Michael Goldberg, associate professor of design and innovation at the Weatherhead School of Management and executive director of the Veale Institute for Entrepreneurship at Case Western Reserve University, has received a Fulbright Specialist Program award to Portugal.
Goldberg will complete a project in collaboration with the Luso-American Development Foundation (FLAD) in Portugal focused on supporting the growth of entrepreneurship in the Azores Islands.
Goldberg is the first Case Western Reserve faculty member to receive four Fulbright awards. He was previously awarded Fulbright fellowships to teach entrepreneurship at the National Economics University in Hanoi, Vietnam (2012); the Namibia University of Science and Technology, Namibia (2015); and the Asociación Canaria de Startups, Empresas de Base Tecnológica e Inversores Ángeles (Emerge) in the Canary Islands, Spain (2018).
Goldberg has also conducted seminars on behalf of the U.S. Department of State on entrepreneurship in 28 countries, including Botswana, Chile, Greece, Laos and Slovenia
The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to build lasting connections between the people of the United States and citizens of other countries.
Goldberg’s Fulbright in Portugal will leverage his Case Western Reserve massive open online course (MOOC), Beyond Silicon Valley: Growing Entrepreneurship in Transitioning economies. Since its launch in 2014 on Coursera, Beyond Silicon Valley has attracted over 175,000 students from 190 countries and has subtitles in 16 languages (including Portuguese).
Goldberg initially collaborated with FLAD in Portugal in March 2019 when he brought a group of Case Western Reserve MBA students to Lisbon as part of an international institute course. Goldberg participated in a workshop at FLAD entitled “Beyond Silicon Valley: Sharing Ideas to Support the Growth of Entrepreneurship between Portugal and Cleveland.” That collaboration led FLAD to invite Goldberg to visit the Azores Islands and explore new opportunities for economic and entrepreneurial growth in the region.
Goldberg will also work collaboratively with the University of the Azores, the Regional Directorate for European Affairs and External Cooperation in the Azores Government and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Ponta Delgada during his Fulbright in the Azores Islands.