The professorship is funded by an endowment from Trustee Edward Doherty and his wife, Joan, of Saddle River, New Jersey.
Sean R. McMahon, assistant professor of entrepreneurship, has been named the Doherty Emerging Professor of Entrepreneurship. He will receive support for research and travel and will serve as a leader of the entrepreneurship education program in the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business. The term of the professorship is three years.
McMahon joined Elon’s faculty in 2013 and has completely revised the entrepreneurship major and minor. As a result of his hard work, he received the Dean’s Award for Outstanding Service in 2015. More recently, he has worked to incorporate design thinking into all entrepreneurship courses.
“Since arriving at Elon University, Sean has worked hard to contribute as teacher, scholar and mentor,” said Raghu Tadepalli, dean of the Love School of Business. “He has been a key contributor to the growth and development of our entrepreneurship program.”
Tadepalli noted that the courses McMahon teaches, including an introductory entrepreneurship course, “Creativity and the Doer/Maker Mindset,” are rigorous and well regarded by students. “Sean is very committed to the success of his students and works closely with them,” Tadepalli said.
In addition to his work with students, McMahon has been published in the academic journals Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, and Applied Psychology. His research areas include creativity, innovation, entrepreneurship and knowledge management.
McMahon earned a doctorate and master’s degree in strategic management from the University of Central Florida and a bachelor’s degree in business administration and finance from the University of Florida.
In 1999 he co-founded Jaywalk, a small consulting firm that consolidated the buy or sell ratings of more than 150 independent research firms and covered more than 7,000 stocks. The Bank of New York bought Jaywalk in 2002, and he worked as managing director of BNY Jaywalk until 2005 when he left to start WM2 Consulting. McMahon’s start-up company Knowtro, a search engine geared toward academic research, was featured in the Triad Business Journal in April 2016. Prior to joining Elon’s faculty, McMahon was a lecturer at the University of Central Florida.
Ed and Joan Doherty are parents of Elon alumna Kerry Doherty Gatlin, a 2007 Elon graduate. They served on the Elon Parents Council and Ed was elected to the Elon Board of Trustees in 2006. The Dohertys endowed the entrepreneurship professorship and established the Doherty Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership in the Love School.
The Doherty Center focuses on experiential education that encourages creative and critical thinking, opportunity recognition, and plan formulation and implementation. Throughout the year, the center sponsors entrepreneurship-themed co-curricular activities open to all majors.
In addition, the Dohertys provide generous gifts to host the annual “Evening for Elon” events in New York City for alumni, parents and friends of the university. They have also contributed annual fund gifts to Elon and supported scholarships and building projects. In recognition of their support of Elon, the Dohertys were awarded honorary doctor of business degrees in 2014.
Ed Doherty is founder and chief executive officer of Doherty Enterprises, Inc., one of the nation’s leading franchisee operators of quality family restaurants, including Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar, Panera Bread and Chevys Fresh Mex.