Dr. Marilyn Kourilsky
Director

Marilyn Kourilsky is a Professor and Co-Director of the Institute for the Study of Educational Entrepreneurship (ISEE) at UCLA and Chief Education Advisor for the Kauffman Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership. In her prior capacity as Vice President of the Kauffman Center, she created nationally implemented programs including Entrepreneur Invention Society, MADE-IT (Mothers and Daughters Entrepreneurs - In Teams), Making a Job, and EntrePrep.

As an expert in economics, entrepreneurship and education, Ms. Kourilsky has pursued internationally acclaimed research in entrepreneurship education, economics education, teacher education and learning theory. Her research reflects the clinical influence of her broad spectrum of teaching experience at the elementary, secondary and university levels as well as her earlier role as Director of Teacher Education at University of California, Los Angeles. She has created extensively implemented education reforms including the widely acclaimed Mini-Society and KinderEconomy ; these programs have been actively featured in various media including the Today Show, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. Dr. Kourilsky's extensive published record spans numerous articles in refereed journals and 17 books.

Some of the awards and honors received by Dr. Kourilsky for teaching, research, and leadership include: the UCLA Distinguished Teaching Award, the Greenfield Applied Research Award, the National Freedom Foundation Award for Excellence in Economic Education, The EUCLAN Award for Innovation in Teacher Education, The John C Schramm National Leadership in Economic Education Award, and the Henry H. Villard National Research Award in Economic Education.

Dr. Kourilsky has served as president and executive director of the California Council on Economic Education and president of the Society of Economic Educators.

Dr. Alfred E. Osborne, Jr.
Director

Alfred E. Osborne, Jr., is Co-Director of the Institute for the Study of Educational Entrepreneurship (ISEE) at UCLA, Director of the Harold Price Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, and Associate Professor of Business Economics in the Anderson Graduate School of Management at UCLA. Dr. Osborne was educated at Stanford University where he earned a B.S. in Electrical Engineering an MBA in Finance, an MA in Economics and Ph.D. in Business Economics. He has served UCLA as an Associate Dean, Assistant Dean, and Director of the MBA program, among other duties.

Besides his responsibilities at UCLA, Osborne is a director of Nordstrom, Inc., K2, Inc., Equity Marketing, Inc. and E*Capital. Inc. He serves as a trustee of the Washington Mutual Group of Funds and First Pacific Advisors Capital and New Income Funds. Dr. Osborne, an expert on governance issues, is an advisor to several venture capital organizations and entrepreneurs. Osborne was recently elected to the board of governors of the Investment Company Institute.

Among other honors and distinctions, Dr. Osborne has been an Economic Policy Fellow at the Brookings Institution, an Economic Fellow at the Securities and Exchange Commission, a governor of the National Association of Securities Dealers and, most recently, a member of Governor Pete Wilson's Council of Economic Advisors for California. He is the first recipient of the Richard J. Riordan Entrepreneurial Spirit Award for his support of entrepreneurial activity in southern California.

Carol Kozeracki
Assistant Director

Carol Kozeracki is the Assistant Director of the Institute for the Study of Educational Entrepreneurship (ISEE) at UCLA. Carol has work experience in both the for-profit and not-for-profit business worlds. She worked in marketing and training for a large insurance company, did fund raising and alumni relations for a private university, and worked as an institutional researcher at a community college. She has an undergraduate degree from Fordham University in English and Philosophy and a master's degree in education from UCLA. She is finishing her doctoral dissertation on community college faculty at UCLA. Her research interests are remedial education, community colleges, and faculty development.

 

Eileen Lai Horng
Project Manager

Eileen Lai Horng is a Project Manager of the Institute for the Study of Educational Entrepreneurship (ISEE) and a third year doctoral student at UCLA's Graduate School of Education and Information Studies in the Division of Urban Schooling. She is completing a dissertation entitled "Recruiting and Retaining Teachers at Hard-to-Staff Schools: Examining the Tradeoffs Teachers Make When Choosing a School." She is currently a UC ACCORD Dissertation Fellow. Prior to attending UCLA, Ms. Horng was a kindergarten and third grade teacher in National City, California. Ms. Horng received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Stanford University, majoring in Human Biology with a concentration in Child Development and Education. Upon completion of her undergraduate studies, Ms. Horng worked at Stanford University for a year as the Interim Schools Programs Coordinator at the Haas Center for Public Service.