Watch Clare Leinweber, managing director of Wharton Entrepreneurship, talk about why this is such an exciting time for entrepreneurship at Penn, what she sees in the future for Wharton Entrepreneurship and how much she loves working with Penn’s entrepreneurial students:
Leinweber is amazed by the profileration of entrepreneurial activity on campus, which she credits to:
• Penn Compact 2020: Penn President Amy Gutmann identified innovation as a key initative across campus.
“Penn Compact 2020 builds on the past decade of progress we have made in advancing the University of Pennsylvania. It is a far-reaching vision that outlines next steps to increase access to Penn’s exceptional intellectual resources; integrate knowledge across academic disciplines with emphasis on innovative understanding and discovery; and engage locally, nationally, and globally to bring the benefits of Penn’s research, teaching, and service to individuals and communities at home and around the world,” President Gutmann said.
• Wharton Priorities: Dean Geoffrey Garrett has raised entrepreneurship as a key area for him.
“The entrepreneurial spirit of Wharton students is palpable. We see it all the time in student clubs and what students are doing on their own. Our faculty members, then, turbocharge student innovation through research-led, learning-by-doing programs. Having our very well-placed alumni as mentors and advisers maximizes the launch trajectory of ideas incubated on campus,” he told Wharton Magazine.
Within this positive environment, Leinweber says, Wharton Entrepreneurship serves as a bridge across Penn.
“Wharton Entrepreneurship is important both across Penn and Wharton. I think it’s important to the world. We are in the business of helping students launch businesses. And the potential there for taking very smart, talented Wharton and Penn students and having them found companies is that they end up creating employment and economic development and growth across the country, perhaps across the world,” she says.
Photo credit: Alyssa Cwanger for Wharton Entrepreneurship.
Editor’s note: The original version of this article appeared on the Wharton Entrepreneurship Blog on June 30, 2015.
