CONTACT:Megan Galbraith(518) 276-6050[email protected]
Entrepreneur Pledges $1 Million to Give Scientists and Engineers a New Outlook
Troy, N.Y. -- Every graduate of a technological university should have a solid grounding in entrepreneurship, says Mike Herman, who has just invested $1 million to transform degree programs at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
"The real breakthrough ideas for new products and services come from scientists and engineers," says Herman. "They're the creators of emerging business opportunities. That's why they need to be immersed in entrepreneurial know-how."
An unabashed evangelist for entrepreneurship, Herman has spent 30 years practicing and encouraging new business formation. He has developed nuclear fuels, been a venture capitalist, worked as a top executive in pharmaceuticals, headed a major league baseball club, and has long served on the board of the Ewing Marion Kaufman Foundation, America's pioneering force in entrepreneurship education.
Now, Herman, his wife, Karen, and their children have committed $1 million from the Herman Family Foundation to make Rensselaer the first technological university where students in all fields will learn what it takes for companies to succeed in the 21st century.
For the Hermans, this latest gift is part of a long history of investing in entrepreneurship education at Rensselaer. They have supported numerous scholarship programs and an annual graduate fellowship for entrepreneurial women.
This generosity is the natural outgrowth of being an entrepreneur, says Herman. "You'll find that entrepreneurs are the greatest philanthropists. Entrepreneurs want to make a difference. In general, money for them is not something to hold onto -- it's something to put to work.
"Entrepreneurship is more than just the key to better products and a robust economy," says Herman. "Entrepreneurial ventures are a source of hope for people everywhere, especially the disenfranchised. It's the young, growing companies -- not the corporate giants -- who provide real opportunities and jobs for single mothers, Hispanics, blacks, and other minorities."
At Rensselaer, Herman's $1 million grant will provide start-up funds to infuse entrepre-neurship throughout the curriculum -- not simply to develop new courses, but to give an entrepreneurial thrust to the entire expanse of current programs in science, engineering, architecture, information technology, management, and the humanities.
The initiative will expose all first-year students to the principles and practices of entrepreneurship and to the many entrepreneurial opportunities available on campus.
Entrepreneurship will be a critical component of capstone experiences that will ask students to solve a significant, open-ended design problem and show competence in opportunity recognition, market assessment, and the execution of business plans.
Faculty training will also be featured. Professors in all fields will be able to learn how to incorporate entrepreneurship into existing courses and research. They will also develop the ability to advise students on appropriate activities and opportunities such as the RPIdea Lab and the school's business plan competitions.
In setting out to infuse technological education with entrepreneurial know-how, it made sense for Herman to begin with Rensselaer. He graduated from the Institute with a degree in metallurgical engineering in 1962. He holds an honorary doctorate from the school. He serves on the Board of Trustees. But that's not Herman's only reason to start at Rensselaer.
Rensselaer was recently ranked the sixth best school in the country for entrepreneurship by SUCCESS Magazine. An April 9 article in U.S. News & World Report prominently featured Rensselaer's focus on entrepreneurship in its engineering school. The Institute's on-campus business incubator is the nation's oldest and finest. The incubator has launched more than 170 companies, about 80 percent of which are still in business. Collectively, those companies have created 1,500 jobs and, last year, generated $200 million in revenue. Ninety percent have remained in the Capital Region and many find lodging at the nearby award-winning Rensselaer Technology Park. Additionally, Rensselaer's business school is home to the Severino Center for Technological Entrepreneurship.
"Rensselaer is particularly well-poised to lead the way in graduating technologically gifted men and women who are extremely savvy entrepreneurs," Herman says. "Many very successful people have started their businesses right on the campus, while they were students."
But what of those who really don't want to run a company? "That's just it," says Herman. "Entrepreneurship is not just about starting and running companies. It's about being part of a daring organization intent on making a difference in the world. Whether you are the CEO, the director of manufacturing, the chief financial officer, or the head of product development, you need to know what it takes for the venture to succeed.
"You also need to know how to fail successfully -- to learn from that and move on."
About Rensselaer Polytechnic InstituteRensselaer Polytechnic Institute, founded in 1824, is the nation's first technological university. The school offers degrees in engineering, the sciences, information technology, architecture, management, and the humanities and social sciences. Institute programs serve undergraduates, graduate students, and working professionals around the world. Rensselaer faculty are known for pre-eminence in research conducted in a wide range of research centers that are characterized by strong industry partnerships. The Institute is especially well known for its success in the transfer of technology from the laboratory to the marketplace so that new discoveries and inventions benefit human life, protect the environment, and strengthen economic development.
RSS