Robert T. Sumichrast
Dean and Simon S. Selig, Jr. Chair for Economic Growth

Published: July 6, 2009 | Vol. 2, Issue 3

I've written before about the helpful advice and practical lessons that the college's Executives-in-Residence bring to the educational experience of the Terry College students who hear their lectures and meet with them individually. They mentor our students, open doors for them and collaborate with our faculty inside the classroom and out. I'm pleased to announce the start of a new chapter in this initiative with the appointment of our first Entrepreneur-in-Residence.

Mark "Dill" Driscoll will serve as our first Entrepreneur-in-Residence, beginning July 1. He will work with our faculty to expand and improve our entrepreneurship program and help create opportunities for Terry students who want to become entrepreneurs themselves.

Dill Driscoll is a serial entrepreneur in his own right, having started eight businesses over his career. He is best known as a pioneer in the field of experiential marketing, or as he calls it "bringing brands to life." He founded several of the industry's formative ventures, including World Sports Promotions, McCann Event Marketing, and Momentum Worldwide. Today, he is the creative force behind Atlanta-based McWhorter Driscoll LLC, which is the holding company for his latest experiential marketing agency called ignition Inc. and its subsidiaries.

He co-founded ignition with his wife, Susan Driscoll (BBA '85, MMR '86), and now serves as the agency's chairman. Dill's new affiliation with Terry is one outgrowth of Susan's own reconnection with the college. She was invited to speak at Terry Third Thursday two years ago and was one of the first TTT speakers I had the opportunity to meet. This past year, she joined the college's Alumni Board.

Susan and Dill have been visiting as guest lecturers, most frequently in the undergraduate marketing classes taught by Peggy Emmelhainz and Kimberly Grantham. Dill's honorary appointment formalizes and expands the working relationship that has developed.

Over his career, Dill and his marketing teams have traveled to more than 60 countries on five continents to launch and manage campaigns for some of the biggest brands in the world, from the Live Earth concerts in 2007 to multiple Olympic Torch Relays, sponsored by the Coca-Cola Co. As part of these and other campaigns, he has created innumerable life experiences for thousands of people, most of them young people. I am certain Dill will be equally as skillful creating unforgettable learning experiences for our students.

Robert T. Sumichrast, Dean
Terry College of Business

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