Did you know that Wash U’s new provost, Holden Thorp, is a successful entrepreneur and plays keyboards in a jazz band? Find out more in the first installment of the Domain Tech Report – a weekly video cast on the Techli website that is dedicated to covering the startup community in St. Louis.
Washington University, Olin, and the School of Engineering & Applied Science are partnering with Techli to promote entrepreneurship online, on campus, and in St. Louis.
“We are so excited to be partnering with a great research institution like Washington University. Their involvement in the St. Louis startup community is one of the big drivers behind the success our city is currently experiencing,” says Edward Domain, COO of Techli (pictured above left with Provost Holden Thorp).
The partnership will feature a series of videos and stories on the Techli website showcasing the entrepreneurial spirit of the entire St. Louis ecosystem, which is becoming widely recognized as a startup mecca and a great place for recent college graduates to create their own ventures.
The first show features Holden Thorp, PhD, provost of Washington University. A successful entrepreneur himself, Thorp, author of the 2010 book Engines of Innovation, discusses the role universities can plan in helping to further entrepreneurial innovation.
Future show topics will include how the St. Louis startup support system, from access to funding to mentorship, has grown over the past year; the increase in teen entrepreneurship; and the importance of getting the established business community involved with the startup community.
“The robust culture of entrepreneurship at Olin Business School is helping to launch our undergraduate and graduate students into career paths we could not have imagined a decade ago,” says Mahendra R. Gupta, PhD, dean of Olin Business School and the Geraldine J. and Robert L. Virgil Professor of Accounting and Management.
“I look forward to highlighting our student’s successes, as well as the many other innovative ventures being developed here in St. Louis, through this partnership with Techli,” Gupta says.
“While the School of Engineering continues to emphasize advances in theoretical knowledge, we are more actively promoting the application of new discoveries by enhancing the climate of entrepreneurship,” says Ralph S. Quatrano, PhD, dean of the School of Engineering & Applied Science and Spencer T. Olin Professor.
“Through our annual Discovery Competition, our entrepreneurship course for undergraduates and faculty mentorship, we are taking an active role in advancing entrepreneurship in the St. Louis region,” he says.
About Techli
Techli delivers news and in-depth editorial on the technologies, businesses and ideas that are changing the way people live, work, and play. Techli knows that cutting edge technologies and vanguard businesses are emerging around the world, not just in Silicon Valley. Techli covers innovation wherever it happens, whenever it happens.
Entrepreneurship at Washington University in St. Louis
Entrepreneur magazine has ranked Washington University No. 8 in undergraduate programs and No. 12 in graduate programs. Degrees in entrepreneurship are offered at the undergraduate and graduate level at Olin Business School. A minor degree in entrepreneurship is an option for all WUSTL undergraduates. The Skandalaris Center for Entrepreneurial Studies hosts two annual business plan competitions that together award nearly $250,000: the Olin Cup for commercial ventures and the YouthBridge Social Enterprise and Innovation Competition for social ventures. The School of Engineering & Applied Science hosts its Discovery Competition with the goal of promoting new and innovative solutions for real-world problems and allowing students to compete for financial resources that could help turn their ideas into businesses. The winning team is awarded $25,000. Students and alumni regularly participate in the Arch Grants competition in St. Louis.
Neil Schoenherr, WUSTL Public Affairs contributed to this post.
Tune in to the Domain Tech Report
