VCU School of Business announces launch of Institute for Free Enterprise

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The Virginia Commonwealth University School of Business announced today the launch of the Institute for Free Enterprise.

Made possible through gifts of more than $11 million, the institute will advance student success, research and thought leadership, and community engagement, all centered on the ideas and institutions of free enterprise.

Guided by the belief that capitalism is one of humanity's most powerful engines of progress, the institute will prepare students to better understand and participate in the free enterprise system. Access to the knowledge and networks that power capitalism has not always been evenly distributed, and the Institute for Free Enterprise will seek to help close that gap.

"Free enterprise has created unprecedented opportunity around the world," said Brian Brown, Ph.D., dean of the School of Business. "But the knowledge and networks that make it work haven't always been widely shared. This Institute for Free Enterprise is built to change that by giving our students real fluency in how markets work and a real seat at the table."

The institute will boost faculty research, student scholarships, experiential learning programs, community partnerships and curriculum development. Students will learn how value is created, how organizations grow and how ideas become ventures. Through immersive, experience-based learning, they will move beyond theory to direct engagement, working alongside faculty, entrepreneurs, business leaders and investors to solve real challenges and build real solutions.

Further, the institute will serve as an interdisciplinary hub within the School of Business, engaging other schools and disciplines across VCU to address economic and societal challenges connected to free enterprise, including housing, health care, education and financial literacy.