The Murphy Center for Entrepreneurship will be a global leader in entrepreneurship through academic programs that lead to the formation of new and innovative enterprises and creative solutions for social problems.

Leadership Luncheon

The Leadership Luncheon has been an annual occurrence for the Murphy Center for Entrepreneurship since 2002 when General Norman Schwarzkopf was the Keynote Speaker. Our luncheon has featured high-profile speakers, including George Foreman, Nolan Ryan, and H. Ross Perot, celebrating the entrepreneurial spirit with the business leaders of Dallas/Fort Worth. Proceeds from the Leadership Luncheon are used for scholarships, student awards, and programs offered through the Murphy Center for Entrepreneurship.

UNT's premier off-campus event, the Leadership Luncheon is a celebration of entrepreneurship. Student scholarships are awarded, donors are recognized, and winners of the New Venture Creation Contest are announced. We invite a well-known leader to give a Keynote Speech and recognize the recipient of the Murphy Award which honors Lifetime Achievement in Entrepreneurship; past recipients include Trammell Crow, H. Ross Perot, Ebby Halliday, and Sam Wyly.

The Murphy Award recipient for 2012 was Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys.

Save the date for the 2013 Entrepreneurial Leadership Luncheon on Friday, November 8, 2013 at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas – additional detail coming soon!  For registration now, click here.


What do some of the most successful Entrepreneurs in North Texas have in common?”


2012 Leadership Luncheon Keynote speaker:

karen hughes

Ambassador Karen Hughes
Worldwide Vice Chair
Burson-Marsteller

Karen Hughes is a trusted counselor to corporate, nonprofit and political leaders providing strategic communications, corporate positioning and messaging advice.

Since joining Burson-Marsteller in 2008, she has brought to the business world her unique expertise honed over more than 30 years of public policy, communications and political experience, from helping lead winning presidential campaigns to serving at the highest levels of government. At Burson, she has worked with clients as diverse as AVON Products, Inc., Ford, Johnson & Johnson, Texas Speaker of the House Joe Straus, LIVESTRONG and the George W. Bush Presidential Center.

Previously she served as Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs where she led the U.S. State Department’s effort to communicate America’s values abroad.  Karen also served as Counselor to President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2002. In this role she acted as strategic advisor to the president on policy and communications and managed the White House Offices of Communications, Media Affairs, Speechwriting and Press Secretary.  She is a past Executive Director of the Republican Party of Texas and a former television news reporter for the NBC affiliate in Dallas/Fort Worth.  Karen is a Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude graduate of Southern Methodist University. Karen is the author of Ten Minutes from Normal, a memoir of her experiences working with President Bush.