Paul Nagy joins Sawyer Business School as a new assistant professor of Management and Entrepreneurship

Nagy will teach Opportunity Recognition and Discovery. The undergraduate course helps students recognize business opportunities and determine their feasibility. Nagy’s goal is to help young entrepreneurs distinguish between good ideas and great ideas. He wants them to have the business tools to capitalize on their entrepreneurial drive.

“Ideally, students will be able to further develop their identified opportunities into realized entities by the end of their time at Suffolk. The ultimate goal, or ‘Holy Grail,’ for me would be for students to follow their entrepreneurial spirits and launch successful new ventures that become the success stories that are shining examples for the next class of entrepreneurs,” Nagy said.

He looks forward to working alongside Suffolk’s driven and dedicated faculty members. “I was initially intrigued by the energy and passion that the faculty members exude,” he explained.

With a PhD in Strategic Management from Florida State University, Nagy was also impressed with Suffolk’s commitment to both academic excellence and faculty research. “Too often academics are forced to choose one camp at the expense of the other. Suffolk recognizes the importance of both and understands that great teaching and great research are not mutually exclusive,” he said.

Nagy’s areas of expertise include new opportunity recognition and exploitation, new ventures, and institution-based perspectives. In particular, Nagy is interested in how entrepreneurs identify, evaluate, and exploit new venture opportunities. “This interest stems from the fact that entrepreneurs are the driving force of economic growth and human welfare. Without entrepreneurs, life as we know it today would be vastly different,” he said.

Suffolk’s location in downtown Boston was another important factor for Nagy. “The entrepreneurial spirit is highly prevalent at both the university and the surrounding Boston community,” he said. “The business community of Boston provides abundant opportunities that help connect theory with practice in the classroom.”

Beyond just theory, practice is important to obtain entrepreneurial success. The combination allows entrepreneurs to realize competitive advantages in the marketplace, Nagy explained.

“In an effort to motivate and involve students, I frequently demonstrate how material presented in the classroom is relevant in everyday real-world practice. I do this by highlighting and discussing current events found in popular media and by drawing upon my own business and management experience,” he said.

“Because I truly believe in the value and importance of a good education, I find great joy and satisfaction in having a role in developing the minds of tomorrow’s business leaders,” he said.