The A. B. Freeman School of Business honored commercial real estate developer James Maurin and celebrity chef John Besh with Entrepreneur of the Year Awards at this year’s Tulane Council of Entrepreneurs Awards Gala. The awards ceremony, an annual presentation of the Freeman School and the Levy-Rosenblum Institute for Entrepreneurship, took place April 16 at the Audubon Tea Room.
James Maurin, retired chairman of Stirling Properties, received the Tulane Distinguished Entrepreneur of the Year Award.
Maurin (MBA ’72) received the Tulane Distinguished Entrepreneur of the Year Award, which recognizes individuals who combine a history of entrepreneurial success with service to the community. Besh received the Tulane Outstanding Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award, which honors individuals dedicated to solving social problems and meeting community needs through the use of entrepreneurial principles.
“Jimmy Maurin has devoted his career to developing commercial real estate properties that anchor communities, promote further development and spread economic prosperity,” said Ira Solomon, Freeman School dean. “John Besh, through his philanthropic foundation, is working to help provide the region’s farmers and culinary professionals with the training and business support they need to become sustainable. I am delighted to be able to recognize these two outstanding business people with our 2015 Entrepreneur of the Year awards.”
Restaurateur John Besh received the Tulane Outstanding Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award.
Maurin is co-founder and retired chairman and CEO of Stirling Properties, one of the Gulf South’s leading commercial real estate companies. Founded in 1975, the company’s business areas include brokerage services, development and redevelopment, acquisitions and investments, and property and asset management over a wide array of property types.
Besh is an award-winning chef and restaurant entrepreneur. His nonprofit organization, the John Besh Foundation, works to protect and preserve the culinary heritage and foodways of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast area. In 2011, the foundation established the Chefs Move! scholarship program to send minority recipients to the International Culinary Center in New York City. The foundation also started a microloan program for farmers and artisanal producers within 200 miles of New Orleans and worked with the A. B. Freeman School of Business to assist and advise program participants on how to grow their businesses.
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