Edward E. Williams (1945-2018)

BusinessWeek named Professor Ed Williams one of the top two of the nation's best entrepreneurship teachers. He believes exposure to entrepreneurship is essential to a business education. "That's where the jobs are going to be," he said. "Even students who go to work for big corporations don't know what opportunities are going to come their way that may send them down the entrepreneurial path." Williams speaks from experience: an academic, who has always kept a hand in business, he is a member of the board of directors of several companies, including Service Corporation International, the world's largest operator of funeral homes. Williams teaches the Enterprise Exchange (Buying and Selling a Business) in all three MBA programs at the Jones School. "When I look at a company, I want to know everything that makes it work," Williams said. "We cover it all. Even students who don't go on to be entrepreneurs say it is excellent as a capstone because it integrates the economics, marketing, finance, and accounting they've learned in earlier courses." Williams' latest books include Preparing an Entrepreneurial Business Plan Revised Edition (2006), Models for Investors in Real World Markets (2003), and Business Planning: 25 Keys to a Sound Business Plan (1999) exhibit his equally well-informed academic side, but he insists, "In entrepreneurship, theory is not enough. In the eyes of a student, there's nothing better than the war stories of somebody who's actually seen these problems and solved them."

Remembering Ed Williams, The Person Who Laid Down The Tracks Of Entrepreneurship At Rice Business

Teaching Interests: 

Entrepreneurship