Dr. Eric S.
Harter
Portrait and Biography
1
Dr. Eric S. Harter is a Professor of Business Administration at
Southwest Baptist University. Before joining Southwest Baptist
University, he was the Director of the DBA program and Professor of
Business Administration at Belhaven University. Dr. Eric S. Harter was
a tenured Professor of Management and Chair with Campbellsville
University and focused on their graduate and international programs.
He joined Campbellsville University in January 2016 and has been an
integral part of its exponential growth and success.
Before 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 seen as
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 because of the services provided. Vesta has recently
expanded to both Europe and South America. During the period from
2015 through 2024, Vesta’s model and programs have resulted in
approximately 125,000 enrolled students at its valued institutions
generating revenue of approximately $2B. Vesta is continuing to
support its valued institutions by ensuring they continue to expand,
diversify their offerings, and participate in sustainable exponential
growth.
Before 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’s 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 a new business school accreditation (IACBE), created
5 new Master's and Ph.D. programs, and launched a new international
student program. Sullivan University experienced unprecedented
growth and brand equity since Dr. Harter’s arrival and material
contribution.
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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 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 is 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 is primarily engaged in sponsoring faith-based ministries.
He continues his faith-based activities by serving on the board of
Dismas Catholic Charities serving the rehabilitation needs of those
released from incarceration. He also participates in a Christian CEO
Roundtable to mentor 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,
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Sullivan University, Commonwealth Bank, Pure Host (Dell Computers
hosting arm) Ogden Newell & Welch (the region’s oldest law firm), and
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Dr. Harter was also previously the divisional vice president and
general manager of the eastern US home healthcare division of
Praxair, Inc., (NYSE: PX), a $10B Fortune 500 organization that merged
with Linde (NYSE: LIN), a $33B 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.
Before 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. Before 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 home care 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.
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Dr. Harter holds a Bachelor of Science 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 a Doctorate in
Management/Doctor 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 is a graduate of Harvard Business
School's highly selective three-year Owner/President Management
Program (OPM).
