Rash's Surname Index
Notes for Jeffry Alan TIMMONS
Jeffry A. Timmons, the Franklin W. Olin Distinguished Professor in Entrepreneurship at Babson College, died unexpectedly on April 8, 2008, at his winter home in South Carolina. He was 66.
You are warmly invited to attend a memorial service celebrating the life of our dear friend, colleague, teacher, and mentor Professor Jeffry Timmons, who passed away on April 8 at the age of 66. The service, which will take place at Babson on Friday, June 20 at 10:30 a.m., is intended to honor Jeff and commemorate his great impact and influence on Babson and the global entrepreneurial community as well as his legacy as a beloved husband, father and grandfather. We hope that you can join us.
On Thursday, June 19, the afternoon/evening before the services, we will be holding a discussion devoted to “Envisioning Entrepreneurship in 2020”, a topic dear to Jeff. We hope you will be able to join us for this event as well.
Timmons was one of the pioneers in the development of entrepreneurship education and research in America. He was internationally recognized as a leading authority for his research, innovative curriculum development, and teaching in entrepreneurship, new ventures, entrepreneurial finance and venture capital.
Inc. magazine called him “The Johnny Appleseed of Entrepreneurship Education” and his doctoral dissertation, “Entrepreneurial and Leadership Development in an Inner City Ghetto and a Rural Depressed Area (Harvard, 1971)” was the first use of the word “entrepreneurial” in a dissertation title. This dissertation subsequently became the basis of six articles in the Harvard Business Review, the first of which was “Black is Beautiful, Is It Bountiful?” He created the first business plan competition at the college level in 1984 at Babson College.
He believed, in his own words, that “the entrepreneurial process is not just about new companies, capital, and jobs. It’s also about fostering an ingenious human spirit and improving humankind.” Timmons also believed that “we are in the midst of a silent revolution, a triumph of the creative and entrepreneurial spirit of humankind throughout the world. I believe its impact on the 21st century will equal or exceed that of the Industrial Revolution on the 19th and 20th.”
“Jeffry Timmons was passionate about his work, generous about sharing his insights and knowledge, and indispensable in building a global entrepreneurial community,” said Babson President Brian Barefoot. “Known as the godfather of entrepreneurship as an academic discipline, Jeffry Timmons influenced countless colleagues in an unimaginable number of ways. His is a voice and a person that will be missed at Babson and in the entrepreneurial community,” said Babson President-elect Leonard Schlesinger. “Jeffry Timmons’ impact and influence on Babson and the global entrepreneurial community is unparalleled and his passing is a huge loss,” said Babson Provost Patricia Greene.
Timmons joined the Babson faculty in 1982 and served as the Paul T. Babson Professor of Entrepreneurial Studies from 1984 to 1986 and as the Frederic C. Hamilton Professorship in Free Enterprise Development from 1986 to 1989. He then held simultaneous professorships at Babson and Harvard Business School, where he was the MBA Class of 1954 Visiting Professor of Business Administration from 1989 to 1995. He returned to Babson full time in 1995 and was named the first Franklin W. Olin Distinguished Professor of Entrepreneurship. From 1971 to 1981 he taught at Northeastern University, where he launched the first undergraduate major in new ventures and entrepreneurship in the county (1973) and, and later created and led the Executive MBA program (1976-1981).
In 1984, Timmons collaborated with the Price Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies to launch and serve as founding director of the Price-Babson College Fellows Program, aimed at improving teaching and research by teaming faculty with highly successful entrepreneurs wishing to teach. Inc. magazine noted that the PBCFP “changed the terrain of entrepreneurship education.”
Timmons served as a charter board member of the Kauffman Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation in developing and implementing their mission and strategy. He led the creation of the Kauffman Fellows Program, the only education program focused on venture capitalists, and served as its dean of faculty. He was on the founding board of the Center for Venture Education. His seminal work, Venture Capital at the Crossroads, co-authored with William Bygrave, established him as a leading advisor to venture capitalists worldwide.
