William L. “Bill” Haeberle, the creator of one of the nation’s first collegiate entrepreneurship programs and emeritus professor of management and entrepreneurship at the Indiana University Kelley School of Business, died at his Bloomington home on Oct. 26 at the age of 95.
Over a career spanning nearly six decades, Haeberle left an enduring impact not only on the Kelley School but also on Indiana’s entrepreneurial culture, working with many who started new enterprises. He also advised numerous top executives on how to they could spark a more entrepreneurial spirit at larger firms.
Haeberle’s contributions to executive education led to its emergence as part of the mission at Kelley and other business schools around the country. He taught at the Kelley School from 1946 until his retirement in 1984 and remained active as an emeritus faculty member into the next decade.
“Bill Haeberle’s forward-thinking mindset was the foundation of the Kelley School’s entrepreneurship and executive education programs, but it also contributed greatly to Kelley’s tradition of a culture of innovation across all programs,” said Idalene “Idie” Kesner, Kelley School dean and the Frank P. Popoff Chair of Strategic Management. “He challenged norms and inspired his colleagues and students to go beyond their comfort zones, firm in his belief that complacency and risk aversion were obstacles to personal excellence.”
Donald F. Kuratko, the Jack M. Gill Distinguished Chair of Entrepreneurship and executive director of Kelley’s Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation, said very few individuals can say they affected an entire state the way Haeberle has. “Bill Haeberle was talking and living entrepreneurship long before anyone else used the word in 1946. His entrepreneurial career spanned over six decades, truly an indelible legacy that established him as the ‘godfather of entrepreneurship’ for the state of Indiana.” (more…)