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CLIMB Names Student Leadership Award Recipient for 2006

Ian Bentley honored with the 2006 James R. Meindl Student Leadership Award

The Center for Leadership Innovation and Mentorship Building (CLIMB) at the College of Business, California State University San Marcos, awarded the second James R. Meindl Student Leadership Award to Ian Bentley at the Senior Experience Celebration on May 11, 2006.  

The award honors a graduating senior from the College of Business Administration for outstanding leadership/mentorship in school, at work, and in the community. The winner must exemplify the Center’s mission: To foster the development of effective leaders at all levels – individual, team, organization, and community.  The award is in memory of an outstanding professor, James R. Meindl at the State University of New York at Buffalo who inspired Raj Pillai, Executive Director and Jeff Kohles, Director of CLIMB.

This year’s recipient, Ian Bentley, is a very motivated young individual who graduated from Cal State San Marcos in December 2005.  In high school, he was one of the youngest to be selected for a leadership development program.  After he came to San Diego, he set up his own auto detailing business called Bentley’s Mobile Detail while putting himself through college. After selling his successful business, he worked for a software company and traveled around the world. Currently, he has a very promising career as a Sales and Marketing Coordinator for a real estate developer in Santa Barbara. He credits several mentors with helping him throughout his career and now gives back to the community by working with a couple of hundred Junior High kids every week. Bentley and his wife are also active in their church, leading a small group of young married couples to find solutions for overcoming marital issues.

The Center for Leadership Innovation and Mentorship Building (CLIMB) was established within the College of Business Administration in 2004 to foster the development of effective leaders at all levels – individual, team, organization and community.

The Center conducts research on leadership and related areas and presents the findings at professional conferences. It recognizes leadership achievement in students and local businesses. It promotes student and faculty interactions with business leaders, organizes and supports leadership conferences and offers leadership development programs. It also hosts the popular “In the Executives’ Chair” course on campus.

Contact Raj Pillai at 760-750-4234 or rpillai@csusm.edu.