Horak named director of Family Owned Business Institute

Joseph J. Horak has been named director of the Family Owned Business Institute in the Seidman College of Business at Grand Valley State University.

Horak has been an adjunct faculty member in the Seidman College of Business since 2007 where he has taught a class in family business. He coached a Grand Valley team of students at the 2014 International Family Business Case Competition that won the award for Most Creative and Innovative Team. Horak’s doctorate is in counseling and leadership from the Counselor Education and Counseling Psychology Department at Western Michigan University where he was honored with the department’s Outstanding Alumnus Award in 2011.  

Horak was appointed to the Licensing Board for Marriage and Family Therapy by Gov. Engler and to the Licensing Board for Psychology by Gov. Snyder. Horak is a past president of the Michigan Association for Marriage and Family Therapy and previously was the senior director of Leadership Development and Family Business Consultation at DWH.  

The mission of the Family Owned Business Institute is to promote, preserve, influence and impact family businesses through quality academic research, curriculum and information services. In September 1999, the Seidman College of Business and the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce, working with its Family-Owned Business Council, raised $301,000 in honor of Jay Van Andel and Rich DeVos. This became the seed money for the Family Owned Business Institute.