Prof. Katherine Cota

• Director of the Lamberti Center for Rural Entrepreneurship
• Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship

Professor Katherine Cota brings 28 years of entrepreneurial education experience to the Lamberti Center for Rural Entrepreneurship director position and Buena Vista University Harold Walter Siebens School of Business faculty position. She taught academic and non-academic courses at the University of Northern Iowa and co-directed the John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center. She has directed the Carlson Center at California State University Sacramento and the Paulson Center at Dakota State University (South Dakota). In those positions, she taught academic classes, and non-credit workshops, coached companies, managed incubator and coworking programs, secured private and grant funding, managed an equity fund for area investors, and was the intellectual property officer for each university. She has helped hundreds of businesses start as well as several of her own. She holds a BA in Anthropology (physical and cultural), a Master of Communication Studies (corporate and non-verbal), and an MBA. Prior to working for universities, she worked for various companies including a law firm, a farm equipment manufacturer, an office equipment company, an industry magazine, a newspaper, an internet service provider, and numerous food establishments.