Celebrating 2025 at the Lacy School of Business

As the year comes to a close, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the incredible journey of the Lacy School of Business in 2025.

Every semester, I meet students who remind me why our work matters – students who are starting companies, solving real-world problems for corporate partners, securing competitive fellowships, traveling the world, and stepping boldly into careers of purpose. Their success is a testament not only to their drive and curiosity, but to the foundation you helped build.

Today, I want to share a few of the accomplishments that are shaping the next era of LSB – and invite you to continue being part of this momentum.

Excellence Recognized Nationally

This year, LSB earned some of our strongest national rankings to date in the 2025 Poets&Quants Best Undergraduate Business Schools:

• #1 for Career Advising
• #2 for Quality of Teaching
• #8 for Academic Experience
• #36 for Career Outcomes
• #48 Overall Undergraduate Business School

These results reaffirm what has long defined LSB: exceptional teaching, personalized support, and real-world learning that prepares students to excel from day one.

We are also proud to see our Assistant Professor of Business Technology and Analytics, Dr. Matthew Lanham, named one of Poets&Quants’ 50 Best Undergraduate Professors for 2025 – a national honor that reflects the heart of who we are: student-centered, experiential, and committed to excellence.

Student Enterprise: An Ecosystem That Actually Works

Entrepreneurship and experiential learning aren’t just talking points at LSB – they are systems we have built, scaled, and proven to work.

Across campus this year:

• 47 student-owned businesses
• 5 student-run businesses
• 100 students employed through student-run ventures
• Supported by 100+ industry mentors
• Earning a 95 net promotor score

But what’s more important is how these pieces now connect into one cohesive pipeline.

But what’s more important is how these pieces now connect into one cohesive pipeline. Many of you will remember launching your first ventures in Real Business Experience (RBE) – and today, that hands-on foundation has grown into a full, end-to-end ecosystem. Student ventures now move from RBE into our Fulfillment Center, where they take on real operations, logistics, and production. They strengthen customer strategy through our expanding Sales program, and gain avenues to promote their companies to the broader community. This is hands-on learning at scale.

Students also gain real-world finance experience through Bulldog Reports, a student-led valuation program where teams analyze companies and produce professional equity research reports presented at the annual Bulldog Reports Investment Conference. This program prepares students for careers in investment banking, equity research, and corporate finance, with generous support from donors including Lighthouse Capital, 1834 Financial Advisors®, and Reams Asset Management.

Butler Angel Network

We’ve launched the Butler Angel Network – a pioneering, student-led initiative connecting early-stage ventures with alumni and community investors.

The network will:

• Give students hands-on experience in venture capital, due diligence, portfolio analysis, and deal sourcing
• Create a new pathway for alumni to engage as accredited investors
• Build strategic connections with partners like gener8tor, TechPoint, and the IEDC
• Deploy a portion of Butler’s endowment as co-investment capital
• Support a target of $10M in investible capital for high-potential startups

This is more than an investment platform.

It is a living lab, a bridge to our alumni community, and a bold step toward making LSB a hub for entrepreneurial leadership in the Midwest.

Our inaugural Executive Director, Dr. Paul Newsom, returns to his alma mater with deep experience managing angel groups and fostering early-stage innovation.

Faculty Leadership & Thought Leadership

Our faculty continue to shine nationally and across their fields:

• 26 faculty publications in peer-reviewed journals
• Professor Jane Siegler testified on Capitol Hill on the future of supply chain
• Professor Jason Davidson was named Outstanding Microsoft Educator in Indiana
• Multiple faculty and staff received Butler’s DEI Champions Award

Their work elevates the LSB brand and ensures our students learn from the best.

Career Success & Global Experiences

Our students are landing competitive roles at top employers, supported by:

• A record-setting LSB Career Fair: 471 students, 42 employer partners
• Four LSB graduates joining the latest Orr Fellowship cohort
• Expanding study abroad opportunities – including new programs in Amsterdam and London
• Opportunities like Sprint Week, consulting projects with corporate partners, and industry-embedded classroom experiences

Our New Strategic Direction

This year also marks the continued launch of Butler’s strategic vision, Boldly Butler, a bold plan to deliver a transformative education with local impact and global reach. Building on the foundation of Butler Beyond, which transformed our campus, programs, and access over the past six years, Boldly Butler focuses on three core commitments:

• Transformational learning experiences – preparing all learners for professional success and meaningful lives through high-impact, personalized experiences.
• Dynamic campus and community – enriching student life and propelling the economic and cultural vitality of Central Indiana.
• A thriving Butler – ensuring Butler remains a premier national university with global reach, a culture of growth, and resilience for the future. 

This vision is powered by initiatives like expanding scholarships, increasing experiential learning opportunities, strengthening health sciences programs, enhancing study abroad and global learning, supporting the arts and athletics in Midtown Indianapolis, and leveraging technology and AI responsibly to design the university of the future.

Alumni like you are essential to what makes LSB special. You mentor students, hire graduates, support ventures, and help us see what’s possible next.

As we step into this next era of innovation and impact, I invite you to stay close, stay engaged, and stay proud of the business school that helped shape you – and that you continue to shape in return.

Thank you for being part of the LSB community.

Warm regards,