The College of Business at the University of Nevada, Reno has named Mehmet Tosun, Ph.D., as Director of the Ozmen Center for Entrepreneurship and International Business Programs.

“Dr. Tosun has elevated our academic and research portfolio, strengthening our College of Business as one of the best in the nation for training the next generation of innovators and leaders in business,” said College of Business Dean Greg Mosier, Ph.D. “His wealth of experience from his many roles and 15 years of service to the University will truly be an asset in advancing both the College and our community.”

In his new roles as Director of the Ozmen Center for Entrepreneurship and International Business Programs, he will work with all stakeholders and help the College facilitate and coordinate its variety of entrepreneurship activities, programs, curriculum, personnel, etc. as well as the similar distribution of activities in international business programs.”

Founded in 2014, the Ozmen Center aims to develop students' entrepreneurial skills, assist faculty in commercializing their research, and improve northern Nevada's entrepreneurial ecosystem. It serves as a point of inspiration and clearinghouse for information, an idea space that facilitates entrepreneurship, moving ideas into action.

The Ozmen Center hosts the annual Sontag Entrepreneurship Award Competition, a contest for budding entrepreneurs, complete with a $50,000 prize to fund the most innovative business ideas; as well as the new LaunchNevada program that makes resources available to support student entrepreneurial efforts, on and off campus, and creates opportunities to build or become part of a successful entrepreneurial team. The Center also creates a single point of contact for all other College of Business entrepreneurship related activities and events.”

The Center was made possible by a $5M gift from Eren and Fatih Ozmen, sole owners of Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) and alumni of UNR. Headquartered in Sparks, Nevada, SNC is a global aerospace and national security company recognized among The Top 10 Most Innovative Companies in Space, and as a two-time US Best Managed Company by Deloitte Private and The Wall Street Journal.

“Since its establishment in 2014, the Ozmen Center for Entrepreneurship has served as a resource to inspire and nurture the future generation of entrepreneurs,” said Eren Ozmen. “It’s been extremely fulfilling to see the Center serve as a catalyst for new ideas and support business growth, and I know the Center will continue to expand its reach under Dr. Tosun’s vision and leadership.”

International Business Programs furthers the College of Business vision, “to be a premier business school that produces research and graduates that enable economic vitality and inspire positive change in Nevada and the world.” The College of Business has ten international partnerships with prestigious business schools in China, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, and Turkey. The College also has nine short-term study abroad programs in different locations around the world including Argentina, Australia, Canada, Costa Rica, England, Poland and Singapore.

Tosun is the Barbara Smith Campbell Distinguished Professor at the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR). He is also a Professor of Economics and a research fellow at the Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), an affiliate research fellow at the Oxford Institute of Population Ageing, a research fellow at the Economic Research Forum (ERF) for Arab Countries, Iran and Turkey, and a fellow at the Global Labor Organization (GLO). He is an Associate Editor of Socio-Economic Planning Sciences. He is on the journal editorial board of Migration Letters and the journal program committee of Przeglad Organizacji (Organization Review) in Poland. He also serves on the board of the Reno Philharmonic Association.

Tosun received his Ph.D. in Economics from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. His research interests and expertise include public finance (particularly tax policy), regional economics, and economics of population and demography. He has published in such journals as the Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Oxford Economics Papers, National Tax Journal, Economics Letters, International Tax and Public Finance, Journal of Regional Science, and Regional Science and Urban Economics.

He has done consulting for a number of national and international agencies, including the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (UNESCWA), the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), the United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG), and the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.

Tosun received a number of awards including the Graduate Faculty Excellence in Teaching Award from the College of Business in 2019, the Global Engagement Award from the University of Nevada, Reno in 2018, the Dean’s Research Professorship Award in 2013, the Best Researcher of the Year Award from Beta Gamma Sigma (an international business honor society) in 2009, and the Middle East Economic Association’s Ibn Khaldun Prize in 2005. He was also the local organizer of the 72nd Annual Congress of the International Institute of Public Finance (IIPF) which was held in Lake Tahoe in 2016, and the Anniversary Chair of the National Tax Association's 100th Anniversary Conference in 2007.