Program Overview of the Smith Center

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Program Overview

Understanding the private enterprise system is not just an intellectual exercise, but a skill that directly benefits students and practitioners. The Smith Center educates and encourages present and future business leaders to recognize the capabilities of the private enterprise system by proactively utilizing the market economy to achieve personal success while appreciating their larger impact on society. 

Throughout the year, the Smith Center supports Start-It-UP!, our campus-based business idea competition, with an emphasis on how entrepreneurs turn inefficiencies into opportunities, unlocking value through the private enterprise system. The Smith Center is an open academic forum for the study of the market economy and its foundation in the pursuit of individual goals and the protection of ownership and property. We encourage our community to apply higher values of service and free agency in their life ambitions. 

Stay connected with the Smith Center by following on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter. 

Our Directors

Christian Roessler

Christian Roessler

Christian Roessler (Associate Professor, Department of Economics) Dr. Roessler is an economist with specialization in the game-theoretic analysis of markets and decisions. He received his PhD in 2009 from the University of Melbourne and joined CSU East Bay in 2013 after previous appointments at Brown University and the University of Vienna. Since 2015, he directs the Smith Center with a vision to offer students first-hand insights into the role and functioning of markets through the start-up experience.

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Izzet Darendeli

Izzet Darendeli

Izzet Darendeli received his Ph.D. from Fox School of Business at Temple University. Dr. Darendeli works as an Assistant Professor of Strategic Management and Entrepreneurship at College of Business and Economics since 2015. Dr. Darendeli’s research has been published in leading academic and practitioner journals including the Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of Business Research and Journal International Management amongst others. He has authored book chapters and serves on editorial boards at some of the prominent journals. In addition to his academic work Darendeli supports many start-ups and multinational corporations from North America and Europe for their global innovation strategies as board member and advisor.

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