Dr. Eric Harter
Dr. Eric S. Harter is a Professor of Business Administration and Director of the DBA program with Belhaven University. Prior to joining Belhaven and assisting with the development of their international graduate degree programs, Dr. Eric S. Harter was a tenured Professor of Management and Chair with Campbellsville University and focusing on their graduate and international programs. He joined Campbellsville University in January 2016 and has been an integral part to their exponential growth and success.
Prior to joining Campbellsville University and currently engaged, Dr. Eric S. Harter is the Chairman, President and CEO of Vesta Technology Solutions, a global diversified technology, education, and service organization based in Louisville, Kentucky and with offices in New York, Shanghai, Toronto, and Hyderabad, India. Vesta is considered the global leader in education consulting focusing on the placement of international students within US and Canadian institutions. Vesta’s institutional customers have seen unprecedented exponential growth and success as a result of services provided. Vesta has recently expanded to both Europe and South America. During the period from 2015 through 2020, Vesta has placed 75,000 students at its valued institutions generating revenue of approximately $1B. Vesta is continuing to support its valued institutions by ensuring they continue to expand and diversify their offerings and participate in exponential growth.
Prior to joining Vesta, Dr. Harter joined Sullivan University between 2007 and 2012 following the successful sale of ADSnetcurve, a global technology company to a publicly held firm. Dr. Harter intended to join Sullivan University's Board of Directors but accepted Sullivan’s University invitation to be the heir apparent to the retiring President and during his tenure, occupied positions including but not limited to Professor of Management, Dean of the Graduate School, and Chief Academic Officer role.
Sullivan University is a Level 5 institution, with roots back to the mid-1800s, regionally accredited through SACSCOC, with approximately 10,000 students, 5 locations, 3 distinct brands, multiple non-education related business units, and with an operating budget of $130MM. During the
last five years he was instrumental in launching a new College of Pharmacy, became the largest Graduate School in the region, achieved new business school accreditation (IACBE), created 5 new Master's and Ph.D. programs, and launched new international student program. Sullivan University experienced unprecedented growth and brand equity since Dr. Harter’s arrival and material contribution.
In addition to Dr. Harter’s practitioner, education, and research experience listed below, he’s been a member of the Excelsior College’s faculty, created new master’s and doctorate programs, chair of the business and technology departments, Editor in Chief of a peer reviewed scholarly journal, president's advisory board member, industrial advisory board member, and IACBE accreditation committee covering the last fifteen years. He was also named as their inaugural Distinguished Faculty Member of the Year. Excelsior College is a forty-five-year-old regionally accredited college in New York with over 40,000 students and considered the premier college assessment institution in the world.
Dr. Harter has also served as a board member of the University of Louisville, College of Business and Public Administration, School of Entrepreneurship, American Graduate School of Switzerland, and Burlington National Insurance Company. He currently serves as a board member of George Washington University’s School of Information Systems, Medgar Evers College School of Business at The City University of New York, Harvard Business School Publishing, McClain Winery, and the Guru Nanak Institute of Technology in India.
Dr. Harter is actively engaged in philanthropic activities as the Chairman of The Harter Family Foundation and Dr. Eric S. Harter Foundation primarily engaged in sponsoring faith-based ministries. He continues his faith-based activities by serving on the board of the Dismas Catholic Charities serving the rehabilitation needs of those released from incarceration. He also participates in a Christian CEO Roundtable to mentor to Christian CEOs who desire to integrate faith-based principles and activities in the workplace. Dr. Harter is also a significant contributor to Campbellsville University and The University of the Cumberlands, both faith-based institutions serving the underserved in the Appalachian and international communities.
Previously to joining Sullivan University, Dr. Eric S. Harter joined ADSnetcurve as a shareholder, president, and CEO in 2003. ADSnetcurve was a privately held full service global information technology firm, based in Louisville, with domestic and international operations, EBITDA positive and profitable for 23 consecutive years, and owned by local Kentucky residents. ADSnetcurve provides application development/engineering services, IT management and hosting, and outsourced customer service email and voice support.
ADSnetcurve customers include small regional firms as well as Fortune 1000 organizations. A small sampling ADSnetcurve’ customers include Mack Truck, Volvo, Fidelity Investments, Humana, Papa Johns, Sullivan University, Commonwealth Bank, Pure Host (Dell Computers hosting arm) Ogden Newell & Welch (the regions oldest law firm), and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Dr. Harter was also previously was the divisional vice president and general manager of the eastern US home healthcare division of Praxair, Inc., (NYSE:PX), a $10B global Fortune 200 organization. He also served as an advisor on integrating intrapreneurship within the organization. As a result of his leadership, his division(s) achieved record organic growth and an intrapreneurship culture was embraced. Prior to joining Praxair, Dr. Harter assumed the position of president and CEO of Health Care Partners (HCP) in 1995, a $4M former Humana (NYSE:HUM) subsidiary which he grew to $25M and sold to Praxair in 2001. Prior to HCP, he served in numerous roles of increasing responsibility including but not limited to Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer, and Chief Financial Officer of emerging growth companies with revenues of $2M to $100M and including but not limited to prominent regional and national healthcare organizations.
Dr. Harter and his respective organizations have received numerous business and industry awards such as the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, the Blue-Chip Enterprise Award from Mass Mutual Insurance Company, Business First' Fast Fifty Award on 5 occasions, Greater Louisville's Family Business Partnership Award, and HCP was noted as the fastest growing homecare company nationwide by Homecare Magazine. He has also served as a distinguished judge with the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Program and presently serves in a board capacity for multiple academic and for-profit organizations.
Dr. Harter has presented several papers on organic growth strategies, organizational behavior, leadership, entrepreneurship, and emotional intelligence in both Fortune 500 and academic settings, including but not limited to the Academy of Management and Harvard Business School. His applied research on leadership and emotional intelligence appeared in and supported Goleman and Boyatzis' New York Times Bestseller, "Primal Leadership - Realizing the Power of Emotional Intelligence," published by Harvard Business School Press. In addition to his research and conference presentations, Dr. Harter teaches as an adjunct professor for numerous notable institutions and mentors’ undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral students in their quest to reach academic, practitioner, ministry, and/or philanthropic goals. Dr. Harter is a frequently requested speaker and guest lecturer at his alma maters and various global venues in the leadership, emotional intelligence, entrepreneurship, and strategic management disciplines.
Dr. Harter holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business from the University of The State of New York, a Master’s in Business Administration degree from the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California, and Doctorate in Management/Doctorate of Business Administration from the
Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University. Dr. Harter is also a Fellow in Entrepreneurship (SEE) at both Babson College and the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, completed doctoral studies at the Peter Drucker School of Management at Claremont University, and a graduate of Harvard Business School's highly selective three-year Owner/President Management Program (OPM).