Who would you turn to if you were looking for someone to lead a higher education center for entrepreneurial development? How about a person who has started and led multiple successful businesses in widely diverse fields who has also taken the time to study entrepreneurship academically? 

Scott Taylor fit that bill for Cal State Fullerton when the university went looking for a new director of the CSUF Conrey Center for Entrepreneurship. Taylor, who was finishing his Ph.D. degree this summer at the University of Washington, was ready and willing to take on the challenge. 

“After selling my company, I had sort of semi-retired,” Taylor said. “I got a chance to get in a classroom environment, and when the students’ eyes lit up… 

“I decided I wanted to do research that could impact the world. I could have retired, but this (position) creates an opportunity to make a difference.” 

Taylor, who has since received his Ph.D. degree, became the Conrey Center director on July 1. But students had only recently returned to campus when he visited Sunstone Cities headquarters in mid-October as a speaker in the P3 Strategy Series. 

He said that his father and grandfather were both professors, but he didn’t want to follow in their footsteps when he first graduated from college. “I got a good job instead,” he laughs. 

His entrepreneurial career included time in Germany, a consulting company helping businesses deal with regulatory issues, another firm creating trade expos for different categories of retail businesses – and a flower shop. 

“What was my favorite?” Scott replied to a question. “It has to be the flower shop. You’re making people happy. I was always smiling!” 

When Scott started looking for a job in higher education, he said Cal State Fullerton checked all the boxes. The Conrey Center was fully funded – a key with many universities concerned about future funding – the position is a tenure track, and he has family living in Southern California. 

“Family is key,” he said. “My brother lives down here, and I’ve got a bunch of kids. Oh, and I can continue to scratch my entrepreneur itch.” 

Scott said that he is settling in at CSUF, and is already impressed with the many mentors working with the Conrey Center. That is a good start toward meeting one of his goals – getting students into the community for real life experiences. 

“A lot of professors want to go to the community as well,” Scott said. “Our program can be a conduit between campus and the community, I believe.” 

Scott already is plugging in to the CSU system’s entrepreneurial network – Wade and Ingrid Martin from the Cal State Long Beach Institute for Innovation & Entrepreneurship attended his P3 Strategy Series talk – and is exploring partnerships with the UCI entrepreneur community. 

“In the end, we’re all on the same team,” Scott said. “I think we can cross-pollenate, if you will. We’re all trying to get innovation to the forefront.” 

For more information about the Conrey Center for Entrepreneurship, use this link.  

Next on the P3 Strategy Series calendar on Friday, November 21st at 1 p.m. will be Jeff Kugel from the city of Glendora talking about its economic development plans. RSVP at registration. For more information, contact Ryan Phong at Ryan.Phong@SunstoneCities.com.