He was founding director of the Babson-Olin Symposium for Engineering Entrepreneurship Educators (2004-2007); co-director of Price-Babson at Berkeley (2000-2003); co-founder of Lifelong Learning for Entrepreneurship Education Professionals (1998-2003); created Price-Babson Alumni/Gloria Appel Memorial Scholarship for MBA Student (1997); secured Kauffman Foundation/CEL Challenge Grant (1995), which culminated in 1997 and generated $3 million for Entrepreneurship Initiatives; obtained challenge funding from the Price Foundation (1989) that resulted in funding to establish an endowment for the Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, which he directed from 1985 to 1989; and established and chaired the annual Babson Entrepreneurship Research Conference (1983-1985).
He provided leadership in developing teaching initiatives that assist Native Americans seeking economic self-determination and community development most notably through entrepreneurship education at the nation’s several Tribal Colleges. In 2006 Timmons was the inaugural Circle of Friends Professor of the Day at Sitting Bull College.
In 2006 he was appointed Chair, International Academic Steering Committee for National Entrepreneurship Research Center in the School of Economics and Management at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China.
Timmons authored or coauthored more than 20 books including the leading textbook New Venture Creation, 7th ed. (2007) along with the forthcoming 8th edition, 2008; Venture Capital at the Crossroads, with Babson Professor William D. Bygrave (1992); and the groundbreaking The Entrepreneurial Mind (1989). He has co-authored Business Plans That Work (2004) and How To Raise Capital: Techniques and Strategies for Financing and Valuing Your Small Business (2005) with former Babson Professor Stephen Spinelli and current Babson Professor Andrew Zacharakis. He has published more than 100 articles and papers in publications such as Harvard Business Review and Journal of Business Venturing, as well as numerous teaching cases.
How to Shop for Venture Capitalby Jeffry A. Timmons, Babson Alumni Bulletin, Fall 1983.
This Professor Practices What he Preaches by Dianne Coryell, Babson Alumni Bulletin, Fall 1983.
Timmons had earned a reputation for “practicing what he teaches.” For nearly forty years he was immersed in the world of entrepreneurship as an investor, director or advisor in private companies and investment funds including The Mentor Network; Cellular One in Boston, New Hampshire and Maine; the Boston Communications Group; BCI Advisors, Inc.; Spectrum Equity Investors; Internet Securities, Inc.; Chase Capital Partners; Color Kinetics; and others. He served as a trustee at his alma mater, Colgate University, from 1991-2000.
He was named the Entrepreneurship Educator of the Year by the United State Association for Small Business Entrepreneurship (USASBE) in 2004, received the Distinguished Educator Award from the Kauffman Fellows Program in 2004, and was named Ambassador of Entrepreneurship in 2001, honored by State of Oklahoma for developing entrepreneurship education programs in Tribal Colleges that assist Native Americans seeking economic self-determination.
Timmons’ friends and supporters endowed the Jeffry A. Timmons Professorship in the mid-1990s in recognition of his contributions to Babson College and to the field of entrepreneurship.
He was a member of the President’s Council at Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering and the National Curriculum and Education Policy Committee, National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE). He was director or member of Henry’s Fork Foundation, Wildlife Conservation Trust of New Hampshire, Timber Owners of New England, The Monadnock Conservancy, The Harris Center, The Nature Conservancy, The Moosehead Region Futures Committee, Trout and Quail Unlimited, Atlantic Salmon Federation, and the Ruffed Grouse Society.
He served as Special Advisor, National Commission on Entrepreneurship, from 1999 to 2001; National Judge, Ernest & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards, 1994 and 1996; and as a member of Conference Planning Committee, American Indian Entrepreneurial Symposium in 1995.
He was a member of the Board of Trustees of Colgate University from 1991 to 1999, where he created a scholarship fund to honor his parents and give preferential consideration to first generation applicants with a Native American Heritage. He served as Special Advisor to the President and Founding Member of the Board of Directors, Kauffman Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation from 1991 to 2002.
He received the A.B. from Colgate University in 1964 where he was a Scott Paper Foundation Scholar (1962-1964) and the M.B.A. in 1967 and D.B.A. in 1971 from Harvard University where he was a National Defense Education Act Fellow (1967 to 1970).
He was also a resident of Greenfield, NH.
Jeff's greatest priority in life was his family. He leaves behind his wife of 42 years, Sara; his daughters, Jesseca Timmons and Samantha Read-Smith, his sons-in-law Abe Timmons and Mark Read-Smith, his grandsons, Palmer and Maclean Timmons and Sayre and River Read-Smith, and his brother, Thomas Timmons.
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