Rob Lalka appointed to lead Lepage Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation

Rob Lalka, an entrepreneur and educator whose accomplishments span the public, private and non-profit sectors, has been appointed professor of practice and executive director of the Albert Lepage Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Tulane University’s A. B. Freeman School of Business.

Lalka is the co-founder of Medora Ventures, a consulting firm for purpose-driven ventures. Previously, he was director of strategy and partnerships at Propeller and taught at Loyola University.

Lalka will guide the strategic direction and operations of the Lepage Center, which oversees entrepreneurship-related offerings at the business school and develops programs to serve the entrepreneurial needs of New Orleans and the Gulf South.

“Rob has great enthusiasm, energy and a strong commitment to the goals of the Lepage Center,” said Ira Solomon, dean of the Freeman School. “I could not be more excited that he will be leading a most important part of the Freeman School.”

Solomon also thanked the search committee for its work in bringing Lalka to Tulane. The committee included Paul Spindt, John Clarke, Mike Burke, Zina Harris, John Payne and Matt Schwartz.

Prior to moving to New Orleans, Lalka was a director at Village Capital and a senior advisor at the Howard G. Buffett Foundation. Before that, he served in the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Global Partnerships and was on the Secretary of State’s policy planning staff. As a Presidential Management Fellow, he co-authored the President’s cross-sector partnerships strategy and received the Meritorious Honor Award for his leadership in the Global Entrepreneurship Summit.

“New Orleans is one of the world’s great startup cities, and Tulane University is uniquely qualified to help our entrepreneurs thrive,” said Lalka. “Mr. Lepage envisions a community of scholars, inventors, investors and students coming together to solve problems and build businesses. I’m honored for the opportunity to lead these efforts, and I’ll work tirelessly to make this vision a reality.”

Lalka graduated from Yale University and earned a master’s degree in global public policy from Duke University. He is a Truman National Security Project Fellow and a term member at the Council on Foreign Relations. He resides in Broadmoor with his wife, Lynn, and their son, Tice.