Dr. Eric S. Harter
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, DEAN, AND PROFESSOR
Dr. Eric S. Harter is the Chief Executive Officer, Dean of the Graduate School, and Professor of Management at Sullivan University. Dr. Harter had also served as the Chief Academic Officer and Provost of Sullivan prior to accepting the CEO role. Prior to his appointment at Sullivan in November, 2007, Dr. Harter served as president and CEO of ADSnetcurve, a 25-year-old global information technology company based in Louisville, Kentucky which sold to a publicly held firm. Prior to his position with ADSnetcurve, he served as Divisional Vice President/General Manager for Praxair, an $9 Billion global Fortune 300 organization. He has also served as Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer, President, CEO, and Chairman of the Board of numerous successful fast-growth entrepreneurial organizations.
Dr. Harter has been the recipient of numerous business and industry awards such as the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, the Inc. 500/5000 Award from Inc. magazine, the Blue Chip Enterprise Award from Mass Mutual Insurance Company, Business First's Fast Fifty Award on four occasions, Greater Louisville's Family Business Partnership Award, and Health Care Partners, Dr. Harter's employer from 1995-2001, was noted as the fastest growing homecare company nationwide by Homecare Magazine. He has also served as a distinguished judge with the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Program and presently serves in a board capacity for multiple academic and for-profit organizations.
In addition to his exemplary business career, Dr. Harter also has eight years of experience in higher education. He has served as chair of the business faculty, chair of the industrial advisory committee, business school accreditation, and numerous academic programs of Excelsior College, formerly New York's Regents College, a regionally accredited online and assessment institution with more than 35,000 students that specializes in the education of the adult learner. He has also been a long-term board member of the University of Louisville, School of Business and Public Administration, Entrepreneurship Council, and Harvard Business School Publishing.
Several papers have been presented by Dr. Harter on organic growth strategies, organizational behavior, leadership, and emotional intelligence in both Fortune 500 and academic settings, including but not limited to the Academy of Management and Harvard Business School. His applied research on leadership and emotional intelligence appeared in and supported Goleman and Boyatzis' New York Times Bestseller, "Primal Leadership - Realizing the Power of Emotional Intelligence," published by Harvard Business School Press.
Dr. Harter holds a bachelor's degree in business from the University of The State of New York, a master's in business administration degree from the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California, and a doctorate in management from the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University. Dr. Harter is also a fellow in Entrepreneurship (SEE) at both Babson College and the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, completed doctoral studies at the Peter Drucker School of Management at Claremont University, and is a graduate of Harvard Business School's highly selective three year Owner/President Management Program.
