The longtime educator said her Winter Term course will help prepare students for the “ever-changing, competitive, global marketplace.”
Having worked in corporate America and higher education for more than 30 years, Robin Thornhill has plenty of experience and insights to lead the School of Communications’ Media Innovation & Entrepreneurship course during Winter Term. But the adjunct instructor said there’s more to why she’s excited to teach Elon students this month – entrepreneurship runs in her blood.
“I am a fourth-generation entrepreneur,” Thornhill said. “My grandmother was one of the first African-American women to own real estate and a restaurant in Alexandria, Virginia. After business school, my mother joined her mother in the family business. My great-grandfather owned a farm in North Carolina. I believe entrepreneurship is in my DNA.”
A longtime administrator at her alma mater – Howard University – Thornhill taught more than 20 courses in advertising, public relations, communications management and entrepreneurship during her tenure. Additionally, she served as the director of the university’s entrepreneurship and corporate relations programs, writing curricula and directing extra-curricular activities to assist students interested in entrepreneurship and/or intrapreneurship.
Thornhill said she looks forward to working with Elon students, designing a course that emphasizes the importance of research, ideation and strategic planning.
“Students interested in creating entrepreneurial success in an ever-changing, competitive, global marketplace will benefit from this course,” she said. “The course will be interactive and balance learning and fun.”
“My goal is to leave my students informed, inspired and motivated to follow their dreams of business ownership,” she added.