NBA Point Guard, Harvard Business School Professor to Bring Entertainment, Media and Sports Class Demo to N.C. A&T

09/18/2019

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NBA Point Guard, Harvard Business School Professor to Bring Entertainment, Media and Sports Class Demo to N.C. A&T

EAST GREENSBORO, N.C. (Sept. 18, 2019) – Piedmont Triad native and Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Chris Paul, through the Chris Paul Family Foundation, is set to visit North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University to share a prospective new class with students.

Paul, along with Harvard Business School professor Anita Elberse, will partner with the College of Business and Economics (CoBE) to present case studies to 250 N.C. A&T students about the business of entertainment, media and sports Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2019 in the Alumni-Foundation Event Center.

“Mr. Paul’s first-hand experiences in sports, entertainment and media coupled with Dr. Elberse’s expertise and scholarship in this discipline make them the perfect team to share this information with our students,” said Dr. Kevin James, dean of CoBE.

In two separate sessions, A&T students will participate in a simulated class where they will discuss case studies about retired NBA shooting guard Dwyane Wade and Walt Disney Studios, respectively.

After Paul attended Professor Elberse’s summer class in 2016, he had the foresight to collaborate with her about the opportunity.

“Access through education helps level the playing field and true leadership comes from knowledge,” he said. “I’m looking forward to expanding the partnership with A&T and seeing the future results of our efforts.”

Paul is a father, husband, compassionate philanthropist and businessman. A nine-time All-NBA first team selection, a seven-time All-NBA Defensive first team selection, four-time NBA assist leader and six-time NBA steals leader, he was named most valuable player of the 2013 All-Star game and holds gold medals from the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games as a member of Team USA.

These sessions will serve as a demonstration of a future class that will mirror Elberse’s class at Harvard. James is looking to pique the interests of A&T students across disciplines, especially those in CoBE and the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication.

“I am excited to bring a bit of Harvard to N.C. A&T and I can’t wait to meet the students,” Elberse said.

Elberse is the Lincoln Filene Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. The award-winning teacher and scholar develops and teaches the MBA course covering the businesses of entertainment, media and sports – one of the most sought-after courses in the school’s curriculum. She also chairs a short executive education program of the same name, serves as chair of a semester-long mentoring program for professional athletes, called “Crossover into Business,” and is author of “Blockbusters: Hit-making, Risk-taking, and the Big Business of Entertainment.”