Emagine Entertainment co-founder and chairman emeritus honored for entrepreneurial vision, customer-centered leadership, and community service
Northwood University honored Paul A. Glantz, chairman and CEO of EH Real Estate LLC and co-founder and chairman emeritus of Emagine Entertainment Inc., as a member of the 2026 Class of Outstanding Business Leaders during the 46th annual OBL Awards Gala on April 18 at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn.
Glantz co-founded Michigan-based Emagine Entertainment in 1989, growing the company from one screen with 265 seats into the 10th-largest theater operator in North America. Today, Emagine, together with its licensee, operates 27 theaters in Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota and has built a reputation for an exceptional guest experience.
“Paul Glantz represents the entrepreneurial spirit, personal responsibility, and service-minded leadership at the heart of The Northwood Idea,” said Northwood University Advancement Vice President Murray Kyte. “He saw possibility where others may have seen a traditional industry, then built an organization that reimagined the customer experience while creating opportunity for employees, guests, and communities. His story reminds our students that free enterprise rewards those who create value for others.”
Glantz was introduced at the gala by Kennedy Williams, a Northwood University marketing communications and automotive aftermarket management student from Farmington Hills, Michigan. Williams was selected through a competitive student speaker process that drew more than 50 applicants this year.
“It is my honor to introduce one of the 2026 Outstanding Business Leaders, a man whose career reads less like a résumé and more like a feature presentation,” Williams said during the gala.
Williams described Glantz’s journey from Redford Township to Wayne State University, Walsh College, and a career that began in public accounting, finance, banking, and insurance before entering the theater business.
“The theater chapter began almost accidentally,” Williams said. “What Paul described to me as a ‘hobby business’ in 1989, on a single screen with 265 seats, turned into something no one in the industry saw coming.”
That “hobby business” became one of North America’s leading theater chains. Under Glantz’s leadership, Emagine became known for elevating the moviegoing experience through service, innovation, and attention to detail. Most recently, Emagine was voted No. 1 in the industry for the second consecutive year in a nationwide Market Force survey measuring customer loyalty, value, and trust.
A graduate of Wayne State University and Walsh College, Glantz earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with high distinction and a Master of Science in taxation. He also holds an honorary associate degree from Schoolcraft College and an honorary Doctor of Laws from Walsh College.
His achievements have earned recognition from both of his alma maters, including Distinguished Alumni Awards from Wayne State and Walsh College. He also received the first-ever Pillar Award from Wayne State’s Irvin D. Reid Honors College and was recognized by Ernst & Young as a Michigan and Northwest Ohio Entrepreneur of the Year.
While Glantz’s professional success is significant, Williams said one leadership philosophy stood out during their conversation: what Glantz calls the “Platinum Rule.”
“Don’t just treat people the way you want to be treated,” Williams said. “Treat them the way they want to be treated.”
Williams said that philosophy requires curiosity, humility, and a willingness to put the guest’s experience ahead of personal preference — qualities that helped Emagine become an industry leader in customer loyalty, value, and trust.
“That philosophy is what separates a good business from a great one,” Williams said. “And it is what made Emagine’s guest experience the standard that the rest of the industry is measured against.”
Glantz also is an active and engaged community leader. Prior to the sale of Emagine, he served on the Executive Committee of the Detroit Regional Chamber and on the board of directors for Cinema United. He continues to serve on the board of directors for MICPA and on the Finance Committee for Gleaners Community Food Bank of Southeast Michigan. He is an emeritus member of the Board of Visitors of Wayne State University’s Mike Ilitch School of Business.
His continued commitment to mentorship remains a defining part of his next chapter. After selling Emagine, Glantz has expressed interest in supporting his youngest son’s entrepreneurial journey as an investor and mentor.
Since 1981, Northwood University’s Outstanding Business Leader Awards have recognized exceptional leaders whose careers reflect freedom, personal responsibility, earned success, moral law, ethical leadership, and the importance of free enterprise. Proceeds from the annual gala support the Outstanding Business Leader Endowed Scholarship Fund, which expands opportunities for students preparing to lead with purpose, character, and conviction.
“The Outstanding Business Leader Awards connect Northwood students with leaders who have built organizations, taken risks, served others, and demonstrated the power of principled enterprise,” Kyte said. “Paul Glantz’s story is especially meaningful because it shows students that entrepreneurship is not only about growth. It is about listening carefully, creating value, and building an organization where people want to return.”
This year’s honorees represented an array of industries, including entertainment, entrepreneurship, construction, manufacturing, motorsports, and automotive retail. Prior to the gala, honorees met with Northwood students during a roundtable conversation designed to provide mentorship, career insight, and real-world leadership lessons.
The student-centered experience reflected a central purpose of the OBL Awards: Northwood students are not simply spectators. They meet honorees, ask questions, conduct interviews, introduce leaders from the stage, and build the confidence and professional connections that can shape their futures.
To learn more about the Outstanding Business Leader Awards, visit our OBL Awards webpage.
