Jason D'Mello, Ph.D.

The Business of Preparing Summer Students for Success

Jason D’Mello, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship, seeks to empower students to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams. Since joining the top-ranked LMU College of Business Administration in 2014, Dr. D’Mello has been helping student entrepreneurs develop entrepreneurial mindsets that allow them to see social problems as opportunities for innovation.

“My goal as a teacher is to help student entrepreneurs develop a greater worldview and attitude towards building a foundation under the castles they’ve built in the air,” Dr. D’Mello, who is originally from Kalamazoo, Michigan, said. “In other words, to equip them with the critical thinking skills and necessary tools to take action and bring their dreams to life.”

This summer, high school students will have the opportunity to do just that in Dr. D'Mello's pre-college program Intro to Entrepreneurship. In week one, students will jump right in and by the second week, they will work in teams to see if they can launch a business. "It's a fun and challenging way for students to experience the major, meet our faculty and see if this is something that ignites their passion," said Dr. David Choi, LMU's Conrad N. Hilton Chair of Entrepreneurship.

Ranked among the top undergraduate entrepreneurship programs in the nation by The Princeton Review, Entrepreneur, and U.S. News & World Report, LMU has been teaching entrepreneurship with an eye towards ethics and social responsibility since 1972. LMU was one of the first universities in the U.S. to offer an entrepreneurship program.

D’Mello says that LMU specializes in developing entrepreneurial leaders through collaborative, hands-on learning experiences. At the undergraduate level, he leads LMU’s Business Incubator, an innovative program that provides a select group of LMU students with the workspace and guidance to prepare their business ventures for the real world. Student teams gain valuable advice from seasoned entrepreneurs, investors, alumni, and more. Several promising students and alumni businesses have already used the platform to launch their ventures to great success. 

Apply now to be part of LMU's entrepreneurial summer experience. Complete an application to Intro to Entrepreneurship.