2014 UCF Business Hall of Fame Induction Event

Last night I had the opportunity to attend the  fifteenth annual UCF Business Hall of Fame Induction event.  The event had a “Roaring twenties” theme and having attended the event the last several years… I must say that this Hall of Fame induction event topped them all!

The event was held at the Rosen Shingle Creek Resort. The crowd was filled with prominent business leaders, University of Central Florida faculty, and past Hall of Fame Inductees. The energy in the room was fantastic and everyone was having a blast! With the  combination of the great venue, people, music, food and drinks – how could you not?

The food was fantastic! I enjoyed the “Roaring buffet” filled with salmon, grilled fillet of beef, sauteed chicken and plenty of fruits and veges.

UCF Dean Paul Jarley gave a powerful speech about hope and culture. One meaningful message that I found encouraging was the desire of the University to create future employers, not just employees, by spreading the entrepreneurial culture across campus. Dean Jarley indicated that education should not be just about knowledge, but also about action. The culture that he and other across UCF’s campus are creating is empowering future entrepreneurs to unleash their ideas and ventures into the community. It is very exciting! UCF has been very good to me and my entrepreneurial career and it is wonderful to see that even more resources and energy are being allocated to champion the entrepreneurial initiatives on and off campus. Dean Jarley went on to give shout outs to many people helping to develop this enriching culture including two of my favorite UCF peeps – Cameron Ford and Pam Hoelzle who are heading up the UCF Blackstone Launch Pad on campus. I’ve had an opportunity to speak at UCF’s LaunchPad multiple times and the energy and value coming out of the center is incredible!

After the speach by Jarley it was time for the inductions to this years UCF Business Hall of Fame.

This years inductees included:

The Mayor of the City of Winter Park: The Honorable Kenneth W. Bradley (Class of ’85) 

The Honorable Kenneth W. Bradley is serving his second term as Mayor of Winter Park, Fla. He was elected in March 2009 and re-elected on January 31, 2012, with almost 72 percent of the vote.

Mayor Bradley is also the Campus CEO of Winter Park Memorial Hospital, a 307-bed Florida Hospital. He has more than 26 years of central Florida healthcare experience including Campus CEO (and COO) Florida Hospital Kissimmee and COO of Florida Hospital’s Celebration Health. His professional roots are in human resources management.

The Chief Executive Officer of the Tavistock Financial Corporation: Mr. Rasesh H. Thakkar (Class of ’84)

Mr. Rasesh Thakkar, serves as Chief Executive Officer of Tavistock Financial Corporation. He is a Managing Director and Director of Tavistock Group. Mr. Thakkar’s areas of experience ranges across industries life sciences, financial services, real estate, leisure services and retailing on three different continents and corporate finance and structures, mergers and acquisitions, strategic planning and operations and executive management.

I had a fantastic time and look forward to attending future UCF College of Business events….Hopefully one day, my own UCF Business Hall of Fame induction 🙂

Knitro’s got my back!

If you ever get the chance to attend a UCF Business Hall of Fame induction event I highly suggest you do! You won’t regret it. I’ll plan on adding some additional pictures from the event down the line in this post if I receive them.