DETROIT- (September 4, 2009) Officials at Wayne State University announced today that Tom Murphy, former mayor of Pittsburgh will be the keynote speaker at the fifth annual E2 Detroit conference on Thursday, Oct. 15. This event, co-sponsored by WSU, TechTown and WWJ Newsradio 950, and emceed by WWJ's technology editor, Matt Roush, brings entrepreneurs together with business leaders, authors, investors and others for a program that both educates and inspires.

Detroit faces many of the same wrenching issues that Pittsburgh faced in the early 1980s - severe changes in major industry, a sad state of city finances, tarnished and neglected city neighborhoods and high unemployment rates. Through Murphy's visionary revitalization efforts and by working with others, he directed new investment into Pittsburgh that refurbished neighborhoods and built world-class facilities, turned deficits into surpluses and boosted the economy by transitioning the city from heavy industrial to high technology and life sciences.

"While the story of Pittsburgh transformation is still being written, the lessons, both the successes and failures, start with the community and political will to change from managing decline to embracing change," commented Murphy.

Prior to his three terms as the mayor of Pittsburgh, Murphy served eight terms in the Pennsylvania State General Assembly and was in the Peace Corps in Paraguay. He is the senior resident fellow at the Urban Land Institute.

"There is no one better to speak at E2 Detroit than Tom Murphy," said Judy Johncox, senior director of WSU's technology commercialization office. "As Detroit struggles with a transitioning economy, Mr. Murphy can share his insights on what can be done to succeed. His knowledge and experience in turning a city around during hard times by focusing on entrepreneurial initiatives that can lead us to new economies are important messages for local leaders and entrepreneurs to hear."

Built upon the foundation of entrepreneurship and excellence, E2 Detroit provides attendees with the opportunity to network with other entrepreneurs. Business experts and CEOs of local start-ups will share their successes and challenges to provide "real world" insight to entrepreneurs seeking practical knowledge. E2 Detroit is focused on establishing Michigan as an enterprise hub and Wayne State University as a premier training ground for entrepreneurship.

Registration is now open. To learn more about E2 Detroit, visit http://www.e2detroit.wayne.edu today.

Wayne State University is one of the nation's pre-eminent public research universities in an urban setting, ranking in the top 50 in R & D expenditures of all public universities by the National Science Foundation. Through its multidisciplinary approach to research and education, and its ongoing collaboration with government, industry and other institutions, the university seeks to enhance economic growth and improve the quality of life in the city of Detroit, state of Michigan and throughout the world. For more information about research at Wayne State University, visit http://www.research.wayne.edu.