On November 3rd, the Lester Center for Entrepreneurship and
Innovation honored Leo B. Helzel for a lifetime of commitment
to the Haas School and to entrepreneurship at Haas on the
occasion of his retirement from active teaching. The current
and former deans of the Haas School, members of the Haas Board
of Advisors and the Lester Center Board of Advisors, emeritus
faculty, entrepreneurship faculty, former students, and friends
and members of his family gathered in the Wells Fargo Room
to honor Leo and recognize his achievements.
The night was filled with laughter and “Leo-ism”s.
The speakers for the night addressed Leo’s achievements
in a mixed spirit of both serious reverence and light humor.
One of the highlights of the evening was when Jerry Weintraub,
one of Leo’s former students, created his entire honorary
speech in the format of the famous “Green Eggs and Ham”
of Dr. Seuss. Joining Weintraub were Raymond Miles, former
dean of the Haas School; Noel Nellis, Leo’s current co-instructor
for “Top-Down Law”; and Jerry Engel, the executive
director for the Lester Center. Acting Dean Richard Lyons
presented Leo with the CAL (for Contributions of Adjuncts
and Lecturers) Award for his many contribution to the entrepreneurship
program at Haas.
Leo became one of the founding fathers of the entrepreneurship
program at Haas when he started the first class on entrepreneurship
the Berkeley Business School in 1970. Since then, Leo has
been instrumental in expanding the entrepreneurship curriculum
on campus. He continued to teach Entrepreneurship for twenty
years and then designed the popular class “Top-Down
Law” with Noel Nellis. Further, Leo, together with his
good friend, Dick Holton, was instrumental in securing a $1
million contribution from Williams-Sonoma's Howard Lester
that led to the creation of the Lester Center for Entrepreneurship
and Innovation. Leo has been a major benefactor not just to
the entrepreneurship program, but to the Haas school itself.
He has funded the Leo B. & Florence Helzel Chair on Entrepreneurship
and Innovation (currently held by Professor John Freeman)
and was a major donor to the school’s building program–recognized
in the naming of the Helzel Board Room.
Leo Helzel’s actions have been instrumental in the creation
of an entrepreneurship program at Haas that is recognized
as one of the best in the nation, and it was the Lester Center’s
pleasure to take this opportunity to honor him.
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