The Syracuse Student Start-up Accelerator, an initiative that helps Central New York college and university students start for-profit and nonprofit ventures, will receive $1.7 million that has been pledged to the Raymond F. von Dran Fund. The funding brings not only sustainability to the initiative and seed funding to student ventures, but an opportunity for students, faculty, staff and alumni to rename the Accelerator in von Dran’s honor.
Von Dran served as dean of the iSchool at SU from 1995-2007, when he passed away. He was a long-time academic entrepreneur who started many innovative programs in higher education and supported student innovation and entrepreneurship at Syracuse University.
Gisela von Dran, Ray’s widow and director emerita of the M.S. in library and information science program and an iSchool Board of Advisors member, started the Raymond F. von Dran Fund shortly after Ray passed away in July 2007.
Now, in honor of Ray, the Student Startup Accelerator will undergo a name change, and all faculty, students, staff and alumni at Syracuse University are invited to participate in a competition for the naming. A $1,000 first place cash prize will be awarded to the individual who submits the winning name, which should signify the energy and excitement that Ray had for supporting student ventures. Four $250 honorable mention awards will also be given. The deadline for submission is March 20 and all submissions should be emailed to excel@syr.edu.
For most of his time as a public servant, Sean O’Keefe G’78 adhered to a few guiding principles: Step up when someone calls upon you to serve. Be open to anything. Challenge yourself. Those values helped O’Keefe navigate a career…
Jorge Morales ’26, a double major in history and anthropology in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs with a minor in English and textual studies in the College of Arts and Sciences, has been awarded the highly competitive…
Syracuse University and global esports and gaming organization Gen.G have opened general registration at campustakeover.gg for its first Campus Takeover Sept. 20-21. The two-day conference will bring students and administrators to Syracuse to highlight career opportunities within the esports industry…
For the first time in the 12-year history of the program, both nominees from the Whitman School of Management have been selected as recipients of the 2025 AWESOME Excellence in Education Scholarship, a prestigious honor awarded to top-performing undergraduate women…
The Whitman School of Management’s Distinguished Professor Johan Wiklund was recently listed as one of the most prolific business and economic research scholars globally, according to “What We Know About the Science of Science in Business and Economics? Insights From…
If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.
