Board Member Spotlight: Nancy J. Church
For Nancy J. Church, her connection to USASBE began through Sigma Nu Tau, the entrepreneurship honor society she founded, and grew through years of conferences, conversations, and connections with entrepreneurship educators.
Nancy first became involved with USASBE around 2014 or 2015 when Sigma Nu Tau began exhibiting at the annual conference. She saw the conference as a great opportunity to meet entrepreneurship professors and introduce them to the honor society. What kept her coming back was the welcoming community and the chance to meet people from across the field. Today, Nancy serves on the USASBE Board of Directors and as Chair of the Sigma Nu Tau Commission.
Starting Sigma Nu Tau is also one of the accomplishments of which Nancy is most proud. She considers it one of her own entrepreneurial experiences and has enjoyed watching the organization grow over the years. Her entrepreneurial background also includes working with her husband on their chain of auto parts stores and even running a small vending machine business.
Before retiring from teaching in 2016, Nancy served as chair of the Department of Marketing and Entrepreneurship at SUNY Plattsburgh, and her primary field was marketing. She taught a rare course on franchising, and some of her favorite courses focused on creativity. That interest has carried into the way she thinks about entrepreneurship, with creativity and innovation remaining some of her favorite topics.
Over the years, one of Nancy’s favorite parts of USASBE has been meeting people and learning about what they are doing in entrepreneurship education. One conference connection even led to a multi-year grant opportunity and also led to one of her student team's selection as an E-fest finalist. For Nancy, experiences like these are a great example of the opportunities that can come from simply starting a conversation at the conference. She also has plenty of fun conference memories. One that still stands out is an early USASBE conference in Philadelphia where the gala included circus style performers entertaining attendees during dinner.
Outside of USASBE, Nancy loves to travel and is always thinking about her next trip. In 2025, her travels took her to Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto in Japan; Milan and Genoa in Italy; Denver; and Puerto Vallarta in Mexico! She also shared a fun fact that not many people may know. Nancy has a twin sister, and the two were born 11 hours apart on the same day.
If Nancy could start another business just for fun, she already has an idea. She would open an ice cream restaurant featuring creative combinations of ice cream and flavors. As she puts it, who doesn’t love ice cream year round?
Looking ahead, Nancy hopes USASBE continues to grow as a leading professional organization for entrepreneurship faculty while providing the resources, connections, and experiences members need both at the annual conference and throughout the year.