Doug Villhard, Professor of Practice in Entrepreneurship
Doug’s incredible impact on students continues to shine, and many current and previous students have made a point to mention him in their success stories, including Lloyd Yates, Dolapo Ojutiko, and Justin Matthews. Doug and WashU were even mentioned by students in a recent Poets & Quants article regarding The Most Disruptive Business School Startups Of 2022.
When asked about Doug’s impact, BS Computer Science, 2023 student Sydney Nagorsky responded, “Doug 100% believes in the potential of student entrepreneurs and will do anything he can to help his students improve. Whether it be giving brutally honest (but necessary) feedback, connecting us to his large network of people, or being the first customer of a student’s new business, he will always find a way to support his students and push their ventures forward.”
MBA student Franklin Taylor said, “If I have a problem or something I am thinking about, he asks questions so that I can come up with an answer myself rather than it being his opinion. I think that is incredibly important when it comes to entrepreneurship, being able to get help without being told what to do. Overall, he is a very effective professor in getting you to come up with the best solution for the problem you are trying to solve without influencing the situation at hand.”
PMBA student Linda Wu added, “The best thing about Doug Villhard is that he’s an amazing, caring, compassionate man who’s passionate about teaching, and has so much love and hope in his students and their success. He invests (endless time and energy) in us as if we’re his own children, and this sincere altruism can be felt. He has created a wonderful ecosystem of entrepreneurship at WashU, and his vast network has brought in so many knowledgeable and giving mentors that it’s allowed us as students to thrive. It’s no wonder that WashU is the #1 program for entrepreneurship for many years in a row!”
On top of being a student favorite professor and head of an award-winning MBA program, Doug has also recently published a book titled Company Of Women based on a real-life St. Louis entrepreneur that you can read more about on his website here.