- Thinking Like a Business Leader: Inside First-Year Business Experience and Top Dawg
Before most first-year students have even settled into campus life, they’re handed a challenge: Here’s a real company. Here’s a problem. Now go figure out what to do about it.
That’s the heartbeat of the First-Year Business Experience (FBE), a course that throws students into the world of business from day one, letting them learn by building, creating, presenting, and discovering. It’s the class that nudges them out of the familiar and into the mindset of someone who asks hard questions, digs for answers, and thinks like a business professional from the start.
Teams begin the semester by diving into a publicly traded company – an intentional decision that gives students access to real data and real insight.
- Passion, Purpose, and Play: Manolo Ferreres’ Journey in Business and Soccer
When Manolo Ferreres first stepped onto Butler’s campus, he carried more than a suitcase and a soccer ball – he carried a dream.
Growing up in Deltebre, Catalonia, Spain, he had already built a life steeped in discipline and ambition, balancing his studies in economics with his passion for soccer. Moving to the United States meant stepping into a world that was entirely new: a different culture, different people, and new expectations. “At the beginning, it was kind of difficult,” he recalled. “Everything was new. But over time, people here made it easier. The professors, the classmates – they were always willing to help and guide me.”
- Butler Entrepreneurship Named 2026 TechPoint MIRA Awards Finalist for Community Impact
Lacy School of Business (LSB) is proud to announce that Butler Entrepreneurship has been named a 2026 TechPoint MIRA Awards Finalist for the Community Impact Award, recognizing organizations that are transforming Indiana’s tech and business ecosystem.
Launched in January 2025, Butler Entrepreneurship is more than a program – it’s a campus-wide movement that empowers students, faculty, and alumni to transform ideas into ventures that create measurable social, economic, and community impact. Rooted in the belief that business can be a force for good, the program equips students with the skills, mentorship, and resources they need to launch ventures that generate revenue, create jobs, and strengthen local communities.
- Dr. Matthew Lanham Named One of Poets&Quants’ 50 Best Undergraduate Professors
We are thrilled to announce that Dr. Matthew Lanham, Assistant Professor of Business Technology and Analytics for Butler University’s Lacy School of Business, has been named one of Poets&Quants’ 50 Best Undergraduate Professors for 2025.
This recognition honors faculty who demonstrate outstanding teaching excellence and a profound impact on their students’ lives. Dr. Lanham’s teaching philosophy emphasizes experiential learning, student growth, and real-world application, preparing students to think like leaders and problem-solvers.
- Building Business from Scratch: Inside Butler’s Real Business Experience
You walk into a classroom, and it hits you: by the end of the semester, you won’t have merely learned about business – you’ll have built one from scratch. That’s the challenge sophomore students face in the Lacy School of Business’ Real Business Experience (RBE), a program that doesn’t just teach entrepreneurship – it throws you into it.
Teams of six, randomly assigned across majors, take on CEO, CFO, and CMO roles. Over the next few months, they brainstorm ideas, prototype products, manage budgets, handle suppliers, and sell to real customers. Mistakes aren’t hypothetical; they’re costly. Every decision matters. Every setback teaches a lesson.
- Data4Good: Using Data as a Force for Good
This Friday, October 31, marks the registration deadline for the 4th Annual National Data4Good Analytics Competition – a national platform where undergraduate and master’s students apply data and technology to solve real-world challenges. The Data4Good Competition is open to undergraduate and master’s students across the U.S. Teams compete within their regions for cash prizes, with regional winners advancing to present at Johns Hopkins University’s Carey School of Business.
- Teaching Beyond the Balance Sheet: Dr. Bryan Foltice’s Approach to Finance and Life
When Dr. Bryan Foltice left behind the world of investment banking for academia, it wasn’t because he lost his edge for numbers – it was because he started questioning their meaning. A professional athlete turned finance professional turned professor, Dr. Foltice’s path to the Lacy School of Business has been anything but linear, yet every…
Read more: Teaching Beyond the Balance Sheet: Dr. Bryan Foltice’s Approach to Finance and Life
- From Classroom to Cause: How Carly Pitts Found Her Passion for Purpose-Driven Marketing
When Carly Pitts arrived at the Lacy School of Business (LSB) in August 2023, she didn’t have a clear vision for her career – just a strong desire to learn, grow, and find the right fit. “I wanted to go somewhere that was the perfect size and somewhere decently away from home,” the Minnesota native laughed. “I was looking for a good business school and everyone around me kept saying LSB was one of the best.”
What sealed the deal was LSB’s hands-on approach. Carly was especially intrigued by the Real Business Experience (RBE), a program that has sophomore students start and run a business from scratch.
