Leonard Black will be remembered as an early advocate for student entrepreneurs at the University of Utah. He passed on Aug. 16, 2025, at the age of 83.
During his time working at the University of Utah from 1999 to 2014, Black taught at the David Eccles School of Business and played a supporting role in the creation of the Utah Entrepreneur Challenge, a business-model competition that continues to inspire college students across the state.
Leonard Black
The success of the Utah Entrepreneur Challenge contributed to the formation and development of the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute, which is now a top-10 program for entrepreneurship, engaging thousands of students and hundreds of student startup teams annually.
Jack Brittain remembered working with Black when he was dean of the David Eccles School of Business: “Leonard not only helped build the foundation for what is today a multi-million dollar program involving thousands of Utah students, he also did it with kindness and humility, fostering the leadership development of the hundreds of students who eventually served as the program’s student leaders.”
The new executive director of the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute, Scott Holley, also remembered working with Black, when Holley was a student at the David Eccles School of Business.
“I was privileged to work with Leonard as a student leader with the Utah Entrepreneur Challenge,” Holley said. “He was great at convening the entrepreneurial community with student leaders. He laid a foundation for what came next.”
Before working for the University of Utah, Black attended East High School and attended the University of Utah on a basketball scholarship, where he played on two conference championship teams and competed in the NCAA Final Four. He was also a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity.
He later joined the United States Air Force. During his 10 years of military service, Black completed a deployment to Vietnam, earning a Bronze Star, a tour as an associate professor at the United States Air Force Academy, and an assignment in covert operations.
After leaving the Air Force, Black began an extensive business career – first at the corporate level in space technology development and later in health informatics. His entrepreneurial spirit led him to found or co-found a number of diverse small businesses across various industries. Black then returned to the University of Utah as an associate professor.
Black spent his retirement years serving alongside his wife, Susan. Among other accomplishments, they supported students from the Pacific Rim and Polynesia attending Brigham Young University-Hawaii, where he helped to establish an entrepreneurial center.
Brittain said, “We are forever grateful for his contributions, and he is remembered fondly by the many students who worked with him.”
