Entrepreneurial faculty come together to network, spread innovation

There is a growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at Syracuse University. Faculty from every school and college at SU have been engaged in research, teaching, commercialization and community engagement in entrepreneurship. There’s no better time to bring together some of the most engaged faculty to discuss entrepreneurship courses, programs, ventures and support, and simply to network with each other. Thus, the Kauffman Professors of Entrepreneurship and Innovation (KPEI) is born.

Enitiative was created in 2007 when the Kauffman Foundation awarded SU and five partner universities a $3 million grant to infuse entrepreneurship across the curriculum. Three and a half years later, Enitiative has funded more than 160 projects. Now the goal is shifting from seeding projects to ensuring that best practices are shared and entrepreneurship is embedded into campus culture.

“The Kauffman Professors of Entrepreneurship and Innovation is a distinguished group of faculty who have been instrumental in spreading entrepreneurship across the Syracuse University campus,” says Bruce Kingma, associate provost of entrepreneurship and innovation. “We’re bringing them together to talk about what they have done, hear what others across campus have done and kick entrepreneurial activity in the curriculum up yet another notch.”

KPEI will meet two to three times a semester to network, share and learn from other faculty across the SU campus. KPEI will be eligible to apply for matching funding for travel to conferences and workshops in entrepreneurship and innovation in the arts, engineering, design, technology, business and social entrepreneurship. KPEI will also be eligible to apply for matching funding for travel for guest classroom speakers in entrepreneurship and innovation. KPEI will have access to other benefits, including books on academic entrepreneurship, a subscription to Entrepreneur magazine and tickets to the Syracuse Famous Entrepreneurship Series.

“At our first Dean’s Summit on Entrepreneurship at SU, the deans expressed an interest in having faculty promote cross-campus entrepreneurial initiatives in their school or college. So we’re arming the KPEI to be ambassadors for entrepreneurship and innovation to energize the students,” says Kingma.

The first KPEI cohort includes:

• Aviva Abramovsky, Syracuse University College of Law
• Shena Ashley, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs
• Philip Borer, The College of Arts & Sciences
• Joseph Chaiken, Arts & Sciences
• Luvenia Cowart, College of Human Ecology
• Michael D’Eredita, School of Information Studies (iSchool)
• Timothy De Ver Dye, College of Human Ecology
• Ted Hagelin, College of Law
• Cas Holman, College of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA)
• Jill Hurst-Wahl, iSchool
• Johanna Keller, S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications
• Linchi Kwok, College of Human Ecology
• Jing Lei, School of Education
• Mary Lovely, Maxwell School
• Tom Lumpkin, Whitman School of Managment
• Alex McKelvie, Whitman School
• Lee McKnight, iSchool
• Robin Malloy, College of Law
• Young Moon, L.C. Smith College of Engineering and Computer Science (LCS)
• Amanda Nicholson, Whitman School
• Ulf Oesterle, VPA
• Clare Olsen, School of Architecture
• Jeff Rubin, iSchool
• Brett Snyder, School of Architecture
• Bruce Strong, Newhouse School
• Ruth Westervelt, VisVPA
• Johan Wiklund, Whitman School
• Marion Wilson, School of Education

To learn more about Enitiative, contact the ExCEL Center at Syracuse University at excel@syr.edu,  or (315) 443-7086.