Mike Ilitch School of Business announces inaugural members of entrepreneurship hall of fame

The Wayne State University Mike Ilitch School of Business has announced the inaugural class of inductees into its Entrepreneurship and Innovation Hall of Fame.

The 2019 inductees are:

  • Marian Ilitch, co-founder of Little Caesars Pizza; founder and chairwoman of Ilitch Holdings, Inc.
  • Florine Mark, president and CEO of The WW Group
  • Bernard D. Moray, chairman of Gorman’s Home Furnishings & Interior Design

According to Ilitch School Dean Robert Forsythe, honorees were selected because of their longstanding, demonstrated commitment to vision, innovation and perseverance within the Detroit business community and beyond. Their consistently high standards and strong leadership in the face of volatility and complexity will serve as an inspiration to current and future Wayne State University students.

“We are truly honored to have these three entrepreneurial trailblazers comprise our inaugural hall of fame class,” Forsythe said. “Each one is a legend—both here in the Detroit business community and nationally and globally within their chosen fields.”

The Mike Ilitch School of Business Entrepreneurship and Innovation Hall of Fame is a program of the Ilitch School’s Belinsky Entrepreneurship Learning Laboratory (BELL). The BELL, which was created in 2018 thanks to a generous gift from alumnus Russell Belinsky and the Belinsky Family Trust, provides resources, insights and expertise to help launch sustainable, investment-ready student startups and startups based on Wayne State University intellectual property.

The Ilitch School’s academic programs in entrepreneurship and innovation (EI) grew out of the $40 million gift Mike and Marian Ilitch made to Wayne State in 2015. In addition to providing the bulk of the funds to build the school’s state-of-the-art home in The District Detroit, the Ilitch investment also provided additional resources to launch new coursework in EI and sport and entertainment management.

The inductees will be honored at a special VIP reception on Wednesday, September 18, at the Ilitch School. For more information, please contact Steve Townsend, Ilitch School director of marketing and communications, at smtownsend@wayne.edu or 313-577-0202.

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