship at EuroMed University in Marseilles France. He has also lectured at the Catholic University of Portugal – Lisbon.

Dr. Bowers’ research interests include entrepreneurship, product/quality management, customer loyalty, management of organizational innovation and strategic planning.  Michael has published over fifty articles in several journals including: the Journal of Business Research, the Journal of Services Marketing, the Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, the American Journal of Medical Quality, Medical Care Review, Hospital and Health Services Administration, Health Care Management Review, the Journal of Health Care Marketing, the Journal of Retail Banking and the Journal of Marketing Education.  Michael served as a member of the editorial review board for the Journal of Health Care Marketing from 1990 to 1997. He served as an active reviewer for several journals including the Journal of Service Research and the Journal of International Entrepreneurship. Michael has written several articles for magazines such as Bank Marketing and The Bankers Magazine.  Michael was a co-author of the book Bankers Who Sell.

Dr. Bowers designs and delivers the entrepreneurship classes at ERAU, both undergraduate and graduate. Mike has received several awards for teaching and research including the 1996 UAB Presidents Award for Teaching Excellence and the 1990 Ingalls Award for outstanding educator at UAB.

Prior to arriving at ERAU, Dr. Bowers served as Dean of the Donald W Maine College of Business, and interim Dean of the College of Technology at Davenport University in Grand Rapids MI.   Before his time at Davenport, Michael was Professor of Marketing and the founding Academic Director of the Center for Advanced Entrepreneurship in the Crummer Graduate School of Business, Rollins College. During his tenure, the Center was twice recognized as one of the top 25 graduate programs in the country by Entrepreneur Magazine and the Princeton Review. The Rollins MBA is recognized as one of the best MBA programs in the U.S (Bloomberg’s, Forbes, US News & World Report, Princeton Review). Previously, Michael served as Chair of the Management, Marketing and Industrial Distribution Department and a tenured Professor of Marketing in the Graduate School of Business at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) with a secondary appointment in the Department of Health Administration, School of Health Related Professions. Dr. Bowers was also a Senior Scientist in the Center for Outcomes and Effectiveness Research and Education (COERE) and a Senior Scholar in the Sparkman Center for International Public Health Education at UAB.  While at UAB, Michael taught a class in technology entrepreneurship.

Dr. Bowers received his Ph.D. in Business Administration from Texas A&M University in 1985.  Mike was a Doctoral Consortium Fellow for the American Marketing Association.  He is a member of Alpha Mu Alpha and Beta Gamma Sigma honorary societies.  Michael is an active member of several professional associations including the American Marketing Association, and the Academy of Marketing Science.

Before beginning his doctoral studies, Michael was an instructor at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, where he also received his MBA.  Prior to beginning graduate work, Dr. Bowers was employed for three years with Ortho Pharmaceutical as a sales representative.  He received several sales awards in this position.  Michael received his BA degree from Florida State University.

Sofia Mvokany

Associate Editor/Publisher

Sofia Mvokany is an undergraduate student at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. She is the associate editor/publishor of InnoTechTrep. Passionate of technology and innovation, she works as a student assistant for the Center for Entrepreneurship of Embry-Riddle directed by Dr Michael Bowers while pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering. Her responsibilities includes producing marketing materials, advertising, running social media pages and InnoTechTrep. She is currently exploring career paths that will mesh her love for both business and engineering.