Laura Black has a one-year appointment as a visiting assistant professor at the Montana State University-Bozeman College of Business. Black's duties include teaching Business 101 and 474.

I'm glad for the chance to see both the entry and exit points for the College of Business curriculum and students, Black says. I'm also looking forward to teaching MGMT 463, the Entrepreneurial Experience course, during which students work with start-up companies at TechRanch.

Black will also be responsible for valuable research while at MSU-Bozeman. Her research focuses on processes and behaviors supporting collaborative practices and innovation and learning across organizational boundaries. She has studied (non)collaboration in settings of product development and governmental interagency work and is currently researching collaboration among university, nonprofit and private resources to cultivate start-up ventures and entrepreneurship. Her research will help start-up companies, new venture incubators, and universities recognize and act on opportunities to build collaborative environments in which innovation can thrive.

Black received her undergraduate degree and M.B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin. After working in journalism, information systems, and product development, she received a Ph.D. from MIT's Sloan School of Management. Black is a member of the Academy of Management, the American Society for Public Administration, the System Dynamics Society and the US Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship.

Dean of the College Rich Semenik added, "We are extremely fortunate to have a talented and experienced faculty member like Laura. Not only did she graduate from one of the premier business programs in world, but she studied directly some of the most important management systems thinkers in the world. Imagine how many other freshmen business students in this country get to have a PhD. from MIT teaching their class. What's even better? She is a fantastic, caring teacher."

Black further states, MSU's College of Business creates an educational environment I believe in. With small classes and an emphasis on teaching excellence, it provides undergraduates with fundamental business knowledge and no-nonsense skills. My husband and I want to make our home here. We admire the work ethic of the people in this region and, since we've each lived in the Rocky Mountains before, this part of Montana feels like home.