In August 2024, Jeffrey Petty assumed a new role at University of Lausanne (UNIL), Faculty of Business and Economics – vice dean of impact and quality with responsibilities for accreditation, continuing education, research centers, and EMBA.

His new job required him to leave his position as academic director for the EMBA Program, but he still remains connected to EMBA as vice dean.

“I was pleased with my new role that I was going to stay in EMBA world,” says Petty, who enjoys a long history with EMBA and with EMBAC.

In October 2024, Petty received the 2024 Bud Fackler Award from EMBAC, acknowledging his work to advance the EMBA industry and EMBAC as the voice of the industry.

The Bud Fackler Service Award recognizes contributions to EMBAC and to EMBA Programs worldwide, including efforts to help other programs, to share best practices, and to raise the quality of EMBA Programs. The council named the award after Bud Fackler, the late director of the EMBA Program at the University of Chicago and one of the council’s founders.

Petty served on the EMBAC Board of Trustees from 2016 to 2019 and as board chair from 2017 to 2018. Since then, he has continued as a volunteer on the EMBAC Research Committee and on the Working Professionals Task Force.

“We at EMBAC are so thankful for Jeffrey’s past contributions as a board member and chair and for his continued involvement,” says Michael Desiderio, EMBAC executive director. “In particular, his work on the Research Committee has supported EMBAC’s efforts to gain a greater understanding of industry trends, shifts, and changes, including the innovative ways that programs respond to a fast-changing market.”

With Petty’s academic focus on entrepreneurship, the award comes with great meaning.

“In my career, it’s the most important award I’ve received because I really do think that EMBA is, in many schools, like a lab, a place to experiment and try new ideas,” he says. “The Bud Fackler award represents that spirit of innovation and excellence.”

Petty’s career includes three distinct chapters – military service, work in the entrepreneurship, venture capital, and private equity space, and the third, and most rewarding to him, academia.

Petty joined UNIL in 2006 as an adjunct instructor with a desire to introduce students to entrepreneurship before becoming an assistant professor and the director of the Executive MBA in 2013. He became a full professor of entrepreneurship and innovation in 2019 and served as the director of the Department of Strategy, Globalization, and Society before joining the dean's office.

Petty has taught courses on entrepreneurial finance, entrepreneurship, corporate strategy, technology and innovation management, knowledge management, and research methods. He also helped to establish the HEC UNIL Entrepreneurship Accelerator, which offered business students the opportunity to test all types of new ventures (no tech, low tech, and high tech) through experiential learning. The university then expanded the effort to launch the UNIL Entrepreneurship & Innovation Hub for all students across all seven faculties of  the university.

In addition to serving as vice dean, he also remains academic director of the UNIL Entrepreneurship and Innovation Hub.

Throughout the years, EMBAC has helped Petty strengthen the EMBA Program at UNIL, and, in turn, Petty shares his knowledge with members.

“Every time I go to a council meeting or interact with anyone on the Research Committee, I learn something new that can add value to our program or someone else’s program,” he says. “I can honestly say I am or have been a member of many academic associations, but this one I’ve gotten the most out of and I’ve been the most involved in by choice.”

EMBAC offers its members a place to share. “I feel the collaborative nature is always there, it defines who we are. I think we embody what associations were meant to be and we still are.”